OPINION & EDITORIAL
Teachers, unions need detention time
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Also by Ammar Al Marzouqi:
- Americans doped-up on unnecessary perscriptions (December 11, 2007)
- Islam's detractors wrong on Quran (November 27, 2007)
- Modern media slave to entertainment, outrage (November 13, 2007)
- Happiness is a warm gun... regulation (October 30, 2007)
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by Ammar Al Marzouqi
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
In any discussion about the current state of the public
education system, dozens of factors are cited as reasons behind the steady
decline in student performance. Yet it eventually boils down to the
relationship between the level of teaching and the educational outcome.
Therefore, it is essential that teachers be accountable for their performance
in class. Yet the system as it stands today makes this nearly impossible.
About a week ago, I watched a story on CNN about how the Chicago school
district chief has proposed firing all the teachers and their supporting staff
in eight failing schools. He proposed that after all the teachers are fired
they should reapply for their jobs, stating that only teachers who are talented
and well-qualified would be rehired. What prompted this drastic proposal,
according to the school chief Arne Duncan, is the miserable performance in
these schools compared to others in the district and in the country. For
example, in one of the aforementioned schools about 95 percent of the students
failed the state academic exam.
This level of incompetence is appalling, but so is a drastic measure that
amounts to nothing more than collective punishment.
One is forced to consider what would push the superintendent to seek such a
drastic solution. It seems that one of the reasons is that the regulations set
forth by the teachers’ unions make it virtually impossible to fire a teacher
based on the performance of their students. Not only that, but they also make
it difficult for teachers who have been convicted of sexual harassment or
misconduct to be fired as well. The guidelines set by the unions are so lengthy
and costly that some school districts resort to putting these teachers on
indefinite paid leave! This is not a problem that Chicago faces alone but is a
national dilemma, and those who are paying the price are the children of this
nation.
It’s true that teachers are not solely responsible for the performance of their
students. It is also true that a small percentage of students will fail
regardless of their teachers’ efforts. Yet when 95 percent of the students fail
a standardized test, teachers must take their share of responsibility. A school
district should have the power to punish underperforming teachers, and the
current system simply does not enable it to do so effectively.
The main argument of the teachers’ unions is that there is plenty of blame to
go around, and that teachers should not bear the burden alone. This might be
partially true, and I believe that school administrations and parents do play
their roles. Yet this does not acquit teachers of their share of the blame.
If one looks at the overall performance of a teacher’s students compared to the
performance of their peers, one can see a direct relation between the quality
of teaching and students’ grades. Hence, it is only logical that students’
grades should be used as a gauge of a teacher’s performance.
Also, the unions argue that their guidelines ensure that no teacher is unduly
terminated — I disagree. One who looks at the length and complexity of these
guidelines can only conclude that they aim to prevent teachers from being
fired, period. A simple look at how much it costs to fire an underperforming
teacher — which in Illinois is an average of $219,504 in legal fees — shows
just how lengthy and expensive it is to do so.
In 2006, as newsmagazine “20/20” has reported, New York spent around $20
million to warehouse teachers who are considered to be dangerous to students in
“rubber rooms.” This means that they sit out their work hours in empty rooms
paid for by the government, while still getting paid! They resorted to this
tactic because of the absurd amount it would cost to fire each one of them.
Also, to ensure that these teachers do not go back to class, in case they win
their lawsuits. Also, the fact these guidelines are based on the assumption
that all underperforming teachers are failing in virtually all aspects of their
profession, just adds fuel to the fire.
Unions should have some power and influence over the rules and regulations of
their profession. This power should be limited, and it shouldn’t be on the
expense of this nation’s future. Just like an employer would not concede to
unreasonable demands by his workers, the Department of Education should not bow
down to the unreasonable demands of teachers’ unions. Especially when these
demands lead not only to financial loss, but also to the loss of the future and
potential of America’s youth.
Ammar Al Marzouqi (aalmarzouqi@wisc.edu) is a freshman majoring in
computer engineering.
Anonymous (January 30, 2008 @ 9:36am):
As a UW graduate and a teacher in the lowest performing school in the city that I teach in, I joined an organization dedicated to raising academcic achievment in low performing schools. Of the students that I teach 98% of them are free lunch students which means they live in poverty. It is generally accepted that it is more challenging to teach in schools with a higher percentage of impoverished students. Is it fair that my school has 98% poverty rate while the school down the road is only 15% impoversished? My school and the teachers at my school are faced with many more challenges then the already well performing schools. Is it impossible for these students to perform well, absolutly not, but it does require a great deal more dedication and work on behalf of the teachers at our school.
