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Chicago Teachers Strike 2012

School A is making annual progress and its scores are improving. School B is not.

I retired seven years ago and was only there for the first year of the process. So perhaps you know your schools situation far better than I do. I distinctly remember our school made no effort at all to get those first year scores in a good positive number area because we wanted to have room to improve. I thought that was fraudulent.

School A might be making progress, but they're not making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) which is set at a set percentage. This school year the AYP goal is 90% of all students will meet or exceed in reading and math. School A won't make it and has most likely been under School Improvement plans for several years. The goal of NCLB was to reach 100% meeting and exceeding by 2013-2014.
 
Education blows, working conditions for teachers blow, there is not enough funding to make effective schools.

Give me paper, pencils and access to a library and I can turn a group of incoming first graders into great readers and writers. Money isn't the problem.
 
and the bottom 20% are functionally illiterate.

What does functionally illiterate mean? And where did you come up with this figure? I think I had exactly one out of probably 500 high school students who could not read or write and i believe he had severe dyslexia or something similar. Every other student I had was definitely functionally literate in my book.
 
Heh. Didn't have YOU'RE best interests at heart, did he? Or did he believe that he needed to leave to make room for someone BETTER to come teach you?

I was a 33 year teacher and union member. I was the Union rep in my high school for more than twenty years. I was the elected chair of all the high schools representing almost 2,000 teachers and spoke for them to the union.

I am here and participating.
 
What does functionally illiterate mean? And where did you come up with this figure? I think I had exactly one out of probably 500 high school students who could not read or write and i believe he had severe dyslexia or something similar. Every other student I had was definitely functionally literate in my book.

Functionally illiterate means that they cannot read unaided above the third grade level I believe.
 
Functionally illiterate means that they cannot read unaided above the third grade level I believe.

Yes, pretty much. But I would add that they cannot write either. And I don't mean pretty handwriting.
 
I was a 33 year teacher and union member. I was the Union rep in my high school for more than twenty years. I was the elected chair of all the high schools representing almost 2,000 teachers and spoke for them to the union.

I am here and participating.

OK.


And this information applies to what I posted....how?
 
That is quite the assumption that does not cover how the majority of students are able to graduate. An almost linear relationship exists between graduation rates and parents income levels (among other variables like race, and divorce). Other factors such as social integration are said to play a role; however it is difficult to quantify social status. All available evidence points to growing up in a tough situation as being the most distinguishable factor.

And, I absolutely agree with this... so should he hold chicago harmless for a 40% dropout rate?
 
OK.


And this information applies to what I posted....how?

Originally Posted by KevinKohler
I notice that the usual ardent proponents of unions are not present in this thread. I find their absence speaks far more than they every could with mere words, were they to participate here.

that was you correct?
 
So are other strong public school systems like Valparaiso, Chesterton, and St. John. It has nothing to do with partisan politics! It is all about income levels. Children who come from wealthy families are 7 times less likely to drop out than children who come from poor families.


Yeah thats where I was going with it......not so much on the partisan politics. Although.....hows tha work with like Hazel Crest. Where they created that Subdivsion for Doctors and Medical People Right across from South Suburban Hospital.
 
And, I absolutely agree with this... so should he hold chicago harmless for a 40% dropout rate?

Depends. But clearly they either lack the political will or the funding to ensure students are not subject to academic neglect before and after they are on school grounds.
 
I would be interested to see a comparative study between schools in Chicago and schools in other cities that have similar rates of poverty and similar racial makeups. I would honestly be surprised if Chicago was not better than many other similar cities. I'm not trying to pass the buck, and I think a 40% dropout rate is abyssmal, but I feel like people are blaming teachers and we can only do so much. There are huge problems such as poverty, dangerous neighborhoods, drug use, broken homes, absentee parents, etc. that are beyond a teachers control. The schools in Chicago do not have terrible dropout rates and terrible test scores because of the teachers. Teachers are not societies whipping posts, and the lack of respect that we are given honestly has a lot to do with why we are on strike. My favorite sign on the picket line today was something like "I would settle for RESPECT."

Instead of blaming Chicago teachers for low test scores and graduation, you should be commending them for teaching in an environment that is so challenging and difficult. I personally am no slouch. I got my bachelors in Mathematics at UC Berkeley and could probably teach in the best school in the suburbs if I wanted but I wanted to use my talents where they are most needed. And the thanks I get is being blamed for societies ills? C'mon. Use a little common sense people!
 
Give me paper, pencils and access to a library and I can turn a group of incoming first graders into great readers and writers. Money isn't the problem.

depends on their home life situation. motivated kids with supportive parents can make it to harvard with bare bones schools.

kids who grow up in single parent homes where mom is a crack whore and gangbanger bullets interrupt homework can have 20K a year spent on them at some top magnet school and changes are they won't even make it to college
 
hows that work with like Hazel Crest. Where they created that Subdivsion for Doctors and Medical People Right across from South Suburban Hospital.

