Learning Matters: Reporting you trust on education stories that matter

September 22, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Anique says:

@Marsha: We are working on it!

September 24, 2009 at 10:20 pm
yvonnep says:

I believe that an hostile environment has been set up by Michelle Rhee. I do believe there is a more excellent and a wise way she can do and say things. I believe that the teacher morale has gone down, and there have been instances that some her staff can be rude and disrespectful. I believe because of her attitude with teachers particularly with senior teachers people from the central office think they say what they want. I will say this if one disrespects me I will professionally and I will behavior wisely and tell them to stop.

September 24, 2009 at 10:22 pm
yvonnep says:

I hope her people one day take training on how to treat people.

September 29, 2009 at 9:50 am
DCPS Dad says:

I hope the reforms continue and that poor performing teachers are removed from the classroom. I don’t care if Rhee or Fenty stay or go. The kids deserve teachers who teach and the teachers deserve kids focused on learning. How did it get so bad that a teacher who sleeps in the classroom, has no control, and is doing very little teaching but much yelling at young students cannot be fired? Because of tenure and procedures that make it very difficult to fire incompetence. Now THAT is bad for teacher morale. Why didn’t the WTU put the Rhee proposal to a vote and demonstrate the teachers reject such an approach? Because it would have gotten a lot of approval votes too! Don’t be fooled.

October 13, 2009 at 1:57 pm
E Favorite says:

DCPS Dad - Don’t you be fooled. Don’t believe that such horrid teachers exist just because Rhee says they do and don’t believe that bad teachers can’t be fired - they can be and they have been.

Are you rally a DCPS Dad or are you a member of Rhee’s staff? Lately, I’ve been noticing more comments from people identifying themselves as teachers or parents who sound more like Rhee puppets afraid that the end may be near.

October 19, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Victory P. says:

Its a shame to hear someone called himself DCPS Dad defending Ms. Rhee. Rhee has no clue on how to run any educational institution other than getting paid to get rid of African-American verteran teachers. If you are sure that people are performing bad or sleeping on the job, pls Michelle Rhee prove it and fire those, not hundreds of dedicated and committed teacher in DCPS you RIF’D because you have the chance to do so.

October 21, 2009 at 11:37 am
BV says:

Are people blind to the fact that business as usual has not worked in DCPS? How long are parents going to be unwilling to accept that a string majority of students are not achieving at the levels set by our cities and government? Take the barriers out of the way for Rhee and give her the chance to do right by the children. She will not settle, and her commitment to staying with this district is unparalleled compared to the past SEVEN supers. Let Rhee make things happen for DC. The barriers do not work.

November 18, 2009 at 12:06 am
Reganomics says:

We can see who supports unions more and more in their posts on the web.. Mob rule, the only refuge is anomninty.

December 19, 2009 at 4:12 pm
tim Firnstahl says:

Michelle Rhee and the new mayor of Detroit, Dave Bing, are about the only two public officials who seem to be making sense: pay based on performance. The US in its most powerful mode ,afterall, is a MERITOCRACY. Think about it. Congratulations to those who show courage.

December 21, 2009 at 8:14 pm
CA teacher says:

The popular assumption is that teachers don’t work hard enough. I’ve taught for 20 years and I teach my butt off everyday! However, if a student doesn’t want to learn or can’t perform on achievement tests, I can’t make them. Student and parent accountability are required also. Apply the same logic. Does it make sense to fire dentists whose patients have cavities?

December 21, 2009 at 9:45 pm
Ed Clement says:

If we are ever to improve the education of children we must learn to tell the difference between a reason and a excuse.

December 21, 2009 at 10:11 pm
Diane Meraz says:

As a parent of a bilingual science teacher in D.C., I am shocked and concerned that Ms. Rhee is using such Cheneyesque corporate steamroller who is determined to remove an entire generation of teachers, administrators, and district employees. These tactics of course succeed in terrorizing any remaining educators and staff, however it makes the country wonder and cringe. Is it her intention to replace all staff with no one below the age of 30, without children–except herself of course–no social life or repercussions for abusive management and unjust employment practices? Whatever her reasoning, the children of D.C. will be next on the discerning chancellor’s list, of course exceptions will be made for the monied neighborhood schools with acceptable test scores. Ah well, I guess things have not changed very much in Washington D. C. after all, the usual cut and run while Washingtonians will be left to try to pick up the pieces. What is needed is genuine leadership that will use a broader scope of administrative abilities to improve DCPS administration while vigorously pursuing equal access for children to enlightened and updated educational environments.

December 24, 2009 at 8:12 am
Joel Gingery says:

If you liked Jack Welch (GE) or Ronald Reagan or GM’s Roger Smith, you’ll love Michelle Rhee. Unfortunately, Education doesn’t lend itself to a captialist business model anymore than healthcare does; its a service, a very special service where the teacher is the person who creates value for the student, and the prinicipal should support teacher’s purpose, not control their actions. And student performance is a function of the “system”, not individuals. Until we understand and incorportate these relationships we’ll continue flailing away at “reform”–spending more billions of dollars for continued lousy results.

February 22, 2010 at 7:30 pm
UrbanTeach says:

To all who would like to admonish so called ‘poor performing teachers’ I would like to give you a perspective of a Teacher who invested four years, demonstrated commitment and literally shed blood sweat and tears in a DCPS school with poor administrative leadership. I had 3 principals in 4 years, transition to a new building and countless ignorant racial remarks to students and myself from our ‘leaders.’
I began serving DCPS because I was passionate about turning this school system around, what I found was that I was one of the few whose actions matched my ethics. I came to work an hour early, commuting from Montgomery county, I stayed to teach evening classes and saturday school. I called parents weekly, updated them on their kids, designed exciting lesson plans and made that school a second home.
What did I get in return??? NO support when truants ran amuck in the halls, set fire to the wall outside my classroom, assaulted me, sexually harassed me and female students. I would have stacks of documentation on these events, email and call the administrators but no one addressed the chaos. out of a roster of 20-25 kids only 10-12 wold show up daily, trickling in, disrupting the class, blasting their cell phones and ipods. No help their either, just in consistent electronics policies. My favorite was the time the security was dissolved and we came into work without knowledge of those dangers. Riots erupted all day, food fights, some students were arrested and i had to run to the aid of a girl who was almost trampled by her peers running to see a fight. Colleagues were held at gun point and had their car stolen from the school lot.
These are the issues teachers face daily… no wonder we are ‘poor performing’ we are distracted by basic survival and keeping ourselves and other kids safe.
Oh and by the way I am a highly qualified teacher, who is part of Rhee’s New Teacher Project. I doubt she or anyone could be as committed as I was under those circumstances.
Try having to do this high stress job, with a mountain of obstacles, and then being blamed for it.

March 11, 2010 at 6:47 pm
Dorothy A Muchko says:

I’m also sending the same question to Randi Weingarten. Why after a few years can a teacher acquire tenure so that a teacher cannot be terminated no matter what. No other profession can protect you like that. No wonder our educational system is going downhill compared to other countries. I would suggest paying good teachers more and getting rid of tenure. I’m an 80 year old great-grandma who would really like an answer.

Thank you