Submitted by Penguin Blog (USA) Visitor (not verified) on Sat, 10/18/2008 - 11:49pm.
My sins? My ESL students had a higher passing rate on standardized tests than the school average even though they did not speak the language and we meet in the hall and do not even have a classroom (I wasn't allowed to even participate in proctoring the second year). My college students had a 28% higher pass rate on the departmental final than the average (exams not taken in my presence, not designed by me and graded by other professors). My people with special needs had a higher graduation rate than the overall. It is not that they are mean to me. I could not care less without doing physical damage to myself. It is not that they keep breaking into my cabinets and stealing my supplies and books that I buy out of my own pocket. I keep getting non-renewal of contract notices just before I can get tenure, the next level of certification, whatever b/c of alleged paperwork problems related to my certification, transcripts not received, file incomplete, etc. or for teaching ESL too well and having too many students pass out (yet there are uncertified teachers being hired every day to teach ESL). We have teachers teaching for 9 years with just a GED, and I have 2 certifications and a Master's Degree + and take CEUs, seminars and workshops every semester!! The state of education is right where the teachers/administrators, even some of the parents who do not want their darlings pushed to be all that they could be, want it to be, if you ask me. My students write me thank you letters, have their friends request me, cry when I'm gone, call/e-mail me with questions their new teachers can't answer. That is what I care about.
They have managed to run me off. I have lost three husbands because my world revolves around teaching, lesson plans, research, grading papers, and extracurricular activities. I am getting too old to have to keep starting over every year or two.
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"You are trying to make us all look bad."
My sins? My ESL students had a higher passing rate on standardized tests than the school average even though they did not speak the language and we meet in the hall and do not even have a classroom (I wasn't allowed to even participate in proctoring the second year). My college students had a 28% higher pass rate on the departmental final than the average (exams not taken in my presence, not designed by me and graded by other professors). My people with special needs had a higher graduation rate than the overall. It is not that they are mean to me. I could not care less without doing physical damage to myself. It is not that they keep breaking into my cabinets and stealing my supplies and books that I buy out of my own pocket. I keep getting non-renewal of contract notices just before I can get tenure, the next level of certification, whatever b/c of alleged paperwork problems related to my certification, transcripts not received, file incomplete, etc. or for teaching ESL too well and having too many students pass out (yet there are uncertified teachers being hired every day to teach ESL). We have teachers teaching for 9 years with just a GED, and I have 2 certifications and a Master's Degree + and take CEUs, seminars and workshops every semester!! The state of education is right where the teachers/administrators, even some of the parents who do not want their darlings pushed to be all that they could be, want it to be, if you ask me. My students write me thank you letters, have their friends request me, cry when I'm gone, call/e-mail me with questions their new teachers can't answer. That is what I care about.
They have managed to run me off. I have lost three husbands because my world revolves around teaching, lesson plans, research, grading papers, and extracurricular activities. I am getting too old to have to keep starting over every year or two.