That was meant sarcastically

A few things to consider.

Was involved in proctoring exams given to all undergrads while in grad school, the lowest performing majors were education and law enforcement.

Many segments of the population do not value education, there is very little respect for teachers or schools in segments of society.

There is no incentive for a classroom teacher to perform, everyone is on the same steps and lanes, as with most unions there is an emphasis on maintaining the status quo, the nail that stands up gets hammered down.

There are teachers that do incredible work every single day.

Other countries place a much higher value on education and there are numerous countries that put kids though standardized testing at relatively early ages, those tests determine what career field they will be dropped into and there is very little deviation allowed, so parents that have the means will heavily invest in their kids education from early childhood until Junior High when the test are administered.

This is an incredibly ignorant statement.

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Education is like most professions in this respect. You have to have seen people actually do the work. In most cases you haven't and deferring to people simply because of their job titles is a rather flawed premise and one that has failed MANY a school.
And just because someone is an administrator does not mean that they are a good administrator. Actually most aren't these days as MANY of the people that would be good at it don't really want the job.
When I first started in CPS you had really good, experienced people running schools. People that I was more than happy to take direction from in most cases. That no longer is the case. In most cases these days what you have are "straight to video" Admin types that have spent very little time in the classroom and select to run to Administration to A. Get out of the Classroom as fast as they can because they hate teaching and B. Get out of the classroom as fast as they can so that they can make more money.
On the flip side of that are a ton of veteran teachers that would be great at Administration but don't want to transition out of their "cushy" teaching spot because A. Outside of principal any other position in Administration would be a pay cut and B. There is no protection for you if the principal gets whacked. You go if they go in most cases. With this being the case why do it at all?
So in today's arena what you have in their stead are people that don't know shit who expect you to defer to them simply because of their position and job title. For the most part that shit has been a terrible mistake as it might cost you your entire career if you "defer" wrong. I have seen it happen in too many instances to just believe otherwise.

In the case of LSCs there are many which place their interests ahead of the schools which they are supposed to be manning in a lot of cases. By that I mean they don't care as much about hiring the "best candidate" as much as they care about hiring the person that they can control or "feel most comfortable working with". It's a running joke as to how principals and those who look to be principal have stacked the deck on LSCs with "their people" so that they will receive little to no oversight from the LSC. In return for said favor, the principal is expected to rubber stamp any and everything which the LSCs tells it to rubber stamp. Usually in the form of enrollment for one of their kids or friends kids and people that they want hired for jobs.

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LSC have a very limited charter. They are not meant to be involved in teacher hiring or the manner of instruction. They are really there to guide the principal

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

They may not be "meant" to do this in theory but it is exactly what happens in practice. See the turnaround scam that was perpetrated on MANY schools until the system realized that it was a crock of shit program and decided to discontinue it. LSCs were heavily involved in the hiring of teachers and other staff members.
The influence of LSCs extends well beyond just simply hiring principals. They also are in control of budgets as well as they have to sign off on them.

And I don't say this to suggest that I'm "anti LSC" either. I just think that in too MANY instances they have been and are politicized to the detriment of the schools which they are supposed to serve.

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Politics is being played in every school building in the country. Besides, there aren't many strong LSCs left. There is essentially no check on the principal in the overwhelming majority of schools.

To your earlier point, an LSC is supposed to work in the interest of the entire school. Far too many members make votes based on what's best for their family or whatever political career they are trying to get off the ground. There are a lot of lawyers and judges who are trying to fluff their political resumes.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Great post. Your wife sounds like a great person. God bless her.

There are definitely bad teachers and one who are not in it for the right reasons. But there are still a bunch of good ones left and not all places have an agenda.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Agreed. Like any profession there will be bad employees. Education is no different. There are bad teachers and in some cases terrible teachers. However the system is not littered with them.
There are a ton of teachers that care and in MANY cases might care too much. That's why a great number of them get burned out and quit well before they are able to retire. As I'm sure you know.

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How do you get burned out working 180 days a year?

Shots taken at firemen.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Unlike most professions, however, bad teachers are protected and immune to reprimand and / or termination. This isn't unique to teachers and I'm not anti-union...it's just a reality. A majority of private sector jobs do not have that protection and it's much easier to get rid of bad employees.

Not exactly an apples to apples comparison. I fully agree there are more good teachers than bad teachers so don't group me in the teacher bashing group. The education problems sit fully in politics and bloated administration

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Hey

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

my wife insisted we go to second semester senior year parent teacher conferences.

She knows we'll go to Tuscany afterwards every time.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Try working with 120-150 children per day 5 days per week and you will find out very easily. Particularly when you never take time away for yourself for the most part.

Teaching (particularly in "urban environments") is hardly a picnic.

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i think this could be a new porn series

Yeah, MANY are exhausted by their own 1 or 2 kids after a few minutes. Kids they actually love. Dealing with over 100 kids a day for hours isn't a walk in the park.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

But then you get a monday off, then a wed, thurs, friday, then a christmas break, then a couple more mondays off, then a spring break, then a summer break. What high stress job lets you do that? Brain surgeon, maybe?

They're taking home the work too. Firefighters have a similar setup. Except most days aren't stressful for them.

Truthfully, cops should get far more days off too. Instead, they get mandatory overtime. Theoretically, MANY should perform better with those breaks. That's good for us and our kids.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

I think all of our teachers try hard.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

What other job makes someone responsible for managing over a 100 kids all while dealing with a bunch of shitty adults on a daily basis?

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You can tell who prepares for them and if they know your kid. It's appreciated and it's rare.

120 kids on zoom doesn't count dude

Another teacher bashing thread. How original.

Try keeping people alive, dealing with addicts who are screaming and threatening you and your staff while severely understaffed during a global pandemic.

Always find these discussions entertaining because I've actually seen behind the curtain, do find the seemingly endless efforts at obfuscation somewhat charming, kind of like a teenage girl when you make fun of her favorite boy band.

Being a ref. That's seems stressful.

Agreed.

But respect is earned in life.

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Forget about merely"threatening" anyone . I have worked in a school where one teacher had his head split by a student that cracked him with a chair. While another one had his ribs caved in by another one that stomped the hell out of him with a pair of Timberlands. And still another one will never be able to lift her left arm ever again after being attacked by another student. One teacher dropped dead while chasing a student that tried to attack her inside of a classroom. And those are just SOME of the things which I can remember happening over the years.

Education isn't beanbag by any stretch of the imagination and anyone who believes it is is simply being ignorant.

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But making the same repetitive post over and over does count? Just Asking A Question

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There are a lot of hard jobs out here. Not just teaching. I don't ever want to say that there aren't.

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