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I am a Guidance Counselor in NYC. I wanted impressions from educators on what the New Mexico Public Schools are like. Are the schools generally organized well? What are the responsibilities of a Guidance Counselor there (since it seems to vary so much place to place).
I was wondering if any teachers or counselors could tell me around how much health insurance would be monthly for my husband and I if I decided to move to Pittsburgh
Is there a teachers Union? If not, are working conditions acceptable without them? If there's another school district that you could suggest in NM?
Thank you for any insights you can give me. It is appreciated. Have a Happy New Year .
I am a Guidance Counselor in NYC. I wanted impressions from educators on what the New Mexico Public Schools are like. Are the schools generally organized well? What are the responsibilities of a Guidance Counselor there (since it seems to vary so much place to place).
I was wondering if any teachers or counselors could tell me around how much health insurance would be monthly for my husband and I if I decided to move to Pittsburgh
Is there a teachers Union? If not, are working conditions acceptable without them? If there's another school district that you could suggest in NM?
Thank you for any insights you can give me. It is appreciated. Have a Happy New Year .
Disclosure: I am not a teacher, but married to one. My kids attend the Academy.
Generally, NM ranks as one of the worst large school districts in terms of NCLB performance. System is an elected school board in charge of a hired Superintendent. APS (Albuquerque Public Schools) is a pathetic joke. Review the State of NM PED website for statistics. We have one of the lowest accredited teacher ratios for any large school district. ESL programs have expanded rapidly due to the influx of immigrants.
Internally there is strife between the teachers and administrators. APS also has one of the largest admin to teacher ratios.
Plenty of opportunity for Counselors!
Benefits are comparable to most large school districts.
There is an active union. Conditions are better than most large school districts, as there is no real expectation to educate anybody; teachers are not held accountable.
Los Alamos Public Schools are some of the best in the nation. Very high standards, as well as high expectations from the community. Many of the teachers have long tenure. Poor teachers do not last long. Los Alamos has the highest per-capita concentration of Phd's in the country.
I am a teacher in Roswell NM but not at a public school. My sister-in-laws work at the Albuquerque Public Schools. It's sort of a mixed bag in NM. Pay is on the rise as Governor Richardson has been focusing on teacher pay. Some of the districts like Albuquerque Public Schools are renowned for their problems. Personally I have found the health insurance co-premiums to be outrageously high. It effectively lowers my yearly income by $7000-$8000. This may not be the same in all districts. In general, you just have to be really careful about where you go. There are a lot of academies and charter schools around the state that are really good, and some public schools that aren't bad either, but other places have notoriously bad school systems. Some places to check out might be Los Alamos, Ruidoso, Santa Fe (High cost of living), Alamogordo, some of the outlying areas in Albuquerque like Los Lunas, Rio Rancho, the far northeast hights and so forth. I think the educational situation in NM is getting better, but in some places it still has a long way to go. I don't know about your particular situation in NYC, but probably almost anywhere in NM would seem a lot different to you.
I have to come to the defense of APS. I am a teacher and so I see from the INSIDE what goes on in APS. I think for the most part APS does a very good job with what we have. We are really underfunded, unfortunately, but are making headway in that area. To say that teachers are not held accountable is a complete misinformation. There is no more strife between administators and teachers here than you would fine anywhere. We are actually gaining national recognition in some areas. In fact in a recent survey APS got very high marks in revamping the curiculums towards becoming standards based.
We have our problems, all school districts do. But many schools in the district are excellent. Three Albuquerque high schools just were awarded nationally for excellence in eduction. The school where I work is every bit as good as any school anywhere and our kids perform at a very high level.
We get pegged with this "students don't perform" tag because there are many schools in the lower socioeconomic areas that don't. The schools in the better parts of albuquerque perform very well. Not everyone can go to "The Academy" and look down on everybody else. Some people proudly send their kids to APS and they get a quality education.
