A problem that I noticed with teacher unions is that in some cases teachers are not being held accountable for their actions. For example, because of tenure it can be difficult to remove poor teachers if they have seniority. It is extremely difficult to get rid of ineffective teachers because of the cost. Governor Strickland stated that the state of Ohio would remove ineffective teachers from the classroom but I would like to find out more about how he is going to do this. Deborah Delisle, head of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights School District, said it cost over $200,000 the last time she went through the process with an ineffective teacher. The students are the ones who are getting hurt when they have and ineffective teacher. There needs to be a way to remove poor teachers without spending so much money.
As Lyndsey stated in her presentation about House Bill 190 abuse will happen in schools and the administrators will fail to let others know about it and there will be too many legal loopholes so the offender will get away with the crime and will stay in the classroom. She also stated that many teachers who have been offenders will go and teach at another school district putting more students at risk. House Bill 190 is a good form of legislation because it requires all teachers to get a background check. A new bill under debate in the statehouse would allow the Department of Education to automatically revoke the teaching license of a teacher convicted of anything included on a list of 80 crimes (John Vettese). I know that when I apply for jobs the application always asks if you have committed a misdemeanor and you have to explain what the misdemeanor. However, offenders of sexual abuse may be lying on the application and administrators may not investigate the offense. It is very necessary that all teachers get background checks so that we can make sure our students are safe at school,
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I agree with you. The legislation was not worded properly or stated accurately. As a result there have been "offenders" in our profession teaching to our children. I have actually witnessed two incidents one in my jr.high while I was a student and another in the district of which I used to teach. It was found that a teacher who was arrested my eighth grade year should not have been teaching because two years prior to her arrest she was let go from another district for what they called "inappropriate misconduct". Well apparently those words did not spell out that she was a predator of 15 year old boys and she was looking to do it again. I think unions can protect these monsters and I feel that this protection from the unions really needs to be redefined. According to Education World in Cleveland alone school officials have fired more than two dozen employees for having concealed convictions on their state certification applications. There is something wrong with this picture!!!
ReplyDeleteMost definetely agree with you Amanda.As many people are pointing out, the word "misconduct" is too broad, allowing predators and deviants to fly under the radar.As pointed out in my blog, administrators need to start looking more closely at who they are hiring, who they are allowing to be in close contact with...young,impressionable and vulnerable children.And why do we always come back to the $ involved? They cost of legal action out-weighs the everlasting and possibly devastating effect on these children? In order to save some $, we should close eyes and act as if all is well? Not inform parents, other schools, districts, or States, just to save $ and reputation of school? Yes, Amanda, I agree with you..there is something wrong with this picture!!!
ReplyDeleteI am also curious to see what Governor Strickland plans on doing with these poor teachers. It should be interesting. There is no doubt in my mind that poor teachers should be removed. This little girl I use to nanny for had a teacher who was almost ready for retirement. She really didn't care about the classroom anymore, and it really showed. Typically, this child loved school. However, the year she spent with that teacher was one of the worst years she had at school. She still talks about the second grade teacher who just didn't care. That is one of the down sides of having a union though.
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