I teach in a high school, almost all of my students come from low performing middle and elementary schools, which means they are already years behind by the time they get to my algebra class. Is it necassarily fair that my rating as a teacher is determined by their tests scores, the same test that the students in the high achieving school take? My students may make HUGE gains, meaning they may come into my class on a third grade math level if that, and significantly improve their math ability to say an 8th grade level. Thats 5 grade levels of improvement, but not always enough of an improvement to pass the state test which requires say a tenth grade math level. Where as teachers at higher performing schools only have to incresase 1 grade level each year to be called a qualified well performing teacher.
While ultimilty it is very important how well the teacher is teaching, I would ask that before you make those kinds of assertions spend even one day in a school similiar to where I teach. See kids at my school and the way they talk to and treat their teachers. Look at fights that break out and the police swarming campus. Try going out to your car seeing your car broken into for the 2nd time of the year. The things that happen at these schools would blow your mind. After teaching for my first semester so far, and working 14-15 hours a day everyday to make sure my students can make gains gets very tiring, and its no wonder why teachers loose moral and their enthusiasm for teaching.
There are of course teachers at my school who are subpar, but holding even the great ones at low performing schools to the same standards as high performing school from year to year is not a very accurate way to measure a teachers ability.
Anonymous (January 30, 2008 @ 11:49am):
Excellent column, Ammar. It is truly sad that our schools are failing our kids. I remember my high school days when half the students in my geography class couldn't even find Wisconsin on a map! Some of them thought Milwaukee is the state capital because that's where the beer breweries are, or Green Bay because that's where the Packers play. If kids can't find their own state, they need to be sent back to kindergarten and start over. These are the ones who will be working in nursing homes taking care of us in our old age!
It's time to kick their little butts, take away their cellphones and computer games and plunk 'em down in a classroom. They'll stay there until they learn what they're supposed to know.
Anonymous (January 30, 2008 @ 1:26pm):
The arguments here might hold some weight if not for a flawed assumption: that all these students are desperate to learn. Visit a classroom in inner-city Chicago and tell me how many students are throwing themselves into their studies only to have an uncaring teacher ignore their thirst for knowledge.
Look at cities such as Philadelphia, where the state has turned the schools over to private education companies only to get the same lousy results. This is just another example of the pass-the-blame society we've become, where it couldn't possibly be the students' fault, so it must be everything around them.
Was there ever such a thing as personal responsibility, or we just imagine it?
Anonymous (January 30, 2008 @ 3:02pm):
If the parents gave a damn maybe the students would give a damn - then the teachers could teach instead of just trying to maintain order.
Ammar Al Marzouqi (January 30, 2008 @ 3:42pm):
I usually make it a policy not to respond to comments but this time I'll make an exeption.
To @9:36 am: I would love to talk with you more about this issue. You make some great points. My email is aalmarzouqi@wisc.edu. I hope to hear from you.
To @11:49 am: Thank you. Student are to blame too and I totally agree.
To @1:26 pm: I'm sorry but it seems you only read what you wanted to. I made no such assumption. Please email me if you would like to talk about this further.
Thanks,
Ammar Al Marzouqi
Anonymous (January 30, 2008 @ 8:51pm):
Ammar, you make some interesting points, and actually I'll say the major problem isn't the teachers, it's the way the Union works. There was a time and place for the current teachers union. That time has long passed.
The way the union works generally is that a teacher is an at will employee for a brief period of time, something like 5 years. That means they can be fired for any non-discriminatory reason for that period of time. However, after those few years they receive tenure and can only be fired or grievous misbehavior. This allows mediocre or worse teachers to stay on.
Problem number 2 with the Union: The way teacher pay scales work. Teachers are compensated based on their number of years with a school, not based on their ability to teach. This means that a teacher like 9:26 am who works her butt off and a teacher who is only teaching because he or she gets summers off are paid the exact same amount if they have been there the same number of years. This provides no economic incentive to be an excellent teacher, especially since there is nearly no fear of termination.
However, using state or national test scores is not an adequate way to determine teacher performance, for all the reasons 9:26 mentioned. The schools know who their good teachers and bad teachers are.
So what's the solution? In my opinion, vastly cut down on the power of the union. Change the entire tenure structure, and make it so teachers can be fired for ineffectiveness. Make it so that teachers must try these cases in arbitration and they have the burden of proof to show that they were not ineffective. Change the pay scale so that an excellent teacher who has been there for 6 years can make a market wage which would be double or triple of what a mediocre teacher would make. These contracts should be determined at the local level. Largely, make teaching work more like the market and less like a socialist program.
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