I was at a meeting yesterday where the administration unveiled the new schedule for next year. We will add an intervention period at the end of the day by taking minutes away from each class during the day. We will lose about 4 hours of class time per period to create this extra period.
When one teacher asked why this is a good idea (to sacrifice class time for the intervention period) an administrator said that every 50 students we keep in the school generates an additional $250,000.
When another teacher asked why 60% of the students should have their classes shortened–while having the same requirements to meet–to help the bottom 40%, the response from a second administrator was “teach less.”
I have always resisted when people critiqued education by saying educators are lowering the bar and teaching to the lowest common denominator. Now I’m not so sure the critics aren’t right.
We have narrowed our offerings, cut electives, and eliminated junior and senior classes, and now I’m told to do less. <Sigh>
This does not inspire me.
That’s depressing. Here’s something to perk up your day: “I’ll Fight You for the Library,” by Taylor Mali at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qXgPfMGG8E
I am a student going into english education and this scares me. I am afraid to teach with NCLB still flying high as our educational standpoint. I also fear administrators such as this who devalue the educational aspect of a school in order to increase revenue. What can be done to stop this? Students should be in school to learn, not to give money to the district.