I have to come to the defense of APS. I am a teacher and so I see from the INSIDE what goes on in APS. I think for the most part APS does a very good job with what we have. We are really underfunded, unfortunately, but are making headway in that area. To say that teachers are not held accountable is a complete misinformation. There is no more strife between administators and teachers here than you would fine anywhere. We are actually gaining national recognition in some areas. In fact in a recent survey APS got very high marks in revamping the curiculums towards becoming standards based.
We have our problems, all school districts do. But many schools in the district are excellent. Three Albuquerque high schools just were awarded nationally for excellence in eduction. The school where I work is every bit as good as any school anywhere and our kids perform at a very high level.
We get pegged with this "students don't perform" tag because there are many schools in the lower socioeconomic areas that don't. The schools in the better parts of albuquerque perform very well. Not everyone can go to "The Academy" and look down on everybody else. Some people proudly send their kids to APS and they get a quality education.
What does APS spend per child versus other large school districts? More, of course. Please advise as to how you think APS is underfunded. APS already mandates all-day kindergarten, and is exploring mandated summer school for kids that did not "make progress" the prior year.
What percentage of APS teachers are fully certifed and licensed. Post the percentage for the OP. If you don't know, I can post it. It might scare you.
What other profession would allow its employees to continually fail at the job they are hired for without eventually replacing them? Can you imagine if the air traffic controllers had the same success rate as teachers? How about surgeons? Would you send your kid to a hospital that hired unqualified doctors, screwed up 60% of the time, and then tried to skirt blame by stating "we do so bad because so many of our patients are poor"?
I compiled the statistics from the PED website for last school year. Only half the elementary schools met AYP. Out of 26 middle schools, not ONE met AYP; out of 12 high schools, only two met AYP. This seems to be worse than you lead others to believe. Do you even know how the district performs? Are you suggesting that lower soci-economic kids don't deserve a good education? You seem almost seem to be. Excuse me if I read your post wrong.
Look further at the data - almost 60% of all APS schools are classifed as Title 1. Six out of 10! I have the Excel file in case anybody wants to review the calculations. I don't look down on APS because my kids go to the Academy, I look down on APS because they do a horrible job. Trust me, I could find much better things to do with the money we spend on tuition!
Are there good teachers are APS? Yes. My wife has a BS degree and two Master's degrees. She chose to teach because she loves kids, and she likes the flexibility. Are there good schools? Sure - if you can afford to live in the right area. But those successes can only be construed as parental success stories, as each school is funded equally.
Peace.
Last edited by trappedinNM; 10-05-2008 at 08:59 PM..
What does APS spend per child versus other large school districts? More, of course. Please advise as to how you think APS is underfunded. APS already mandates all-day kindergarten, and is exploring mandated summer school for kids that did not "make progress" the prior year.
What percentage of APS teachers are fully certifed and licensed. Post the percentage for the OP. If you don't know, I can post it. It might scare you.
What other profession would allow its employees to continually fail at the job they are hired for without eventually replacing them? Can you imagine if the air traffic controllers had the same success rate as teachers? How about surgeons? Would you send your kid to a hospital that hired unqualified doctors, screwed up 60% of the time, and then tried to skirt blame by stating "we do so bad because so many of our patients are poor"?
I compiled the statistics from the PED website for last school year. Only half the elementary schools met AYP. Out of 26 middle schools, not ONE met AYP; out of 12 high schools, only two met AYP. This seems to be worse than you lead others to believe. Do you even know how the district performs? Are you suggesting that lower soci-economic kids don't deserve a good education? You seem almost seem to be. Excuse me if I read your post wrong.
Look further at the data - almost 60% of all APS schools are classifed as Title 1. Six out of 10! I have the Excel file in case anybody wants to review the calculations. I don't look down on APS because my kids go to the Academy, I look down on APS because they do a horrible job. Trust me, I could find much better things to do with the money we spend on tuition!
Are there good teachers are APS? Yes. My wife has a BS degree and two Master's degrees. She chose to teach because she loves kids, and she likes the flexibility. Are there good schools? Sure - if you can afford to live in the right area. But those successes can only be construed as parental success stories, as each school is funded equally.
