NISD Student refuses to wear RFID tag (San Antonio, Austin: felons, schools)

[buffy888]

Originally Posted by Minathebrat

Now if want to quibble about something, why don't we discuss the reasons that school districts today are looking at our kids with $$ in their eyes? Why do they need so much more money per kid to teach them than they did 10-20-30 years ago - enough that they feel motivated enough to install expensive equipment to keep it rolling in to its maximum? And where does the money go?

20 or 30 years ago, special ed students weren't mainstreamed the way they are today. Many students that previously might have been in a special ed self-contained classroom are now in the general ed classroom, but some of them must have a para or aide with them. This is extra money for paras/aides and sometimes additional money for more special ed teachers, speech pathologists, etc.

10, 20, or 30 years ago, we did not have so many ESL students. There is now a need for an ESL teacher (or more than one) on many campuses. There is also a "need" in some districts for bilingual classrooms, so that is extra money for extra teachers per grade level (plus the stipend for bilingual teaching).

20 or 30 years ago, there was not such a wide range of students in a classroom nor the push for differentiation for all students (for example, an elementary classroom will have special ed students, G/T students, average students, students with specific learning disabilities, etc. with the expectation that the curriculum, materials, and teaching methods be modified as needed for each of those groups), leading to somewhat smaller class sizes than in the past... leading to extra money for extra teachers/extra classrooms.

Transportation must be provided for homeless students (even if it is not provided for other students at the school).

Some districts have way too many people at the top (administrative positions, specialist positions, etc.) with high salaries and not enough people at the school level (such as enough teachers).

NCLB has caused an over-focus on standardized testing. Results of this include intervention and after-school tutoring specifically for kids who have done poorly on those tests in previous years or on practice tests during the year, consultants coming to schools to work with kids and/or teachers on testing subjects, districts spending time and money creating practice tests...

Schools today are not the same as they were 10, 20, or 30 years ago. Some things are better, some things are worse, but there are definitely costs now that there were not in the past.

[datacity]

I think that all teachers and administrators should also wear these lanyards and a public report created each semester that summarizes how much time each and every employee of the school district spent on work, on lunch, on outside stuff, etc.

Seems only fair.

[Azure110]

Originally Posted by datacity

I think that all teachers and administrators should also wear these lanyards and a public report created each semester that summarizes how much time each and every employee of the school district spent on work, on lunch, on outside stuff, etc.

Seems only fair.

Then it would become a privacy issue for sure.

[majormadmax]

Originally Posted by datacity

I think that all teachers and administrators should also wear these lanyards and a public report created each semester that summarizes how much time each and every employee of the school district spent on work, on lunch, on outside stuff, etc.

Seems only fair.

Do you really think these teachers and administers are sneaking off campus during the day?

Seriously, if you had any knowledge of what a typical day is like for these people, you wouldn't post such nonsense.

I would bet they work harder during the day than most of the people on this forum!

[Backstop]

Originally Posted by majormadmax

I would bet they work harder during the day than most of the people on this forum!

Hmmm...

Would that be calories per day based on their 9-10 months of work compared to my 12?

Gotta figure in holidays, sick days, etc. also.

Tell you what: send me a biology teacher for one week, and I'll see how well they hold up running 5" rigid (commercial electrician).

Then the next week, I'll go teach the human biology portion of the ciriculum.

[TexasRedneck]

Backstop, sorry - but you'd lose. Because there's just no way you (or I) could do what a teacher does. Their day doesn't stop when the bell rings - they bring classroom and homework assignments home to grade, prepare lesson plans, enter grades, answer parental phone calls, etc. It's not unusual for them to work until 10 pm to midnight. Weekends? What's that? Saturday you might be able to wrangle time in (like grocery shopping, etc) - but come Sunday, it was time to do the class newsletter, more lesson plans and planning/prepping for the coming week.

I know that because my wife was a teacher for 29 years. Two years ago, I was fed up with the workload and continual stress she was under, and sat her down and told her it was time to retire. I typically work a 50-70 hour week, and while mine can be physical, I wouldn't trade it to teach for anything.

9-10 months of work? Try again - a GOOD teacher will spend at a minimum of 2 weeks after school reworking her room (or, moving it - a favorite past time of admins - moving classrooms around), then another week or two in ongoing education classes. That puts you to the end of June. July, yeah - let's go enjoy the nice, hot summertime....until the first week of August, when it's back to the classroom for 2 weeks, getting it ready for the new year.....half the time, it's been torn up by the housekeeping staff because of new carpet, paint, or any other number of things....then another week in Teacher Conferences w/Admin, then it's back at it again for a new school year.

Oh - and you know that overtime you get? They don't - which means that the 1-3 hours per week they spend in meetings w/Admin after class, the monthly PTA meetings they attend, the various other school events you see them at....it's on THEIR time - no compensation.

My wife LOVED her kids - she cried about "leaving them" - but the administrative side is SO overbearing that most folks can't begin to comprehend it. Are there bad teachers in the system? You bet - because they learn how to "beat" the system, just as they do on your job. But they're the exception rather than the rule - and most of them love "their" kids as much as their parents do.

[majormadmax]

Amen, TRN! (and tell Schoolmarm we said 'howdy!' )

[Backstop]

I have absolutely no doubt your wife was an outstanding educator, and the numbers you presented are factual.

We're edging into TMI territory here, so I'll just state I taught biology for 5 years at the community college level, and currently work as a commercial electrician.

And overall I found teaching easier, although the brain-drain aspect was a bit higher in the classroom.

Leaving this alone now as we need to get back on topic.

[TexasRedneck]

Being an instructor at a college has little relevance to a teacher within the public school system K-12. It's somewhat like saying someone that's done rough-in on residential electrical can do the job you can on commercial.

[Azure110]

While I completely agree with MMM and TxRedneck regarding teachers (my mom is a teacher), I can't help but feel offended when assumptions are made that most posters here don't work as hard or harder. I don't agree with that part. A lot of us have demanding jobs with long hours.

I have a lot of respect for teachers and feel they really need those 2 months off to keep their sanity. Some grade levels are much more demanding than others too. My mom works with special needs children and hear many stories of being kicked, bitten and cussed at. I could never do it.