Reply #2: I am an urban teacher and you nailed it [View All]

We now spend more weeks testing than we do teaching. We have lost over half of our kids to charters, our budget is in horrible shape, 200 teachers were laid off last summer, many classified employees had hours reduced so the district does not have to provide them health insurance. But the district is spending an exhorbitant amount on a reading program that has been marginally successful. We will have to close as many as 30 schools at the end of this year.

The district has never once made AYP and doesn't have a prayer of doing so. No, most of the charters are also not making AYP.

Our kids deserve better. They deserve a vibrant, well funded public school system with an emphasis on learning instead of testing.

We also need to focus on what we do well in urban systems. My district won an award for its program serving homeless kids but there was no mention of this in local media. They are more concerned about test scores. There are a handful of schools in my district that do well and make AYP every year but no one talks about them either. The failing schools are more interesting I guess.

Welcome to DU! :hi: