WE NEED to go further than the Globe advocated in its editorial calling for an independent fact-finder to intervene in the city’s stalled contract negotiations with the teachers union (“Teacher talks fail in Boston; outside help is needed,” Aug. 22), and support Mayor Thomas Menino in insisting that the Boston Public Schools implement the new teacher evaluation system this fall.
This new teacher evaluation system is the single most important reform in the proposed new contract for improving the quality of teachers and the quality of education in the public schools. It is fair to teachers in providing support for those who need improvement. It provides for the expedited evaluation of unsatisfactory teachers which can be completed in less than a year. It fulfills parent and student demands for a more timely and effective teacher evaluation and fulfills the state requirement to implement a new system this year. It has been tested in the turnaround schools. Hundreds of administrators and teachers have been trained in the new system while a union official was present.
Comments
Relax, the evaluation system is being implemented. This letter is more ranting from someone who cares about kids but who does not know what is going on. This important "reform", by the way, does not actually deal with the real issues. Epidemiological disparities in economically challenged communities and districts are causing "gaps", not teachers. You can't fire your way to the top, not in education. It is hight time we focus on STUDENT centered reforms, such as ensuring all kids with eyesight deficiencies have a pair of glasses that stay in school.
ColumWhyte said it best. Mr. Mudd means well, but he is not seeing the big picture here. He needs to read the on point, Globe article "A hard lesson: change can come too fast" by Andrea Estes and James Vaznis. English High was one of the turnaround schools where this evaluation was tested and teachers at that school did not feel that it was a "collaborative process with evaluators" as proponents of this evaluation tool are fond of saying. Look at the mess Sito Narcisse made at English High. Is it an isolated case? My experience as a Boston Teacher says no. ________BPS hasn't been transparent on the money spent so far in this evaluation endeavor either, and I wonder how much money has been spent and the cost projections for the future. How much does that Online Educator Effectiveness System cost? Will teachers be able to upload all the "student artifacts" required? Have industrial scanners been purchased that will handle the volume, has each schools technology infrastructure been updated to provide the bandwidth that will be required for this task. Or will everything come to a screeching crawl. There are only so many hours in a day, has anyone considered that the time to do all this, will be taken away from what really needs to be done in the classroom for kids. _______Considering the last minute rush to training. I am really concerned about the quality. Teachers were notified the last week of school about the workshop in the August, long after everyone made summer commitments to other professional development, college courses, summer school, vacations etc. So were teachers supposed to drop everything, at considerable expense to some people, because BPS didn't notify people in a timely manner? My life philosophy is committed to assuming best intentions, but was BPS just unprepared, last minute, as usual, or was the office of "Strategic Planning" involved with this roll out, at the very last week of school for other reasons? _______Boston teachers need the protection afforded them with clear language in the contract that protects them from abuse and unwarranted termination, so they can do their jobs without worrying whether they are the administrators' pet or from a principal like Narcisse who had a personal agenda, or that the Boston Public Schools can hire a younger teacher cheaper from "Teach For America" or "Boston Teacher Residency," because that's what this is really about. Boston Teachers expect to be evaluated, but given the threats Mayor Menino made in the Boston Globe and media, and the teacher demonization in the press for the past two years by Dr. Johnson and her administration, that has filtered down to school level administrators, our Union is trying to make sure evaluations are done fairly and on a level playing field! It's about respecting Boston Teachers who have devoted their lives to educating Boston's children!
Columwhyte is right. You can't fire your way to the top.
Teachers welcome new evaluations, so long as they are fairly conducted in a timely manner.
Its time for the City to resume negotiations with the Union and stop their hissy fit.