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Correcting a typo to my own comment above. It must read "I SUPPORT MEASURE 60". I support Bill Sizemore's very thoughtful measures.

posted 4 years, 7 months ago
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I DO NOT SUPPORT Measure 60. I agree with Bill Sizemore that teachers must be held accountable based on performance and NOT seniority. I have a son with special needs in high school. For 12 years we have seen time and time again that the most experienced teachers who had been working for over 15 years turned out to be the most lackadaisical! They were amazingly clueless about how to help my son even AFTER I did my due diligence of going to every school meeting and discussing with the counselors before selecting who they said was the "best" for my son! These experienced teachers were too stubborn, condescending, behaved as if I did not know my own son, and even seemed uninterested in helping him. He is very high functioning and does not exhibit any signs of his disability to a casual observer. He needed just basic intervention in the form of organization skills and class notes. We do most of the teaching at home. Do not tell me that these were isolated incidents. This happened year after year. At the same time, whenever my son was in a new teacher's class, he got just the right kind of assistance and did amazingly well. Most of his "inexperienced" new teachers were open minded, made the parents feel welcome, and went the extra step to help my son fit and feel normal. Academically, he always excelled in the new teachers' classes as compared to the highly accomplished, snotty experienced ones! I am living proof to show that seniority is not the criteria, performance is!
I am not biased and I do not get anything out of this other than the best for all children! Many of the older teachers need extensive re-training!!!!!

posted 4 years, 7 months ago
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