Let me preface this by saying, I got my education in Illinois. A Chicago suburb to be more specific. My father wanted to move to Tennessee (his home) when my parents were married, but my mother refused because, as she put it, I'd be three years behind what I'd be learning where I was at. As of the most recent study, Tennessee is currently ranked 41 out of 50 states in education. I can attest that the higher you're number the worse off you are. They made some progress since I've lived here. They were at 48 in 2008. I cannot thank my mother enough for standing her ground and keeping us out of Tennessee.
So, what am I trying to talk about?
Our genius governor wants to pass a law that will let schools opt out of paying teachers a mandated salary based on the years they've been there and the education level they have received. He wants them to be based on their performance. OK, sure, but the issue with this is...if you have been a teacher for 20 years already and your class is getting in the 98th percentile in english on the state tests...you can't go up. And if you don't increase it's reflected negatively even though they are still in the highest percentile ranking you can achieve. This is the issue that Milan city schools are having. I spoke with a family friend who is also a teacher there, and she explained that this is happening right now. Whereas Jackson school district might move up from the 35th percentile to the 40th from one year to the next and they are raved about. So, if they go to this "based on performance" pay scale there will be many teachers that have been doing what they were supposed to be doing over the years, but will be punished with little to NO raises because they can't go higher than the 98th percentile.
IS THIS FAIR? Absolutely not! But since when does the GOP care about fair?
The second thing, in conjunction with the aforementioned proposal, that Haslam wants done is to take away the limit on classroom size. Let me give a personal example. When I went to college I can personally attest that those classes in which I has the normal amount of students, anywhere from 15-30, in a class I did far better than a class that was set in an auditorium that could have anywhere from 60-150 students. The rooms aren't big enough. If you are stuck in the back you can't hear. You probably cannot see what is being written on the board or shown on the projector. Not to mention, one teacher, having to be responsible for all those students. You are a number to them, and that is all. There is no personal bond. There is no chance for that teacher to really give you one-on-one help that you might need. They don't care if you pass or fail. If anything, this will hinder a healthy educational setting. In fact, you'd mostly deal with a T.A., and Im sure that the state wouldn't allow an assistant for the teacher to help with the overflow.
This state does not care about the stress that they put on many teachers, and not to mention the students. If they did, they would not be looking for things to cut in education, but rather looking at things to cut internally, like for instance, Haslam's salary. He's a millionaire. If he actually gave a damn about saving money on the state he would work for free....or take a salary of $1 a year...heck even if he did we wouldn't know would we? Transparency what?
CUT YOUR OWN SALARIES INSTEAD OF SLASHING EDUCATIONAL EXPENDITURES!!!!
What many people, who are NOT teachers, don't realize is that being a teacher is more than 7-330 every day. It's grading papers on their own time at home, while taking time away from their own families. Buying their own supplies for her classroom because the school doesn't have the budget for it. Constantly researching new ways to keep their students involved. I have a lot of friends who are teachers and they will tell you that they never thought it would be as time consuming as it is when they were in school to be one. They all have said that they are increasingly frustrated with the new laws and requirements the states are doing to them, and then taking away their own rights. (i.e. collective bargaining) It's sad to me that we are attacking the same people that we are expecting to educate our children in a way that they will go on to great colleges or universities and do better than we did. I can personally say this. I have a one year old. We have EVERY intent on being out of the state of Tennessee before he enters Pre-K. It's nothing against the teachers, it's ideas like increased classroom size and an even thinly stretched teacher that is keeping us from staying here. So unless there are HUGE changes for the best, and certainly NOT what Gov. Haslam is proposing my son will not attend school here in this state.
My hopes, that while I am going to alternative route to be a teacher that the State Legislature will not formally introduce OR pass a law that takes away from teacher's salary and increases the number of students they are to teach. This is mind boggling. People need to fight back! Start calling your Congressman and tell them that if this is introduced they need to vote NO!
re: TN gov's plan would change teacher pay, remove class size averages
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