Peace.
People like you crack me up! Are you by chance a politician? You sound like one. You have all these great statistics, AYP, certified teachers, blah blah blah. You have no idea. You talk about teachers not doing their jobs 60% of the time. You compare us to air traffic controllers? Air traffic controllers don't have to deal with pilots who don't care and have severe behavioral problems. Air taffic controllers don't have to deal with planes who have learning disabilities. Air traffic controllers don't have to go and hug those planes when their lives are so tumultuous that they can't sleep at night. Surgeons would fail 60% of the time if 60% of their patients were beyond help. Teachers have to deal with EVERY student we get. We teacher THEM ALL. We can't choose and discard those we don't care to teach or that make our jobs more difficult. (Well at the Academy they can) I love when people like you try to equate teaching to working in business. Business and teaching are nothing alike.
People like you want to blame the educational problems all on the teachers. Lets hold the teachers accountable. Well I will tell you one thing I have no problem being held accountable for my teaching. But accountability is a farce, a myth put up by politicians and naive people like yourself to make you feel important like your doing something. Until you hold the people who can actually change and improve the education of the students accountable, nothing will change. Until you hold the parents and the students accountable, it will be business as usual in the educational world. Because until then, all your liberal educational rhetoric is just that, rhetoric. You and your politicians are useless. Stuffed suits with no actual experience spouting out useless statistics that have nothing to do with the real problems public school teachers face.
I teach in a school that is exemplary and near or at the top of the testing results year in and year out. Our kids and parents are phenomenal. I thank god everyday for where I get to work. But, we aren't any better teachers than the teachers who get up every morning in those title 1 schools and work their tail ends off trying to get to as many of those kids as possible. Everytime I hear a politician or some numbskull like yourself badmouth them because of some ridiculous statistic my heart bleeds for them. Here they are stuck in an impossible job, getting paid laughable wages, just because they want to help those kids. And here you buffoons go, making their lives even more difficult with comical allegations of inadequacy. You know maybe once it would be nice if you people could see through your gargantuan egos and just say thank you. We appreciate what your doing. We know your job is difficult and we acknowledge your work. But at the very least, since you have absolutely no idea what your saying you could just say nothing at all.
Excellent post NativeNM!!!!! I have spent many years teaching in one of those Title I urban inner city schools (in Ohio). I am continually shocked by those who blame the teachers for low scores. If they actually spent some time in my school, they would have seen a group of hard working, dedicated teachers. I will be moving to ABQ soon, and will probably start by subbing, so that I can figure out where I want to apply next year. Thanks for your post.
AMEN NativeNM!!...I have had friends (who are not related to the education field at all) and they just don't understand why teachers 'aren't doing their job'? Sure, we are not perfect and we are constantly going to seminars, trainings and attending 'professional days' to 'better ourselves professionally'. Yet, blaming teachers does little, if anything. The problem is much deeper than teachers. Parental involvement with their students alone would do wonders. Some parents feel schools are merely a daycare. If you as a parent want your child to succeed, you must do your part. Teachers can not do it alone. We try to mold the person with lessons needed to lead a successful adult life so that they can be a positive citizen in society. It's up to you (parents) to reinforce and help structure that mold so that it continues to grow.
People like you crack me up! Are you by chance a politician? You sound like one. You have all these great statistics, AYP, certified teachers, blah blah blah. You have no idea. You talk about teachers not doing their jobs 60% of the time. You compare us to air traffic controllers? Air traffic controllers don't have to deal with pilots who don't care and have severe behavioral problems. Air taffic controllers don't have to deal with planes who have learning disabilities. Air traffic controllers don't have to go and hug those planes when their lives are so tumultuous that they can't sleep at night. Surgeons would fail 60% of the time if 60% of their patients were beyond help. Teachers have to deal with EVERY student we get. We teacher THEM ALL. We can't choose and discard those we don't care to teach or that make our jobs more difficult. (Well at the Academy they can) I love when people like you try to equate teaching to working in business. Business and teaching are nothing alike.
