Columns
Frying Teaching's Bad Eggs
Around the State
I do believe, or want to, that most teachers are dedicated professionals who care deeply about educating children.
And, I believe that most Florida teachers certainly didn't stoop to encouraging last Friday's get-a-student-to-pitch-your-cause-to-the-Senate-Majority-Office stunt.
Still, evidence is mounting that at least a few of them did. Which, in my book, is misusing positions of trust to turn children into lobbying tools for their own special interest.
Consider this.
A ninth grader at a Palm Beach County school called the Sunshine State News office Wednesday morning to report that one of his teachers spent nearly a full period lecturing the class on "the economics of being a teacher" in Florida.
Speaking about his teacher, the concerned young man explained, "She doesn't make enough money, and the state is going to take away some of it."
That was about it. Not a long call. In fact, he hung up the phone before I could ask if he was one of dozens of students who e-mailed, wrote or telephoned Senate President Jeff Atwater's office on behalf of Senate Bill 6 and their teachers' interests.
The call certainly made me wonder. Why was this teacher grumbling about anything in front of her students?
I doubt Florida statutes have any vehicle to seek and destroy this kind of bad teacher. But I wish they did.
Certainly young people don't live in a bubble. They know what's going on in their world. They're well aware of their teachers' annual struggle to negotiate a better deal for themselves.
But for teachers to exploit that knowledge, to use their classrooms as bully pulpits -- now that really is among the worst kinds of professional misconduct.
Do these bad apples really believe it's OK to use children to argue for their personal priorities? Is no tactic off-limits?
This isn't to say a civics lesson in teacher contract negotiations, or in bills that affect education in Florida, should be taboo subjects in the classroom . Far from it. But, a line was crossed Friday, when children left voicemails for Atwater with adult coaches heard clearly in the background.
The teachers union, the Florida Education Association, has denied it played any part in encouraging the littlest lobbyists.
Teachers should never allow a cause -- some personal agenda -- to replace learning, or indoctrination to replace education.
To begin with, children are not fiscal conservatives. They have a highly evolved sense of justice, it's true, but not of finance. Not of macroeconomics. Or the economics that involve education-funding formulas, teacher salaries or so-called "merit pay."
And, these kids are hardly exposed to opposing arguments. They are pliable absorbers of a position designed to appeal to their sweet nature.
When I was a kid in school, my teachers told us stories about totalitarian countries where teachers would quiz kids about their parents' attitude toward the totalitarian state. That would never happen here, right?
Who is going to tell these children that their teachers are only being asked to ensure their students have learned something over the course of a school year? That's all. Nothing more. For that, they earn performance pay. That's the crux of SB 6 right there.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com, or at (850) 583-1823.
Comments (16)
So who is the "bad egg"? The teacher? The students? Not sure I get your point in this article. How long have you been a teacher?
You've stumbled on a propaganda page being pushed by the Florida Chamber of Commerce.
It seems to have turned into a political battle fueled by resentment of the Democrats pushing through the Health Care reform. When I spoke to one representative's aide and mentioned how even though I am a life-long Republican, that I would vote Democrat if I had to, I was given a "I don't care" attitude and it was brought up that the "Democrats are worse, pushing through health reform without bipartisan support." I was then comforted that they were working to allow teachers and students to pray in schools with HB11. I just said, that, we'll need it, as prayer will be the only thing that gets teachers through such insanity. When I agreed about how I was also upset about the Health Reform passing I was proudly told that it was being fought via a lawsuit filed by Republicans. Wonderful that they are filing a lawsuit, costing tens of millions of dollars out of the budget to fight something when our state can't even afford it. That money comes out of all our pockets, especially when the education budget is already a disaster!
Republicans seem to be spouting off talking points straight out of Glenn Beck's TV show, about how teachers and the DOE are indoctrinating our children to be progressive socialists/communists and how teacher unions support lazy educators and are nothing more than a nazi-ish tool that is actively working to destroy America. They are literally working to dismantle the unions and our entire public education system, piece by piece. This is in order to pull away from the DOE and other administrative bodies.
