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Lies my superintendent told me

5/3/2011

3 Comments

 
Today Dr. Arlene Ackerman, superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia, wrote an email to all staff in schools across the District. In it she wrote:

"Our teachers give their utmost everyday to the children and young people they serve. They impart untold amounts of knowledge and create learning environments that ensure every child can achieve his or her true potential. Teachers have the power to make lessons real and make success attainable, for every student, on every day. As the American philosopher Sidney Hook once said, 'Everyone who remembers [their] own education remembers teachers, not methods and techniques. The teacher is the heart of the educational system.'"

Let's analyze for a minute, shall we?

How can teachers "create learning environments that ensure every child can achieve" when we are pressured to have nonsensical 'word walls' and post objectives that don't matter to the students?

How do "teachers have the power to make lessons real and make success attainable...every day" when we take more than 10 days out of the year on standardized testing?

If students remember teachers and not "methods and techniques" then why are scripted curriculum mandated?

If you really want to appreciate us, then trust us. Have faith us in. Support us like you would the troops at war. We will work harder than you can ever imagine to make sure the next generation of kids is ready for the world.
3 Comments
Joe
5/4/2011 02:08:59 am

Well said and so true. I have been meaning to write an article entitled, "The Death of the Late Great Teacher." Back in the day when teachers were treated as professionals and allowed to teach as they were taught in colleges and graduate schools, we did such a better and more inspired job becuase we owned what we did. Before the State takeover, we had "teacher empowerment." The scripted lessons imposed upon teachers are ludicrous. A leader, in the eyes of the followers, are judged by what they do, not by what they say.

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I Teach in Philly
5/4/2011 06:36:43 am

Ackerman's letter is just as phony as the one Education Secretary Arne Duncan wrote to American teachers.

If you'd like to see it, go to http://www.ed.gov/blog/2011/05/in-honor-of-teacher-appreciation-week-an-open-letter-from-arne-duncan-to-americas-teachers/

Be sure to read the comments -- absolutely priceless

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Sanity N. Reason
5/5/2011 10:35:27 am

Ackerman and Vallas are similar with regard to this. They both set up 5 year education plans. The part of the plan that they don't tell is that they plan to pack-up their carpet-bags before the five year plan is over. Look at Vallas in Chicago and in Philly and now New Orleans. Lots of similarities. Ackerman too. In San Fransisco she had "Dream Schools", Here in Philly it's "Imagine 2014". Five years of snake oil until the next carpet-bagger comes to town. Why can't we hire someone young with dedication and vision that stays with us for a while instead of hiring these high-priced temps? It's our own fault for falling for their BS.

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    I am a math teacher in the New York Department of Education. I infuse technology and real-world problems into my curriculum in order to prepare my students for the future. I would love for people across the country to recognize we teachers can't do it alone. If you don't believe me, come visit my classroom!

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