Christie Sees A Soft "Punching" Bag - Women

In the recent furor over “The Donald’s” comments about women on the GOP debate platform the comments of “The Governor” have been overlooked and ignored. The “Punch in the face” comment has been barely remarked upon by the media and I am sure that is to the dismay of our attention seeking Governor.

After reading about the hubbub regarding Trump’s insulting women I began to wonder if there might be a relationship between his comments and those of Christie. Then it occurred to me. Why are Christie’s vicious attacks always aimed at teachers and teacher’s unions and rarely against other public sector unions (police, firemen, etc.)?

Why does he feel that he can be as aggressive and insulting as he pleases when it comes to teachers?  I may have discovered the answer.

• In 2011–12, some 76 percent of public school teachers were female, 44 percent were under age 40 and 56 percent had a master’s or higher degree. Compared with public school teachers, a lower percentage of private school teachers had a master’s or higher degree (43 percent). –U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences National Center for Education Statistics

Could it be that he feels free to attack a predominately female organization and expects little retaliation? Could it be that he has little respect for the profession because it is largely composed of women?

Could it be that his reserve in criticizing and debasing the police and fire unions is because in it mostly comprised of males?

Bullies generally do pick on the ones they perceive as weakest and unwilling or incapable of effectively fighting back. Could this be the case with “The Governor”?

PS- If he wants to “punch someone in the face” he is welcome to stop over at any time (without his police escort) and he better make his first punch count !!

If he sends me an email I will eagerly reply with my address and time!

"Smart Teachers" - A Contradiction in Terms

Just when I'm about ready to quit writing this blog another inane article about education and educational schemes appears in the paper and I can't help myself  but to comment on it !
Here the state wants only "Smart Teachers" and a GPA of 3.0  or better will insure that ?
Do we really think that a student studying Basket Weaving with a GPA or 3.0 is smarter than one studying Nuclear Engineering with a GPA of 2.9 let's say ?
How naive can you be, especially when there is a continual dearth of science and math teachers.
It looks like the state educrats in their wisdom, have  issued a blanket statement without much thought and in doing so, maybe it shows that they themselves aren't really that smart ! 
Additionally, how smart can anyone be, who would spend tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollar to obtain a job in a "profession" that is constantly humiliated, denigrated and disrespected.
What "smart" individual would enter a "profession" where job security has been eliminated and is now, more than ever, subject to political whim and expediency ?
Who would start a career where pension benefits and benefits in general are continually "reformed" (reduced).
Why would an intelligent person enter a "profession" filled with greedy and lazy people who are only in it for "summers off" as described by a plethora politicians and newspaper articles.
Who would want a job where they are held accountable for the performance of others over which they have little or no control and  where attempts at control can be seen as bullying or harassment?
Why would anyone enter employment where even the slightest accusation of impropriety by anyone, results in instantaneous suspension or dismissal, front page news and the immediate assumption of guilty. 
The way things have gone for the teaching "profession" during  the past ten years and are continuing to go, makes me think that anyone, even those with GPA of 4.0, who enter teaching, can't be that smart !!
It is truly unfortunate that politicians, with the cooperation of the media, have turned a noble profession into one of ridicule and detain ! 


 

Why We Should Expect Disrespect !

This memo was distributed to the staff at a local suburban high school was posted on the town's Internet message board.

******

Folks- oversight on my part - but an important piece from Mr. F as we move to the mid-point of the year.

Quoting Mr. F

"As many of you are aware we have had an inexcusable number of fights and events in our building over the last few weeks. As Dave and I work together to manage discipline I have been experiencing a number of extremely disrespectful students. This behavior is not acceptable on any level. If you confront a student who is disrespectful please send them down and they will be dealt with accordingly. To help alleviate discipline problems please aim to plan lessons and activities that begin and continue through the bell. Also, your presence in the hallway between periods is recognized by the students and so I ask that you assist us as much as possible. Thank you!"

I would like to add that you should not have to deal with consistent surliness in your classrooms--- Send them down-- we will send them out.

D W

Principal

High School

******

Some replies to this post, blamed the Governor amongst other things for the increase in disrespectful and aggressive behavior at the school.

Some other subsequent posts defended him.

I replied as follows:

"It disturbs me that you are finding a way to blame the Governor for this" (A quote from one of the posts)

Here's how the Governor and all those who constantly bash teachers are to blame.

Kids are not stupid!

When they see public officials and the public in general show little or no respect for teachers they figure, why should they?

How can you expect children to respect someone who is continually referred to as "greedy, lazy, poor performing, a leech, overpaid, under worked, in it strictly for the time off, etc."?

Additionally, teachers are frequently chided for not making it "interesting enough".

If only they did, all children would learn and flowers would bloom in every classroom.

In other words, we want teachers to be entertainers for forty two minutes every class period.

If the child doesn't pay attention, do the work and learn, then it must be the teacher's fault because he hasn't been entertaining enough.

If the child isn't entertained sufficiently, the teacher is doing a poor job and the student has the right to act up and be disruptive.

If the child is sent out of the class for poor behavior then the teacher is labeled as "not being able to control the class".

Trust me, Socrates couldn't teach a disruptive class!

If the student refuses to participate in learning, it is the teacher's fault because he hasn't "engaged" the student.