Are you referring to Flossmoor?
 
There are huge problems such as poverty, dangerous neighborhoods, drug use, broken homes, absentee parents, etc. that are beyond a teachers control.

This is what I've run into too. I could work my damndest to get a kid to learn, but if his brain is busy wondering if his mom is going to overdose before he gets home to stop her or if his dad is gonna smack him around again, then there's not much you can do. The parents and home life is a MASSIVE part of education.
 
depends on their home life situation. motivated kids with supportive parents can make it to harvard with bare bones schools.

kids who grow up in single parent homes where mom is a crack whore and gangbanger bullets interrupt homework can have 20K a year spent on them at some top magnet school and changes are they won't even make it to college

Very true. As I said, money isn't the problem.
 
Give me paper, pencils and access to a library and I can turn a group of incoming first graders into great readers and writers. Money isn't the problem.

Ehhh. Rather heroic IMO. How many of this group only receive their meals when attending public school?
 
Very true. As I said, money isn't the problem.

Cincinnati PUblic schools generally suck. Yet they spend far more than some excellent suburban schools in the area which are excellent rated programs. It comes down to the family environment. Cincinnati public schools are getting many kids from minority urban areas which often feature high rates of single parent homes, parents who have criminal records or engage in drug abuse.
 
Heh. Didn't have YOU'RE best interests at heart, did he? Or did he believe that he needed to leave to make room for someone BETTER to come teach you?

He was my colleague not my teacher. And I believe he felt (rightly or wrongly) that he would have a wider impact working for the union than in the classroom.
 
Are you referring to Flossmoor?


No.....but that was another one. Same with Olympia Fields. South Suburban is on Kedzie in between 183 and 175th. Course back then Flossmoor was not Separate of Homewood. Still all those Communitites were created for Doctors and Surgeons. Medical people all for the Hospitals out South.
 
Ehhh. Rather heroic IMO. How many of this group only receive their meals when attending public school?

Well, I don't know everything that goes on in their homes, but we have a HUGE low income population. But I grew up in poverty and we always had food to eat. It's the kids who have parents who don't give a flying crap if their kid eats. That's the problem.
 
that was you correct?

"Heh. Didn't have YOU'RE best interests at heart, did he? Or did he believe that he needed to leave to make room for someone BETTER to come teach you?"

"I was a 33 year teacher and union member. I was the Union rep in my high school for more than twenty years. I was the elected chair of all the high schools representing almost 2,000 teachers and spoke for them to the union.

I am here and participating."

In bold is the post you quoted. It was just confusing, is all.


And yes, you ARE here, and participating, and you're practically ALONE, which is unusual for a thread concerning unions.
 
I would be interested to see a comparative study between schools in Chicago and schools in other cities that have similar rates of poverty and similar racial makeups. I would honestly be surprised if Chicago was not better than many other similar cities. I'm not trying to pass the buck, and I think a 40% dropout rate is abyssmal, but I feel like people are blaming teachers and we can only do so much. There are huge problems such as poverty, dangerous neighborhoods, drug use, broken homes, absentee parents, etc. that are beyond a teachers control. The schools in Chicago do not have terrible dropout rates and terrible test scores because of the teachers. Teachers are not societies whipping posts, and the lack of respect that we are given honestly has a lot to do with why we are on strike. My favorite sign on the picket line today was something like "I would settle for RESPECT."

Instead of blaming Chicago teachers for low test scores and graduation, you should be commending them for teaching in an environment that is so challenging and difficult. I personally am no slouch. I got my bachelors in Mathematics at UC Berkeley and could probably teach in the best school in the suburbs if I wanted but I wanted to use my talents where they are most needed. And the thanks I get is being blamed for societies ills? C'mon. Use a little common sense people!



Again there is a difference between CPS teachers and the rest of Illinois Teachers. They(CPS) are not the norm and are the exception to the rule. Yet they work longer hours and most on the South side of the City are in neighborhoods such as you describe.
 
One more thing before I go to bed.....

I don't know about other teachers, but I don't complain about money, benefits...anything. If I was unhappy with those, I'd just go find another job. I love being a teacher. Yes, I work on the weekends. Yes, I'm up late at night perusing teachers' blogs and forums. Yes, I stay later after school with kids who need extra help and then even later to get ready for the next day. No, I'm not paid for any of that. I don't care. I enjoy being good at my job and I like getting better at it. These teachers who constantly complain and think they deserve more money when they're not very good at their job anyway can bite me. That's all. :)
 
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