We interrupt this program improvement…
I am overdue for posts on my trip to CUE, the ongoing soap opera of EETT ARRA funding in my state, and posting about my upcoming presentation at CABE with Larry Ferlazzo, but today we received bad news at my school, so instead I’m indulging in a pity party. My school is being designated as a “failing school” in the bottom 5% of school performance. We’re still trying to figure out how the state chose us among some other schools in our district (some of whom have been in PI much longer, like 7 years to our 4), but it is what it is. The Superintendent stopped by with some other district administrators (since it’s a pretty new and arcane process, they were there to answer questions). They will not be turning us into a charter, or closing us. They will either do a fresh slate, letting all of us go, OR get a new administrator, and replace up to 50% of teaching staff.
Frankly, blogging, twittering, or otherwise communicating on the Internet about my personal experiences as this unfolds is not going to help the situation, so I’m not anticipating this being an ongoing topic. You’ll likely see me moan and groan on twitter occasionally about job hunting, if that comes up. I’m going to ask readers to put things in context:
- I still have job rights, and even if all of us are terminated from our positions, we still have jobs (except for our lower seniority teachers who were going to get pink-slipped/fired anyway due to budget cuts).
- I have changed job sites pretty frequently. I’ve never worked at the same site longer than three years. I’ve been pretty “mobile” in my job history. I like changing jobs.
- That being said, I hate job hunting, and will likely moan a lot on twitter if it comes to that. A little sympathy is all that is necessary. Just because I’m complaining, doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world for me.
- The bottom line is that I’m more worried about whether this is the right thing for the students, than for the grown ups. I think the vast majority of adults at the school know things need to be improved, but right now it is much too new, and too personal for many of us to judge whether this is a good idea.
I just really need time to digest this whole thing myself. Thank you for your support!
I wish you all the energy to apply and find a school you’ll like
It’s a not a given that I won’t be here, or won’t be in this lab next year. It all depends on whether they do a total reconstitution, or partial. It’s early days yet, but I appreciate the sentiment!
Good luck to you. The uncertainty of a situation like yours can be extremely stressful, particularly in economic times like these.
Well, mixing it in with all the layoffs the district is doing will be a mess. Thanks for your kind words.
Alice,
It was a pleasure meeting you at CUE (I met you at the bloggers cafe to touch base about ACT-we are also fellow Edutopia family members). I am so sorry to hear about your school designation. My first year as a public school teacher ended in our school closure as well. It’s like a divorce for the community.
It stuns me how little society knows about the teacher quality out there, and how dedicated the staffs of these challenging districts can be.
Feel free to moan. It’s an appropriate time. If more teachers moaned as appropriately as you, perhaps we wouldn’t be seen as an overall submissive profession. It’s the one-room-schoolhouse-can’t-be-married-and-have-a-life trickle down effect from our teaching ancestors that started the rumor. And we continue to be taken for granted to this day.
So sorry again. If I may give some advice when a change like this is imminent. Use this opportunity to teach the way you know is great. Use project based learning. Have a graduation ceremony anyway for those kids. Use some funds that will just go away to give those students an experience they will remember. Celebrate each other.
-Heather Wolpert-Gawron
aka Tweenteacher
Oh Heather! We were talking about you last night on It’s Elementary. People LOVED your presentation at CUE. The show will be up at http://edtechtalk.com/itselementary by the end of week.
Well, I think the super is aware of how disruptive this will be, which is why he isn’t going the shut down root. The kids will be here, it’s just a question of which adults will be here next year, and we’ll know that in a few weeks.
I think that is good advice about keeping it up. I just have a lot on my plate already with conferences and the EETT stuff (which I think was what David wanted you to talk to me about), and this is a distraction from that important battle.
Hi Alice –
So sorry for the confusion. I’ll send you an email to follow up on ACT stuff, but just wanted to thank you for posting this. It’s a shame we’re putting schools through these massive changes with so little reason to believe these changes will make the differences to justify upheaval.
It’s a long…complicated story at my school site, that when I’m not in the middle of negotiating with my union and district administration, and worrying about stupid things the local paper might say, I *may* blog about.
Let’s just say, it’s been an exciting week! I look forward to your email, and it was great to meet Heather.
Good grief. It amazes me that folks think this is the best way to turn a school around (if it is really accepted and true that a school needs to be turned around). We seem so happy, as a society, to do things because it makes folks feel like we are doing something rather than because it is truly going to help.
Whine all you need. I would in your position. That said, thanks for your ability to write about this in such a grounded way.
So sorry to hear this – and of course, this is not “for the kids”. This is about breaking a profession and the community support for public education.
Be strong.