250 DC Teachers Terminated As Reported by The WaPo
No official confirmation from Chancellor Rhee's office
I decided to post the story of Dee's termination, a fellow education blogger right here in DC. Dee features the story of her own termination on her blog @ Dee Does The District
This one's for you Dee ! It ain't over till its over. The Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) has pending litigation with respect to last year's probationary teachers who were terminated unfairly. One of the first cases involving a probationary teacher had over 30 contractual violations for starters. By the way, last years terminated probationary teachers had meets and exceeds expectations performance evaluations.
Here's what Union Prez Parker said in today's Post article by Bill Turque: "Parker said the union disagrees with the school system about the status of probationary teachers. The union contends that if a teacher on probation receives a satisfactory evaluation, he or she should be hired permanently. Last year's firings of probationary teachers are the subject of a court fight, and Parker said he intends to pursue a similar remedy this year. "
I Was Terminated by Dee Does The District
"I was terminated yesterday."
Just two quick thoughts before I go to bed for the evening:
1. Michelle Rhee has acknowledged how terrible she was as a first-year teacher; this is hardly different for the majority of of first- and second-year teachers (traditional or alt-cert) as we are all trying to navigate our classrooms and our schools. But according to her, she was able to come back for two more years and make significant gains -- why aren't all of the probationary teachers who were terminated allowed to make the same progress after a rough (or smooth...) first year in the classroom?
2. Rhee has also acknowledged that the PPEP form is a bad document that allows for administrators to arbitrarily put down negative scores based on whims, fancies, and personal vendettas. This acknowledgement has been translated into a new evaluation system for the upcoming school year that will bring in impartial, expert teachers to ensure fairness in the process -- we are in fact, dealing with people's careers and lives here. Alas, despite recognizing the inherent flaws in the process, a single administrator was still allowed to make the final ruling on a teacher's employment status. It seems that these two things are in direct conflict with one another.
No, I'm not mad or upset with Rhee -- I'm just disappointed that she failed to terminate the right person. " (Courtesy of Dee Does the District) quote courtesy of The Washington Post.
10 comments:
Dee:
Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee subscribes to the motto: "Don't do as I do, do as I say do."
When my colleagues and I had to endure a former abusive administrator for seven long years, the mantra: "No reign of terror lasts forever got me through." Ask me offline where that bitty is today. ;--)
Everyone who was terminated for reasons other than licensure should go to the EEOC and file a complaint.
EEOC Washington Field Office
181 M Street, NE
Fourth Floor, Suite 4NW02F
Washington DC 20507-0100
202.419.0713 voice
202.419.0702 TTY
202.419.0740 fax
File a charge of employment discrimination and join everyone else who has. Start talking to people no matter what role they play/played in DC. Everyone must stand together against rhee's satanic acts. She and her boss must be stopped.
The public can walk-in Monday through Friday from 9:00 - 1:00. New York Ave-Florida Ave-Galludet U metro station on red line.
Dee
You and too many other young teachers are dropped into the Special Education black hole of DCPS. I was dumped into Anacostia's special education program where I was overloaded with students on my classload, faced little to no support from the local school administrators and none from central office. I was given students with overdue IEPs and held responsible for them. One young teacher was assigned to be the principal's designee (one year experience), relieved of her inclusion duties, monitored other Special Ed teachers and finally give the "Teacher of the Year" award by the out-going principal. Nine Special Ed teachers were excessed from Anacostia. Two were later given termination letters after being told they would remain.
Some Special Ed teachers were never fully evaluated by the special ed administrator and asked to sign finally evaluation forms. The special ed administrator remains inspite of her failure and perhaps illegal acts.
You are not alone. Keep your head up.
At CHEC this year, I was never even given my second semester IEPs because of the special ed turnover. Thank you Maria Tukeva....
Keep up the good work Candi in educating everyone about DCPS and this 'firing season'. It also appears that some of the Pro-Rhee crowd is slowly coming around to see the 'light' and have been somewhat re-educated about teacers and teaching in DCPS. You've always spoken the truth and are a true advocate for everyone. Children, teachers and parents. Take care,
Rogue Teacher
Candi, great coverage here. But where in the Post is Dee quoted? I can't find it.
Heather: I added Dee's quote a little later so you may not have seen it initially. It is under the title. And of course at the end is the story of Dee's termination as written by Dee herself on her blog.
She's a firin' now because that's all Ms. Rhee knows to do. It marks the outer limits of her leadership ability.
Rhee rode high for awhile. But she looked around recently and her patrons were gone. You know, her plan to destroy teachers seniority rights and the WTU was supposed to be financed by Gates, Broad, Dell, Robertson and other super rich enemies of public education. But Gates, for example, is down to his last $40 billion now and has begun shopping at Costco. They asked him the other day and he said, "Michelle who?"
Only teacher controlled public schools will ever make for any real reform. The reason is the vast majority of teachers care for their students, the children they teach. Not all, but most. Once we were in charge bad teachers would be gone the next day. We know who they are. Their lips would just have to be detached from administrators backsides across the country. The worst teachers love standardized testing and mindless data collection, they crave to be told what to do minute-by-minute in the classroom. The worst teachers seek refuge in administration. The very worst become Chancellors or US Secretaries of Education.
In effect, the other day the Chancellor said good-bye to the DCPS through Mr. Turque of the Post. Listen to her, "If I go down at the end of the day because I didn't play the political game right, that's okay with me," she said. "At least when you're making decisions that you believe are in the best interests of kids, you may not win in the end, but at least you can operate with a good conscience."
The destruction of America's public schools has always been a project of a force President Eisenhower identified as the "military-industrial complex" in his farewell address. Choppy waters ahead. George Vradenburg, a former AOL Time Warner executive and chairman of the D.C. Education Compact, venture capitalist Jonathan A. Silver, who sits on the executive committee of the influential Federal City Council, and Brig. Gen. Anthony J. Tata, the former deputy commanding general of the 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan, will take it from here. Farewell Ms. Rhee.
TEACHERS AND ALL DCPS EMPLOYEES WHO CARE ABOUT THEIR JOBS NEED TO DEMONSTRATE IN FRONT OF THE TERMINATORS OFFICE. EVEN IF YOU ARE RETIRING OR HAVE RETIRED. IF THEY ARE COMPLAINING ABOUT TEST SCORES NOW WAIT UNTIL THE NEXT ROUND AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS. BRINGING IN NEW UNTRAINED EMPLOYEES WILL CAUSE GREAT PROBLEMS IN OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM. YOU TEACHERS VOTED FOR THIS CONTRACT AND MANY ADMIRE HER, FENTY AND PARKER. WHAT THE HELL HAS THIS WORLD COME TOO. ONE MORE THING, CHECK OUT THE CRAZY PRINCIPALS THAT REFUSE TO HELP DISCIPLINE STUDENTS OR ALLOW TEST TAKING SKILLS TO BE TAUGHT IN THEIR SCHOOLS
Thanks Candi for a job well done
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