On another post Anonymous wrote:
"** New Post**
New PG article. They won't let you post in comments
section. Comments go to "waiting moderation" then never get posted. I
guess they don't want to hear the public comments about how they wasted
our money on this farcical evaluation process only to find the same
number of "ineffective" teachers as the old system.
http://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2014/06/13/Pittsburgh-teachers-fare-well-in-new-rating-system/stories/201406120300
The PG moderator won't let me post my comment as follows:
The
old system rated 3% of teachers unsatisfactory and the new system rated
1.5% as needs improvement and 1.6% as failing, which amounts to a total
of 3.1% teachers performing at an unsatisfactory level. So this new
system, that cost millions of dollars, requires principals to spend most
of their time observing or writing feedback of observations, required
the hiring of countless high paid consultants to improve teacher
effectiveness, had teachers being pulled out of class for RISE training,
spurred the departure of great teachers who were fed up with the
farcical evaluation process, and the administration of excessive tests
& surveys to our students only provided a 0.1% difference in the
ability to identify ineffective teachers than the old system. All this
for a 0.1% difference?Millions of dollars and putting ourselves &
our children at the mercy of whims of a billionaire "philanthropist" to
find a 0.1% difference in the ability to identify an ineffective
teacher! Pittsburgh parents and residents should be outraged at this
waste of money and resources. Teachers and principals who devoted
hundreds of hours to this evaluation process instead of teaching should
be sickened by this. Unbelievable!"
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13 comments:
The article seems to say at one point that almost 97% of teachers are "advanced" or better; then later suggests that some 15% or so are failing or need improvement; very confusing but in any event, with overall teacher performance so high it does not seem that teachers are the source of poor student performance at Pittsburgh's schools. Still, if every year even 3% of teachers are called unsatisfactory and dismissed, over 10 years 30% of teachers would be dismissed and the rest would most likely be very compliant for fear of joining that group.
What is going on at the Post Gazette? Are they being paid by PPS or A+ schools? Bill Gates? I can't leave a positive comment on the article, it is blocked by the moderator and I just noticed that 2 teacher bashing comments are allowed to be posted! How can a newspaper be so blatantly biased?
I dropped my PG subscription this year just for that reason.
Shribman and his staff define the term 'yellow journalism.' Pure, unadulterated propaganda, every time out. I never thought I would see such garbage coming from a major metropolitan newspaper in the US and yet, what this publication has done to push its own philosophies is dimly reprehensible.
That said, it's clear that we are entering the negotiations phase of a new contract. City teachers have not even received a cost of living increase in the past three contracts and this kind of news should suffice, it would seem.
Be happy you have a job.
Be happy we taught you how to do it right.
Be happy that your administration is such a good teaching force for you.
Be happy you have good ratings.
This is the message that reverberates to even the most out of the loop teacher in our district.
You're not going to get a dime in the contract and RISE has made it so no raise will EVER be coming for performance, so be happy for what we have given you.
It won't be long until board apologists and absentee parents latch onto the thinking to lambaste the PFT when it is clear that they are going to be asked to accept ZERO in terms of raises. ZERO.
Meanwhile, Lane has had a raise each contract.
Countless principals have had raises.
Other top administrators have had raises.
And these raises have been substantial.
And not a peep from the PG or any other parent on this site.
Not a sound.
I've LOST money over the course of the last three contracts. I'll lose money on this one, too. I can apparently take solace by an exceptional rating that is not worth the paper it is printed on.
Sad times.
To young people out there: Stay away from the teaching profession.
The Post article was published on June 13th. Today is June 17th and still comments that were made are yet to be published. Myself and several of my colleagues have submitted a comment response. I agree with the June 17th, 1:07PM poster. Since the Post can't get the "whole story" published or even our responses, I say....take a stand with your pocketbook.
Cancel, refuse to renew or don't even think about purchasing the Post Gazette from any vendor. Only when economics impact a business will they begin to report the data accurately and fairly.
Just like Rosa Parks et all who refused to ride the bus, collectively we need to refuse to purchase a paper that only permits a one sided response regarding the happenings in Pittsburgh Public Schools. Come on PFT get our membership together for a Post Gazette boycott!
Did you log in with facebook? My comment was posted immediately, no moderation.
Yes, you have to log in with one of their approved mechanisms to get your comments posted. But once you do, they are posted immediately.
I used approved methods to post comments and have been blocked several times in response to various stories about PPS. My comment appears in gray and says "comment awaiting moderator approval" and then is never posted. I attempted several times to re-post, logging in using more than one approved mechanism. Apparently at the PG moderation equals censorship.
Why don't you post it here and we will see if someone else can get the same comments to post as a test.
This is my most recent message, it is from the original post in response to the "teachers fare well" story
The old system rated 3% of teachers unsatisfactory and the new system rated 1.5% as needs improvement and 1.6% as failing, which amounts to a total of 3.1% teachers performing at an unsatisfactory level. So this new system, that cost millions of dollars, requires principals to spend most of their time observing or writing feedback of observations, required the hiring of countless high paid consultants to improve teacher effectiveness, had teachers being pulled out of class for RISE training, spurred the departure of great teachers who were fed up with the farcical evaluation process, and the administration of excessive tests & surveys to our students only provided a 0.1% difference in the ability to identify ineffective teachers than the old system. All this for a 0.1% difference?Millions of dollars and putting ourselves & our children at the mercy of whims of a billionaire "philanthropist" to find a 0.1% difference in the ability to identify an ineffective teacher! Pittsburgh parents and residents should be outraged at this waste of money and resources. Teachers and principals who devoted hundreds of hours to this evaluation process instead of teaching should be sickened by this. Unbelievable!
The last post I tried to leave that was blocked was in response to Lippert's moving to West Allegheney. This recent one was at least the 5th time this has happened to me while commenting on a PG story, that is why I saved to my notepad, in the event it was blocked too.
Thanks for your support and offer to post it! At least I will know if it's just me.
Although, my comment yesterday on Peduto's task force was posted, which leads me to believe it is some sort of censorship.
The problem seems to be length not content- very short comments are posted right away but longer comments wait for moderation that doesn't seem to get done.
I don't know...check out the length of this comment in response to today's editorial
http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/editorials/2014/06/18/Establishment-panel-The-education-task-force-needs-outside-perspective/stories/201406180014
There are two teachers on the task force, one from a troubled school, Perry. I would like to know more about how those two teachers were chosen though.
One teacher was selected by Linda Lane & one by Nina Esposito-Visgitis.
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