This mentality has been foisted on public education by politicians and educational "experts" many of whom haven't been in a classroom in decades (if ever) but continue to pontificate and dictate.

The saddest part of all is the public continues to believe it.

At a later point in the message board conversation I wrote:

Teachers and schools have little authority and what little they have is becoming less day after day.

If a child is given a poor grade, it is because the teacher is a poor teacher.

If a child is disciplined, he is being bullied.

If a coach requires a child to do an extra push up because of poor performance, he is the victim of corporal punishment. (Believe it or not asking a child to write "I will behave" fifty times is considered corporal punishment!)

If the child does poorly on a state test, it is because he hasn't been taught well.

If a child is disruptive, it is because the teacher hasn't made it "interesting" enough.

And to top it off, every one has an Uncle Joe who is a lawyer eager to pursue all these injustices!

Additionally, to address the fight issue.

If a teacher intercedes in a fight and a child claims injury, the teacher is punished.

If a teacher intercedes in a fight and a child claims any sexual infringement, the teacher is fired or worse.

If a teacher does not intercede in a fight and a child is injured, the teacher is neglectful.

If the teacher is injured - well tough luck for him (or her).

Talk about no win!

******

What are your thoughts on student behavior, how it affects classroom learning and manner in which discipline is handled at your school?

There's Gold In Them There Schools!

 
Public education is being bought and paid for, all under the guise of helping children. If my suspicions are correct, the welfare of children is being used to camouflage the takeover of the public schools by private interests. Access to the vast sums of money spent each year on educating our children is the golden goose they seek. 
    This article was published in Salon on November 17th. It makes clear much of the tactics and ploys that will be and are being used to ultimately transfer our schools into cooperate hands.
   It is lengthy but I have underlined what I think are some of the key points.

NJ Commissioner of Education's Report to the Governor

I've Got Lots of Questions??

I've got lots of questions for our editor. 

* How many principals and administrators have obtained their positions not by superior teaching abilities but instead through relatives and friends with political connections? 

** How naive can this editor be. How many people have you known who got on the "wrong side" of an administrator and then "paid the price"?

*** Since when has education become an athletic competition?

**** Compensation - yes! But also how about - low status, constant public criticism and degradation, being deluged with mandates and dictates by the DOE, being observed and critiqued by those with little or knowledge of the subject matter, seeing "pension reform" stealing their future, observing the cry of politicians to end seniority and any semblance of job security, being held responsible for a student's unwillingness to participate in the learning process, lack of meaningful discipline measures by the administration, confrontations with parents with little or no backup by administrators and last but not least, a bleak outlook for the teaching profession as whole?

I am sure that there is much more that I have failed to mention.  

Maybe you would like to fill the blanks? 

***** "a career ladder" - what does that mean and to whom will it be available?

Will it be attained primarily by those who follow the same "career path" as the administrators I mentioned in the first sentence?  

Learning Are Fun?

Everybody loves “show biz” but it aint cheap or easy.
Production costs of an average TV show run to about 3 million per hour and require dozens of highly paid people. Often the shows that result are poor or mediocre at best.
While some production companies have slashed production costs, the average
cost of a half-hour program grew from "$994,000 to $1,227,000 per episode,
or 23.4 percent, between 2000 and 2003 alone."*
. An hour of Big Brother cost $286,000 during the first season (it's more now). An average half hour of sitcom costs $1.3 million (add millions if it has a pampered cast like Friends').
The cost of production of a popular video game can run into the millions or tens of millions of dollars.
An now, teachers are expected to put on five or more “shows” a day using a piece of chalk and a chalkboard and make it entertaining as well as educational! If the lesson is “boring” and the children are not “engaged” the teacher is a “poor teacher”.
I have to say that in all my years of teaching, I never could find a way to make pH as interesting as “The Rolling Stones”!
Does this mean that teachers shouldn’t to try make learning a pleasant experience, of course not, but to expect the teacher to consistently make education “fun” is certainly an unrealistic demand.
The old cliché, “Learning is fun” is only partially true. The efforts required to learn are rarely fun. I doubt that I could find many young people who would rather do math homework than go to a Lady Gaga concert.
Learning is fun but only after a subject is learned via study and hard work because one can then feel a sense of accomplishment. The learning process itself however is usually not considered to be “fun”. That’s why they call it home ”work” and school “work” because if done properly, it is hard “work”.
It’s time that we stop expecting teachers to be entertainers and call them what they really are and should be, that is, conveyors of knowledge to the next generation.

*forbes.com

Why I started this blog

I just got an email from Michele Rhee the head honcho at "Students First.org" and it pissed me off. I just had to respond and I did so on their request for donations page. Here's what I wrote.

"I think your "reform" means villianize teachers, teacher unions and anything about the system that has successfully educated American 

children for decades!

How do you expect children to have any respect for teachers when they are constantly demonized and disrespected by groups such as yours.

Instead of constant derision, why not try to promote a better public attitude towards learning and teachers (such as currently exists in many Asian countries) and see if that will help?"

I think that organizations such as these or their benefactors see a lot of money to be made by privatizing public education. I am quite sure that is one of their prime motivations.

I would like to hear your opinion and experiences with groups such as these.