Ineffective teachers should stop blaming the "kids"! - Reader comments at The New York Sun

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Don't Blame the Teachers

Submitted by Anne Spence, Jun 15, 2007 08:27

I only partially agree, because I'm sure a very small percentage of students are as Ms. Ravitch describes. (A very small percentage).

But, tell me this: Why do we have teachers who are unwilling to take on their boss? When the walls of Rome are crumbling, and our teachers moral is almost at the bottom of the barrel, and a groundswell of disapproval from parents is paving the way for the ineffective superintendent's removal.......tell me, where were the teachers?

When you have a dyslexic student with 4th grade reading, who is held at that reading age for 4 years, because the programs and teaching they "supposedly" provide is very ineffective.....where were the teachers? Did they stand up for the fundamental needs of the student and demand that effective teaching be given to this child? No! Did they decide amongst themselves and demand from their principal that one of them at least, could get training to teach the 10% of their school population how to read using a scientifically proven method of teaching? No! They all just sit there, 12 of them, around a table, verses two of you and a child, and lie!! They pretend that they are doing well, and that Little Jonnie is doing well, and that you, the parent, should be happy with "well". Well! I am not happy when my son stays at a 4th grade reading age for 4 years, and they give me lip service about how well he is doing, because one time out of 20 he managed to write his homework in his planner at a 2nd grade spelling level that neither one of us could read.

When this go-getting parent spends 7 years advocating for her dyslexic son, changing Colorado state law to include dyslexia as a specific learning disability (so the teachers can stop with the 4 hour IEP meeting semantics by saying "Oh..we don't recognize dyslexia in the state of Colorado") and 4 years begging them to let the tutor on the premises and rework the schedule they can't handle it! "Ohh...it's unfair on the other children" they cry. Unfair? Isn't leaving my son with a 4th grade reading age for 4 years unfair? Or having students in 12th grade with a 4th or 5th grade reading age unfair? LOL.

Apparently, it's the norm. "It's not our job to advocate for children" they say. "We might get fired!" Bleeding heart liberals. Stand up! Be counted! If you want to change ineffective education methods you use and make them effective, then stand up for what you know in your heart to be right!

Don't get me started on tenured teachers who are useless, and who are just biding their time to collect their pension and insurance. I blame the unions for keeping those people on. Who are they helping?

Teachers today are lame. There's nothing else to say about them. They bemoan their leadership, and yet their pension and salary are more important than for them to stand up and fight for their beliefs, so that they might actually function as teachers who can teach, verses miserable, low moralled individuals who do nothing more than (1) blame their students (2) blame the parents (3) blame the principal (4) blame the superintendent.

Oh no.....there's nothing wrong with teachers is there, so long as they can blame the children, then the teacher's will NEVER improve on educating our youth.

I forgot to say: When I hired a qualified Certified Academic Language Therapist, this child of mine, whom those "lovely teachers" described as (1) unteachable (2) "You can take a horse to water, but you can't make him drink" (3) "He is not dyslexic, he is ADD/ADHD, so you should put him on Ritalin so he can focus in my class (4 - 100) etc, etc, -- taught my son with a scientifically proven method of teaching, he went from a 4th grade reading age, to an 11th grade reading age......whilst still in 8th grade, and all within 18 months. Now, that wasn't hard was it?

Hah! Talk to me about ineffective teachers. They damn well took all the credit too. That shows how stupid they really are. Not one of them could see the potential in my son. Not one of them stood up and said they knew he could be taught.

So yes, talk to me of teachers. Teachers who allow children to perform to only 50% of their peer group, because they are pathetic enough to discount the intelligent child who scares them with dyslexia. Teachers who allow IPODS and cell phones in a classroom, because they are "scared" of the student's reaction. Teachers who year after year, allow the entire student body to "boo" the Freshman, because they have lost the respect of their charges, and must think booing is an acceptable form of welcome to the new incoming students. Teachers who sit before the school board and ham it up for the superintendent, by lying about how well everything is going, instead of finding the courage to tell it as it really is. Teachers who can barely make it to school, because their moral is so low, but who are afraid to do anything to change it. Teachers who allow the superintendent to lie to the media about their success and failures, because they are afraid of public perception. You know -- when we have dismal CSAP results, tell us! Then watch us come to you and say "How can we help you!" Don't count the "partially proficient" and tell us we are the best. Even students know that "partially proficient" means there's a disconnect.

I'm really not sure where else to lay the blame. For years, I was willing to go 50/50, but from where I'm sitting, it's definitely their fault.

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