Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Teaching realities can be difficult for the uninitiated

Re: Teacher plan has dropout issue, Jan. 8.

Sunday's article about the TeachPinellas project came as no surprise to teachers still in the classroom. Conditions are so bad that you really have to be dedicated to instructing our youngsters to stay in the field nowadays. Having taught in Pinellas County for more than 30 years, I can speak with authority.

When I first began teaching, teachers were looked up to and took pride in their career choice. They had discipline in their classrooms and respect from the community.

Those days are gone. Whenever you pick up a newspaper or listen to the news, something negative is being said about our schools. Teachers live under a cloud of potential litigation. Should a child misbehave in the classroom and disrupt the learning process, it can sometimes take months before any action is taken. The stress of teaching under those circumstances is tremendous.

Most people who go into education have a dream that they will be able to make a difference, but they also are aware of the circumstances under which they will work. They did a lengthy internship which gave them an idea of what they would be facing. People coming out of the private sector don't have a clue.

Finally, most of the TeachPinellas candidates were treated like professionals in their various fields. They find it extremely frustrating to know that their opinion rarely counts now that they're in the classroom. They are inundated by paperwork, stressed by the hours of "off the clock" time the job demands, and disappointed that the reality of it all conflicts so greatly with their dream, their desire to make a difference.

Alternative teachers can offer much

Re: Teacher plan has dropout issue.

One critical point not mentioned in the article is that the teachers recruited for TeachPinellas are being selected to enter the "high need" schools. These are defined as schools that historically have had problems placing and retaining teachers. This in itself possibly explains a large part of the new teacher dropout rate.

Pinellas school superintendent Clayton Wilcox showed courage by stating, "My sense is it had to do with our level of support more than it did the program itself . . ." Most jobs require additional training and mentoring after hire and teaching is no different.

On the other hand, Jade Moore, executive director of the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association, shortchanged both the TeachPinellas cohort and his own teachers when he proclaimed: "It doesn't cost us a nickel to hire someone from a college of education." Last time I checked, the Pinellas school district recruiters spend quite a bit of time both in and out of Florida tempting potential teachers to come to Pinellas County.

It has been documented by several critics of contemporary education that most "alternative" certified teachers have more class hours and more experience in their subject area than the equivalent education major. Add the "alternatively" certified teacher's maturity and life experience and it would seem that the alternative applicant would have much more to offer, sooner, to the students of Pinellas County.

Making a difference

Re: Teacher plan has dropout issue.

As a former attorney and a new TeachPinellas teacher who is waiting for placement, I read this article with interest.

I was drawn like a magnet to the TeachPinellas logo: "Someone inspired you. Now it's your turn." In that appeal, I saw a way to make a meaningful contribution and immediately applied.

The first TeachPinellas cohort faced a difficult challenge in addition to those challenges inherent in the program. TeachPinellas was a new program that clearly needed, and still needs, adjusting. The initial teachers faced classrooms without the benefit of practice teaching, receiving more theory than experience. Many had difficulties, not with the children but with the school system itself. This remains a problem, as Dr. Clayton Wilcox stated.

Teaching in Florida - with its high dropout rate, low test scores and behavior problems - is not an easy job, but most of the TeachPinellas teachers are still on the job, improving their skills and helping to make a difference in a system that has been in a downward spiral for many years.

The second cohort, with the benefit of what was learned in the first group, hopefully will make an easier transition. Clearly something had to be done to change a failing system, but that system cannot change overnight. Dr. Wilcox deserves great credit for making an unpopular decision and trying something different to save the children in the Pinellas County schools.

Judging our schools

Re: Court throws out vouchers, Jan. 6.

The Florida Supreme Court judged vouchers to be in violation of the "state constitutional provisionfor a uniform, efficient, safe, secure and high quality system of free public schools."

Using the same criterion, is not the present system of free public schools in violation of the same provision? If not, is it the court's position that the present public school system is efficient, safe, high quality and, therefore, in compliance with the provision?

If this be so, I, for one, would enjoy reading the majority's opinion supporting such a position.

Rethinking the high school experience

Re: Lower expectations are not what high schoolers need, letter, Dec. 16.

Recent articles and letters from Times readers reacting to recommendations I made to the Florida Department of Education High School Reform Task Force regarding high school retention have prompted me to provide a clarification.

I am not suggesting lowering expectations for high schoolers. On the contrary, students will still be required to meet high standards of achievement, and these recommendations will encourage developing a system that best serves our ninth graders. The first year of high school often sets the tone for success or failure, where children spend the next three years playing catch-up or excelling as they prepare for their future after graduation. Unlike grades K-8, children retained in the ninth grade retake courses they failed or take different courses that will count toward graduation, without intervention or remediation. From an instructional standpoint it has little meaning, but try telling that to the student who feels a sense of failure. The student is a 10th grader in every sense of the coursework, but is still considered in the ninth grade. We must assess the collective four-year high school experience for children by: increasing their academic achievement levels, increasing the likelihood of their graduation and preparing them for college and careers.

Students should have one goal in mind - graduating from high school, not "graduating" to the next grade level. Solving the ninth-grade retention problem will not be a panacea. It is simply the first step in a much larger high school reform effort necessary to ensure success for Florida's high school students. Everyone in high school should be encouraging students to get engaged in school, set a goal and work toward it.

[Last modified January 12, 2006, 01:23:25]