Teacher Shortage

Thank You, Dear JCPS, For Being My Voice

Dear JCPS,

I saw your most recent visit to the Board meeting and I wanted to say thank you for being my voice. To those who say Dear JCPS highlights only negative opinions, I would submit that this website is the ONLY way my voice can truly be heard. My first line of defense several years ago was to ask questions. That didn’t work. Then, I pumped it up and “raised concerns.” That led to a power-hungry administrator who “looked” for ways to show I was ineffective, when previously, I was the best thing since sliced bread.

I have tried so hard since day one to be compliant and uphold the district’s vision, which is always administrators’ vision as well. I learned quickly that it was professional suicide to raise concerns about initiatives that were not addressing student needs/growth.

I have a graduate degree, countless hours of professional development along with countless hours of personal research and educational reading, yet I am rarely asked what I think my students need in order to grow and thrive academically, socially and emotionally.

For several years, I have robotically attended PLC’s and other meetings that do absolutely nothing for my professional growth or for my students’ growth. (I’m so tired of others who speak so highly of PLC’s. They don’t address anything that substantiates real growth. They are NOT teacher-led. The creators of PLC, the DuFour’s have gotten rich, while my students have become more poor educationally because of the shuffling of papers that go into each PLC and most other meetings.) I’ve watched helplessly as CSIP’s state and parents are told that students receive interventions when they don’t. I’m so frustrated with the fact that students who I professionally identify as needing extra services or extra interventions first require weeks and weeks of “teacher interventions” on one very specific skill (identify words with short a) before they can even be tested to see if they qualify for special services. I had to perform several weeks of speech interventions last year before my student could get tested to see if she “really” qualified. I am NOT a speech pathologist, nor do I have a license to do this. I raised cane – to no avail. My professional aptitude, graduate degree and experience mean nothing I guess. As a professional educator, I am neither trusted to make any decisions, nor asked what is best for my students.

JCTA helps only a little. They are not the all-powerful entity for which the media credits them. Certainly not worth the $1000 I pay them yearly. The district said that their diagnostic assessments would be waived but schools still tell their teachers to do them. One would have to file a grievance and probably be named in the process in order to address this discrepancy. More professional suicide.

My students are from backgrounds of poverty. Cookie-cutter approaches don’t work. This past week, I bailed on the meetings and refused to follow the many scripts and methodologies I’m expected to use that are mostly ineffective with my kids, and actually taught with my students in mind. They wrote their own lyrics, read grade-level content vocabulary, involved their community and parents, applied critical-literacy skills, were engaged and actually excited. (There’s no script or resource in JCPS’ arsenal that even comes close to this sort of lesson.) The lesson hit every single common core ELA standard for this cycle, but in a way that kept 24+ students on the edge of their seats. The same students who have massive behavioral and attention issues.

I’ve watched helplessly as CSIP’s state and parents are told that students receive interventions when they don’t. I’m so frustrated with the fact that students who I professionally identify as needing extra services or extra interventions first require weeks and weeks of “teacher interventions” on one very specific skill (identify words with short a) before they can even be tested to see if they qualify for special services. I had to perform several weeks of speech interventions last year before my student could get tested to see if she “really” qualified. I am NOT a speech pathologist, nor do I have a license to do this. I raised cane – to no avail. My professional aptitude, graduate degree and experience means nothing I guess. As a professional educator, I am neither trusted to make any decisions, nor asked what is best for my students.

So, if the truth being portrayed is deemed as too negative, I say bring it on. If there’s another way to affect change so that ALL student’s educational needs are put before politics and deception, let me know. I’m in. It’s very difficult for the public to get the real picture of what’s going on in their child’s school when the powers-that-be work so hard to deny it particularly in schools with students of poverty.

Signed,

Concerned Teacher

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