Outside+Readings+2-10

Katie's Outside article This is an article on how a mother has been arrested and charged with the felony of falsifying documents so that her children could go to a safer school. Although I understand that there are limits on open enrollment in public school for over crowding purposes, her children's father lived in the city where she "transfered" her kids. Technically they did not have residence with their dad, but did spend half their time at his home. On top of this the mother is close to graduating college with a teaching degree and with the felony on her record she will not be able to receive her license. This story reminds me of Rainey in the article by Wink. The 'white' supremacy forces their theories on education down on a minority without trying to understand the minority's life and reasoning. I find this story very interesting and I am going to try and find more on the story.

--Katie, I really like this article. I am amazed at how many signatures are on the petition! I also can understand that there are limits to open enrollment, but this was just a mom trying to do what is best for her child. Education is very important and she, as a teacher, understands that. I see the legal side of it, but it all comes down to one child trying to be put in a safer school. Where's the harm in that?

"Last hired, First fired" --Kylie's Outside Article Legislator Wants System to Stress Teacher Quality Over Seniority is an article that I found on jsonline.com. As we discussed our beliefs about the philosophies of education, it started to make me think about the quality of a teacher if they only believe in Essentialism. Essentialism is very teacher-centered and is focuses on teaching only the core curriculum. To a point, I believe that this way of teaching could be ineffective. I also believe, the more experience a teacher has, the less open-minded they are about changing they way they teach. As the years go by, a lot of schools are shifting towards student-centered classrooms. Therefore, teachers who have been teaching for multiple years may be stuck in the Essentialism belief of teaching. This brings me to my outside reading, titled "Legislator Wants System to Stress Teacher Quality Over Seniority." To sum it up, this article talks about the possibility of changing teacher's contracts so that seniority doesn't automatically keep them safe from being fired if budget cuts need to be made. I have had teachers in the past who would never get fired just based on the fact that they had been teaching for so many years. They could be the worst teacher in the world, but because of their seniority, they have kept their job. I am very in favor of this new change. I believe that teachers should keep their job or be let go based on their quality of teaching. It isn't fair to students to keep around the old grumpy teachers just because they've been teaching for 30 years versus the new, young teacher who is very involved in his/her classroom and does a wonderful job of teaching. It will be interesting to see how far this goes and if any changes to teacher's contracts are made.

--Kylie, I really liked the article that you found! It was really interesting to read about. I had a couple teachers in high school that had just been teaching way too long and didn't really care about his/her students. I had one teacher who has taught for 26 years and he could have cared less about his students. He just lectured us, wasn't helpful, and wouldn't explain projects clearly. All of us knew that he would never be forced to leave because he had been there for so long. I found this really frustating at times. I am glad they are starting to look for the quality of the teacher instead of how long they are teaching. Just because someone has taught for 25 years or so does make them a great teacher. I hope they really start to make changes to teacher's contracts! -Kayla

-I agree with this as far as from a students perspective, but as a teacher it would be nice to feel secure in your job as well. I don't want to always be on the edge of my seat worried about if my contract will be renewed. I also am not trying to imply that once I have been a teacher for a period of time I will become lazy and not care because that is the complete opposite of who I am and most teachers are. I think the evaluation should be on more then just how long a teacher has been there, but I would hope that seniority would play a __little__ factor in it all too. -Katie

Kayla's Outside Article This is a article about President Obama's reforms and his commitment to ensure that all children have a oppertunity for an education. Obama wants to fix the NCLB act. He states that all children no matter what race, gender, or disability should have a world class education. I agree with what he has to say and he assures that it will not be a competition between schools. We will see if that is true seeing since he has his program Race to the Top. Although the article doesn't really pertain to the Wink aritcle we read, but I found it interesting.

Beth's Outside Article and Summary