People like you want to blame the educational problems all on the teachers. Lets hold the teachers accountable. Well I will tell you one thing I have no problem being held accountable for my teaching. But accountability is a farce, a myth put up by politicians and naive people like yourself to make you feel important like your doing something. Until you hold the people who can actually change and improve the education of the students accountable, nothing will change. Until you hold the parents and the students accountable, it will be business as usual in the educational world. Because until then, all your liberal educational rhetoric is just that, rhetoric. You and your politicians are useless. Stuffed suits with no actual experience spouting out useless statistics that have nothing to do with the real problems public school teachers face.
I teach in a school that is exemplary and near or at the top of the testing results year in and year out. Our kids and parents are phenomenal. I thank god everyday for where I get to work. But, we aren't any better teachers than the teachers who get up every morning in those title 1 schools and work their tail ends off trying to get to as many of those kids as possible. Everytime I hear a politician or some numbskull like yourself badmouth them because of some ridiculous statistic my heart bleeds for them. Here they are stuck in an impossible job, getting paid laughable wages, just because they want to help those kids. And here you buffoons go, making their lives even more difficult with comical allegations of inadequacy. You know maybe once it would be nice if you people could see through your gargantuan egos and just say thank you. We appreciate what your doing. We know your job is difficult and we acknowledge your work. But at the very least, since you have absolutely no idea what your saying you could just say nothing at all.
A very emotional response which ignored the major elements of my post.
1. No, I am not a politician
2. Statistics or otherwise mathematically computing results are still the best method we have to measure performance of many activities. Do you grade your student's work? Would you accept it if they came to you and said "grades, grades, grades, blah, blah blah!"? Why should it be different for teachers?
3. Are you really suggesting that 60% of the student population is beyond help? APS is in worse shape than I thought! If they are beyond help, perhaps we should just send them home now and save the money?
4. re: "we teacher them all". Since when did "teacher" become a verb?
5. "Accountability is a farce." Wow, you sound more like a politician than me. I bet you hate Bush, and gripe that he is not held "accountable".
6. "until you hold the parents and students accountable.." I guess by your analogy a sick patient is responsible for healing himself also?
7. I can assure you I am not liberal.
8. My suits fit quite nicely. Hart Shaffner Marx, by the way. Other than a wife who has taught for years, I have no experience with teachers, except the fine teachers at Academy, who, by the way, earn less than many APS teachers. I wonder how they do it?
9. "I teach in a school that is exemplary.." Well, that narrows it way down. If I remember there were only a handful of exemplary schools.
10. I wonder how the teachers in the other 14 industrialized nations that perform significantly better than the US manage to succeed at their "impossible job", despite the fact that many of those nations, on average, spend less per child than the US does. Furthermore, study after study has determined that per hour, teachers are one of the highest paid of all professions. If you factor in the pension benefits, teachers outrank every other government employee class in terms of total lifetime compensation. You know this because you belong to the teachers union, who sends you the same stuff they send my wife.
To rebutt the ever-present "teachers work hours they are not paid for" argument, I can assure you that every white-collar professional works overtime without pay these days. There are not too many CPA's that work 40 hours a week. Same goes for lawyers, and many other professional jobs. You will get no sympathy from me. I know how hard my wife works; so do lots of other people. Ask the small business owners how many hours they work.
11. "Comical allegations.." I provided statistics from the State. They are not, therefore, allegations. They are facts.
12. Thank you.
An open question to APS teachers: Since all schools, in all districts are subject to the same standards as mandated by the NCLB act, why is it that APS ranks so poorly compared to other school districts with respect to our NCLB performance? In other words, even if you think NCLB is flawed, every other district is subject to the same flawed standards. Many teachers I have met through my wife will state "well, we did poorly because the NCLB is flawed." Yet somehow other school districts seem to manage better than us.
14. My comments were posted in direct response to a question. Your response ignored the facts and focused on emotions. Tragic. If you have a case, state it. Regretfully, your tears and hurt feelings will not solve the problem.
15. Thank you again.
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