Rhee's IMPACT = (Equals)-the terminations of masses of teachers, administrators and school personnel
- at-will central office hiring and firing
- a revolving door workforce created by terminations, RIF's & employee resignations
-ongoing hiring of new teachers and staff despite claims of budget deficits
- the erosion of due process rights for workers
- a hostile teaching and learning environment
- appointment of numerous unqualified administrators
-threatening new leaders who disparage teachers in order to lead
-a self-made budget deficit to justify terminating primarily veteran teachers
-draconian performance based appraisals with inadequate staff development & roll-out
-police escorts of RIF'd employees
-fabricated lies by Mayor Fenty/Chancellor Rhee about RIF'd employees performance appraisal
-over sized classes, teachers assigned outside of certification, cancellation of high school classes needed to graduate, student unrest, parent dis-satisfaction
Posted by The Washington Teacher, Candi Peterson blogger in residence, Celeste Jones, graphic artist
13 comments:
Many of my 20-something and 30- something neighbors (none of them work for the school system) all believe Fenty will be reelected because -- as they put it "lower class people like teachers just talk and rant but when it comes to taking action, just bury their heads in the sand and do not even go and vote". So Rhee is acting accordingly not fearing any repercussions.
Parents and teachers have to be organized (I am a parent) to put a stop to what is happening.
Great list except for this one, which I don't understand:
-threatening new leaders who disparage teachers in order to lead
Could you explain, please?
I am not lower class through my family income, my family background, nor my level of education. And I chose to be a teacher like most of you reading this. These comments are symbolic of the anti-teacher bias out there and I know I'm not alone in being fed up by them. That said, any strong, credible anti-Fenty candidate will have a great chance of becoming our next mayor. And vowing to get rid of Rhee should be number one on such a candidate's list of campaign promises.
Your neighbor actually said "Lower class people like teachers??" Wow... that is really terrible. Is that what they think of us?
We have watched the horrifying rise of a cultist to the top job in the DCPS. But from the moment DC's male spokesmodel of color for the city's white power elite, Mayor Adrian Fenty, announced Michelle Rhee as Chancellor, this moment became inevitable.
As the end approaches for Ms. Rhee there will be some last gasps. Tomorrow for instance the front group for Bill "Moneybags" Gates and Michael "Smaller Moneybags" Dell, D.C. School Reform Now, will buy some "demonstrators" to stand outside the Wilson Building and pretend they know who Michelle Rhee is.
But it is all for naught, the die is cast. Snake eyes Ms. Rhee! Enjoy your last few paychecks. We knew you too well.
Not to speak for Candi, but what I think she means by threatening New Leaders who disparage teachers in order to lead is this: New leaders is like DCTFs for people who want to be principals. They are generally much younger than the DCPS principals we knew back in the day who put in 30+ years in the classroom, look administrative classes at night and became principals. Rhee gets a lot of her current principals from the New Leaders program and refers to them as threatening disparagers of teachers. At least, this is how I understood the reference.
@Anonymous 5:32, no disrespect but are these 20 and 30-something people white? I ask because that's where king fenty's support is, particularly since he has given his behind to Blacks and Hispanics.
Kings:
What I meant is that there are new leaders who regularly threaten teachers and rule by intimidating their staff .
There are many schools that lack building reps because they don't want any trouble with the school
principal...i.e. repurcussions (sp). Nobody wants to place themself into that kind of a position in possibly losing a job. I think a lot of teachers are afraid to take on that kind of a position. The problem is no matter how kindly and professionally one advocates, they are on the principal's "hit list." In other words one is blackballed/tagged as a
trouble maker when advocating. How do I know this? I advocated on behalf of a student who did
not belong in first grade and should have been in kindergarten. Even though this has nothing to do with being a building rep I advocated on behalf of a
student. The student's social worker paid me a visit
and asked about the child's progress in school, and also questioned why she wasn't in kindergarten. I shared with the social worker to ask my principal
because I have tried communicating with her a couple of times, and once by email and got no response. Few days later the child was transitioned into kindergarten after two and a half months of being in first grade. Next thing I knew I was excessed, then received termination w/o any warning(s). Bottom line is...teachers keep quiet so they can keep their job, and not do anything
to "rock the boat." You "rock the boat" you suffer
repurcussions for it.
How many DCPS teachers even live in DC? How many put their own children in DCPS? This is one reason why Fenty and Rhee don't care about teachers-they are not a voting or a school block of people for them to worry with. Fenty will be reelected. There is no one out there to take him on.
Regarding "repercussions" anon's thoughts - absolutely is true. I know a strong union person who was excessed and treated poorly at her new school. She avoided union involvement since and is just counting the days until she can retire. This is someone who had a thriving academic program in their former school that is now withering.
So much for "Students first"
I was thinking about this. Someone needs to get a list of the union persons who were targeted for the RIF. Send it to the Council and to the union heads in DC for other unions. Put pressure on these people for Rhee and her people so they can share the "miserhee."
I agree, Anonymous at 11:54. There is union busting going on across the city. Look at how Fenty refused to complete nominations for PERB, the board who has to deal with what he does. DC Government has turned into musical chairs with this mess. It's going on everywhere! It's rheally crazy.
The Fire Department, Police Department, you name it, it's union busting.
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