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In every school I have ever worked, the administrators do observe the teachers teaching, at least once a year. God help us if our pay scale was based on the results of having our boss watch us work for 45 minutes to an hour once a year. To say nothing of the inevitable bias that enters the equation with those who get along well with the principal, and those who have had a disagreement. Yeek, I can't think of a worse way to base someone's pay.

posted 4 years, 7 months ago
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Thankyou for the opportunity to respond and initiate conversation about this measure.

From listening to the show, I still didn't get a good idea of just how exactly this measure proposed that teachers would be measured for merit pay. Without this detail, I can't conceive of how one could approve of the measure. I don't really buy that the ambiguity of the measure in this area allows a well crafted system to emerge. I agree with Librarian teacher Martha Decherd that basing the merit pay on standardized tests alone would be dicey, and would certainly have to take into account the scores from previous assessments, each child individually...and state tests being far less than ideal for such a high stakes thing like a paycheck.

Having taught most of my life in a high poverty school (David Douglas High School in East Portland) that also had a high diversity rate, I wonder how in the world would teachers be judged for the progress of kids from other countries? Students who have had huge gaps in their education? Students who are homeless? Students who have special needs? Students who come from countries with utterly broken educational systems, arriving here next to illiterate not only in English, but in their first language as well? For a huge number of schools in Oregon, these ELL student populations are not a few isolated kids, but large percentages, and growing.

A business model is nice in business, but one of the major reform movements in education is that the mass production factory model of education that our schools emulate leaves alot of kids to slip through the cracks. Kids are not furniture or customers. They come from homes that are often a wreck, are at times more concerned about their next meal, bad home circumstances, drug use and absentee parents--either emotionally or physically.

How is it going to benefit our education system to lay these realities at the feet of teachers and tell them "fix the discrepancy, your wages depend on it." Especially when teachers are often times digging themselves into alot of school debt just so they can do a job that is meant to be inherently rewarding because of their own ability to be effective.

A kids education is like a triangle...Parents, the kid him herself and the teacher all have to be onboard and in participation in order to overcome the inevitable obstacles that will arise as that child matures. Maybe parents should be looked at for tax breaks for kids that pull their weight? Kids not making the grade mandatorily be signed up for summer school?

That said, the seniority system isn't perfect. There are teachers who have put in 20 plus years who are just plugging through the last ten to get their PERS retirement package. They are often disengaged, disillusioned with all the hoops they are made to jump through by constantly changing requirements, have hit their peak of good teaching and for many possible reasons started to just punch the clock. And there is something to be said for natural ability in teaching.

But trying to fix these problems with this punitive bandage of merit pay for teachers that isn't well spelled out, well, it only makes the teaching profession a less desirable place to be for people who have alot to offer. Competition might be good in sports or business, but in education collaboration is the way to success. Kids benefit immensely from teaching teams that bring a more well rounded point of view to subjects, not that compete against each other for what...? a raise?

The majority of middle school teachers that I have come across work far more than an 8 hour day. I can speak personally that I cannot give what it takes to be a teacher right now and I spend time raising kids. I need a job with hours, not a job that is a way of life, which is largely what teaching is.

posted 4 years, 8 months ago
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As an ESL teacher of kids who are recently arrived to the US, every year I go through the process of administering a test that the kids have zero chance of passing. Every year I have kids who look at me in despair. Having arrived 7, 8 months previous, they are now expected to take a test the requires them to read at grade level. It is extremely stressful for some kids, other kids click through the test and in 15 minutes, voila, they are no better off than if they agonized trying to comprehend and produce. Neither group of kid has much chance of passing (sorry, but research indicates that it takes anywhere from 5 to 7 years to learn a foreign language, I am not being cynical, merely realistic)

So from this perspective, it is hard not to come to the conclusion that while I agree with high standards, NCLB is broken. The kids that are designed to not be left behind end up having to look for options aside from the public school system.

The ESL kids, who are in addition to state tests have 2 other tests that they must take to see they level of advancement each year. One colleague quipped when this onslaught of tests began "Phew, I thought I might have to actually plan some lessons this year, but I can see that I won't have to do that much," in reference to the huge amount of testing these kids have. Keeping in mind that they might be taking each of the state tests up to 3 times.

So these kids, who are going to be in our communities very soon, I would ask whether NCLB is really helping them at all, even despite the best of intentions.

It is not the first time that I have wondered if the government has much grounding in the reality of our classrooms, particularly those of us with high free and reduced lunch populations, and high immigrant populations, which is the reality in East Portland, as well as many other places across the states.

posted 4 years, 9 months ago
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I think the best way to express any faith is through service. Education, medical attention and all whole variety of service opportunities await Christians who will no more than seek them out.

Giving people what they need, when they need it will always go further than reading bible verses to them that they don't comprehend. Christ didn't merely preach, he healed and taught. That is why people flocked to him. They killed him for what he said (that he was the son of God), they followed him for what he did.

posted 4 years, 10 months ago
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I think this show presents a fabulous topic. There is alot of, well, judging by reading some posts it seems like animosity isn't too strong of a word, against Christians particularly strong in Portland Metro area. This isn't new to me.

I appreciated the Muslim caller who said that he noticed that talking about religion to white people made them particularly tense, but didn't find this same level of tension when discussing religion with immigrant groups. Talking about religion makes alot of people uncomfortable, if not in all the US, particularly in Portland.

By way of observation after 20 years of being a Portland resident and through this thread, there is a good deal of offense at the Catholic and Christian churches. People in Portland don't like Christians much and faith issues do make people bristle here. I too don't typically mention my faith unless directly asked because I would like to avoid the pigeonhole I will get slammed into, or I don't want to have to duck to avoid the rotten vegetables I can mentally see being lobbed at me.

And ironically, Portland is supposed to be this very open-minded place. Yes, it is, as long as you agree with the majority of blue voters and their post-modern mindset.

I want to hear more about how church leaders, like the ones on the show, approach the not merely skeptical, but our current age that would rank anyone of faith with the cave-men because they consider faith to be a testimony to backwardness.

Thanks for the topic of today's show. I want the dialogue to continue, if for no other reason than to challenge the church to have something to say to our current Portland climate of having "evolved past" religion/church or faith.

posted 4 years, 10 months ago
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