It seems Republicans see these bills as a way to "save the budget" while doing "God's work" to destroy the Unions in order to "stop" the supposed communist/socialist progressive attack on our county. They are supposedly working closely to tie these reforms with new textbooks derived straight from Texas, that will be written with a "more conservative" view of American History. They see our current Public Education as "socialism" and are working to end it. They want to focus on corporate run private schools, partially subsidized with vouchers in order to make parents pay a huge share of their child's education. These policies will hurt the families that can't afford it.
One of the major reasons that they are possibly trying to discourage teachers from getting higher degrees is not only to ensure a less qualified, less educated teaching force, but also to ensure conservative values. Many studies have shown that the more education individuals tend to receive, the more 'liberal' or 'progressive' an individual tends to become. If they don't recognize higher degrees, then it may be possible to control the political leanings of the teaching force.
These anti-education bills (HB6, HB4, HB2) are designed to encourage older teachers to retire, cut salaries to save money, and redirect billions in funds towards private corporations through the development of tests, and vouchers. They will decrease high school graduation while increasing drop-out rates. They seem to be aimed at reducing the payroll in hopes of cramming more students into classrooms to save money. It will also completely destroy what little power the unions have left in our state to hold politicians accountable.
Republicans are refusing to talk to teachers or unions because they see them as subversives pushing a "socialistic" agenda of entitlements. They aren't listening to parents because they see them as being "misinformed" by teachers and teachers unions. And they refuse to work with Democrats because of bitterness over President Obama and the health care reform that was rammed through. They are being deceptive about the bills in hopes of influencing the public and only telling half truths about teacher contracts, pay, and the huge cuts in retirement.
These bills are literally setting up our public education system to fail, and have the teachers be scapegoats, in order to most likely transition Florida's education system towards a private, free-market system that will allow the politicians to profit handsomely through corporate run educational facilities. What little public education system that is left over will cater towards the poor and be of extremely low quality, high turnover, and low morale.
Florida is indeed experimenting with our public schools, pushing policies that will eliminate public education almost completely in order to privatize our entire system. This is a plan that has a much farther outlook than the next 5-10 years. They most likely feel that by privatizing our education system completely they will have more control over what is taught, how it is taught, and who is hired and fired, especially with Florida being an "at will" employment state. They do sincerely believe it will improve the quality of education while making corporations a profit which will in turn stimulate the local economy. There is even talk of encouraging private religious schools via tax payer subsidies.
From the looks of this, there appears no way to stop these bills, as they are literally ignoring private citizens in order to push them through. With the economy as bad as it is they don't think teachers will quit. They also know that teachers are not allowed to strike. In essence, they know there is little recourse. They also don't believe that people will "compromise their morals" and vote Democrat, so they feel their seats are completely safe in Florida.
I am a life-long Conservative Christian Republican, but even I know that the way they are going about this all wrong. It is not only Unchristian, but jeopardizes Florida's economy and the education of all of our children, leaving behind the neediest in the poorest communities.
Of course all of this is purse hearsay, but it does seem to explain a lot and makes sense given what they are pushing through.
You make a logical argument. This site is to incite and inflame people against teachers. Next the Chamber will tackle firefighters,police and other public parasites who have unions. At least, they haven't called us cockroaches yet. We're just "bad eggs" that need somene tio "Seek and destroy"them. SEE THEIR STUPID YOUTUBE videos if you don't believe me.
Consequently, those who we elected seem to think that is ok to deprive teachers of their constitutional rights? Perhaps, it should be viewed the way it should…..Teachers are the heart of education and if you are so concerned about the "BAD" teachers why not focus on them? Help them! Remove them! Could it be that administrators are not doing their jobs when evaluating these "BAD" teachers? Where is due process for the teacher referenced in this article? Is due process wrong too?
Or maybe, let's leave politics out of education, after all GREAT teachers are doing just fine in FL (look at your data) and let them teach! Lastly, this is the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, listen to the people and forget this personal agenda as you will destroy public education.
If this bill is so great, why are your “good” teachers up in arms? Here is an idea, collaborate with your teachers and their unions, and you’ll come up with a solution that will work for all, as democracy is a gift we should not take away, and one I am not willing to give up without a fight!
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