First They Came for the Teachers…

From today's New York Times letters page, in response to last week's article about GOP governors pushing for the abolition of teacher tenure (which I blogged here):

As the movement to eliminate tenure takes hold, it's worth asking advocates for dismissal of incompetent teachers whether they think that teachers are the only underperforming public-sector workers. Do they also favor more dismissals of subpar police officers and firefighters?

Short answer: Yep. 

In related news, Transportation Security Administration workers get limited collective bargaining rights!

Comments

[mr simple]

Who is your daddy and what does he do?

[Xenocles]

It's not a union!

[Lith Ping]

Man, I bet the letter-writer thought she had a checkmate.

I am always mindful of the great HLM's observation to the effect that normal, healthy children have nothing but contempt for the type of person who would spend his or her life as a schoolteacher. But somewhere along the line we've made teachers another class of holy cows, like cops.

[R C Dean]

WTF? Does the letter-writer actually think anyone is going to say "Egads, no! I favor retaining, if not promoting, underperforming cops and firefighters! But I see we can't do that while simultaneously firing bad teachers. I hereby withdraw my support for the termination of bad teachers."

[Pro Libertate]

Truly, the writer has a dizzying intellect.

[Episiarch]

Wait 'til she gets going! Now, where was she?

[Steve Chaos]

Something about a land war in Asia.

[omg]

I actually advocate firing cops that aren't under-performing, because I question what the definition of "performing" would be.

[BakedPenguin]

Good point. Every Oath keeper and whistle blower in the PD are "under-performing."

[Tulpa]

Just like any other business, it's a question of how much money you bring in. If you're not pulling your weight by seizing cars, cash, laptops, etc during your assigned swat raids, your job shouldn't be safe.

[Mainer]

The people in public unions are from a different world, nay, a different universe. I honestly cannot conceive of how any could think that your job should be secure, even if you're not very good at it.

[aeronathan]

"Do they also favor more dismissals of subpar police officers and firefighters?"

Oh dear god yes! Lets start separating the wheat from the chaff!

[Sovereign Immunity]

But ...but the children! Chaos, anarchy!

[Pip]

"First They Came for the Teachers..."

It's about fucking time.

[Hugh Akston]

You guys are all wrong in measuring the public sector by the private sector standard of actual accomplishment. What it really is is a thinly-veiled welfare program for chair-moistening cretins.

[Apogee]

This ^, except that it's not thinly veiled at all.

It's a jobs program, and nothing else.

[Zeb]

I bet the person writing the letter thought they scored a big shot against conservatives, since they obviously just hate teachers and love police and firemen and have no other basis for argument other than that base emotion.

[Pro Libertate]

Let them cower in fear from day to day like the rest of us, the parasites.

With apologies to friends in the teaching and other civil service professions. Naturally I don't mean you.

[Jim]

I teach at a college with no tenure and no union. I have to earn my position bloviating each semester. But let's face facts: It's not exactly work.

[Tulpa]

Er, they DID score a shot against conservatives. Conservatives worship cops.

[Zeb]

True. A lot of conservatives probably can't imagine that there could be such a thing as an underperforming cop as they are all such heroes. But I can't imagine anyone not at least thinking that they would not be in favor of firing under-performing police or firemen. But as I am not a conservative, I wouldn't really know.

[BladeDoc]

Not true -- the problem is what a true law-and-order conservative thinks is under-performing is likely the exact opposite to what you and I do.

[P Brooks]

Do they also favor more dismissals of subpar police officers and firefighters?

Fucking competence; how do it work?

[Pro Libertate]

The problem is that none of us are worthy to sit in judgment over these noble philosopher finks.

[Binky]

pressing ahead on a hot-button issue

Eewww!!

[adam]

It's worth quoting the second paragraph of the writer's letter- it provides some more context to the comment.
"Evaluating job performance objectively and assessing accountability for results driven by many factors beyond the individual teacher's control are genuinely difficult. As a public school parent, I favor getting rid of incompetent teachers. But until we are ready to define and consistently apply fair standards for individual accountability for all kinds of public-sector outcomes, teachers will have some reason to feel they are being singled out for political purposes."

[smalls]

I don't think this context really helps the letter writer's case at all. I hear that argument all the time....."but, but, you can't possibly FAIRLY evaluate a teacher". Why not? Sure maybe some teachers will get canned because their boss doesn't like them. But that could happen in any business. But guess what....smart managers don't do that.....or their companies won't succeed. And if principals are also assessed on their ability to improve an entire school's performance, then they might actually care about which teachers are actually doing a good job. That's how I see it.

[The Children]

Why.. why won't you please think of us?

[Sean L.]

We do. It's the teacher's union that doesn't.

[Lucky]

An Edmonton woman who uses a wheelchair is fighting to get her granddaughter on a school bus because snowy and icy sidewalks make it hard to walk the child to school.

Monica Preston, 6, hasn't been to school since the snowstorm in early January.

Her grandmother, Frances Preston, uses a wheelchair because her left leg is amputated above the knee.

Preston's request to get her granddaughter on a school bus was turned down, because the child is within walking distance of the school.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmon.....z1DL43qmAB

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmon.....z1DL3xJkfZ

[zoltan]

Reading those comments...there's just something so weak and pale about them.

[Sovereign Immunity]

A nation of gingers and Timbits.

[Jim]

Tim Horton played for three teams in the U.S., so there's something very American about Timbits.

But you can't get maple at the location on 7th street near MSG, and they can't do a double-double right. Fucking Canadians and their half-assed attempts at multinational corporations.

[Matrix]

I could see this turning into little fatties riding the bus to a school just down the road because it's too much effort to walk.

[Highway]

WTF? I walked to school by myself when I was 6, across a major road. I walked to *preschool* by myself at 4.

Holy paranoia. Grandma, stay home with the 2-year old and tell the 6-year old to get her butt to school.

[NL]

I'm glad that letter-writer had the courage to stand up for people who are bad at their jobs.

[perlhaqr]

Is this really supposed to be a question?