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proud2BlibKansan

(96,793 posts)
Sun Feb 19, 2012, 09:19 PM Feb 2012

Dear Mr. President,

I am a teacher. You know, one of those about whom you and your Secretary of Education say are so important to our young people. If only I - and thousands, perhaps millions of other teachers - could believe those words.

There are things your administration has done that we respect, at least most of us. The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act meant large numbers of teachers and other public employees did not lose their jobs. Under ARRA, for the first time ever the Federal government for two years just about met its commitment to provide 40% of the average additional costs imposed by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. There was also the $10 billion in funds to support local government employment that also save some jobs. We acknowledge these things.

If only the policies your administration advocates were similarly supportive of teachers and what we see as the best interest of our students.

There are words - Secretary Duncan saying to Roland Martin of NBC

The best thing that happened to the education system in New Orleans was Hurricane Katrina.

more . . . http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/19/1066350/-Dear-Mr-President-

10 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Dear Mr. President, (Original Post) proud2BlibKansan Feb 2012 OP
maybe Nah7anyule Feb 2012 #1
Hello?! I didn't write this. It's from a blog. proud2BlibKansan Feb 2012 #2
It was put here because this is a ohheckyeah Feb 2012 #3
I can't imagine ohheckyeah Feb 2012 #4
Very frustrating. But the kids are so awesome. proud2BlibKansan Feb 2012 #5
Having to deal with a classroom ohheckyeah Feb 2012 #6
For most of us it's not the kids or even the lack of $$$ that's killing us. Smarmie Doofus Feb 2012 #7
I'm sorry. ohheckyeah Feb 2012 #8
It's not the parents that bring on the stress. proud2BlibKansan Feb 2012 #9
Parents are not a problem for me and I've rarely felt disrespected by them. Smarmie Doofus Feb 2012 #10
 

Nah7anyule

(32 posts)
1. maybe
Sun Feb 19, 2012, 09:42 PM
Feb 2012

if you go to www.whitehouse.gov it might actually be heard. why would you put it here? do you actually think the president has time to search this forum? please act like a teacher with sense.

ohheckyeah

(9,314 posts)
4. I can't imagine
Mon Feb 20, 2012, 01:29 AM
Feb 2012

how frustrating it must be to be a teacher in this country. So much demanded of them and so little returned.

ohheckyeah

(9,314 posts)
6. Having to deal with a classroom
Mon Feb 20, 2012, 01:43 AM
Feb 2012

full of kids would be my worst nightmare but for those who can and do teach I have the utmost respect. My second grade teacher who worked with me until I could read changed my life. My parents worked at it too but she was the catalyst. By the end of the second grade, I, who had made a D in reading in the first grade, was reading at a fifth grade level. I'll never forget her or even her name....Miss Mann.

I find it appalling that as Americans we spend billions of dollars supporting sports and sports figures but spend so little in comparison on education. Teachers should never have to spend out of pocket for school supplies and they shouldn't have to have 2 and 3 jobs to make ends meet. It infuriates me. I don't complain about my property taxes because it is those that support schools and even though I have no children I want all kids to get a good education.

Many people give lip service to "thank a teacher" but I don't see the money being put where the lips are. I hope the Obama administration can find a way to improve conditions for teachers.

 

Smarmie Doofus

(14,498 posts)
7. For most of us it's not the kids or even the lack of $$$ that's killing us.
Mon Feb 20, 2012, 09:10 AM
Feb 2012

It's the GD'ed *adults*.

The politics and the bureaucracy.


It is a friggin' *jungle*.

And it's getting worse by the day.

ohheckyeah

(9,314 posts)
8. I'm sorry.
Mon Feb 20, 2012, 12:37 PM
Feb 2012

Teachers don't deserve the hassle and disrespect from parents they get. I wish I knew what to do to help.

proud2BlibKansan

(96,793 posts)
9. It's not the parents that bring on the stress.
Mon Feb 20, 2012, 02:00 PM
Feb 2012

It's the grown ups in charge.

I have had largely wonderful relationships with the majority of my parents. But the majority of people I've worked for have been demeaning and ignorant.

 

Smarmie Doofus

(14,498 posts)
10. Parents are not a problem for me and I've rarely felt disrespected by them.
Mon Feb 20, 2012, 02:26 PM
Feb 2012

Truth be told: they're not *enough* on our case. I'm in special ed so the dynamic may be different here than with most educators.

But I wish they'd insist on being MORE involved.

They want their kid to make progress and *I* want their kid to make progress. That's a powerful confluence of interests. We are... or should be.... natural allies.

What's the problem then?

The problem is as follows:

Mandates, rubrics, alternate assessment bureaucracy, redundant assessments of all varieties, crazy-ass mandated online curricula, crazy-ass scripted curricula, money paid under the table to ensure adoption of the foregoing, district administrators, school-based administrators, corporate $$$chool "reform", professional memo-writers, principals who fail to see that required services are delivered to handicapped students, contracts with elevator repair corporations who never quite manage to fix the elevator so that they keep getting called back to the tune of "mucho dinero" ,half-baked teacher evaluation $cheme$, Arne Duncan, the idiotic insistence on micromanaging every aspect of classroom instruction ( including where one stands and where and when one moves) Bill Gates and predatory philanthropy, administrators who come to school late every day and leave early, economically comfy DEM politicians who enable all of the above but who can afford to send their kids to private schools where *none* of the foregoing goes on.

I could continue. You get the picture I hope. Boy.... that felt good.

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