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Life as a public school teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2021

adamcadre.ac

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Re: Life as a public school teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2021

#721

Post by gnopgnip »

zepto wrote: post #121
mindvirus wrote: post #64

One of the most radical beliefs I have is we should get rid of private schools, because it lets the people most capable of forcing change to opt out of an increasingly broken system, and so it doesn't get fixed. Of course I say this as I seriously consider sending my kids to a private school because of articles like this.

> get rid of private schools What does that actually mean? It seems like you’d have to ban homeschooling and severely curtail private tutoring too. The idea of the state providing basic schooling so that even the poorest people start with at least some intellectual capital and can participate in society seems like and a good one. The idea of the state limiting what education is available to everyone and making it ill…

Private schools are subsidized by the government. Charter schools receive virtually all of their funding from the government. The state could only fund public schools

Re: Life as a public school teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2021

#722

Post by adamredwoods »

paulddraper wrote: post #499
adamredwoods wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am baffled why they are doing a recall? According to the site, the main reason states because their kids have not gone back to school. To me, that's not a good enough reason for a recall (recalls cost money). Public schools are under state and county health guidance.

> kids have not gone back to school > that's not a good enough reason On the contrary, it's hard to think of more salient reason than that.

There's a viral pandemic?

At the beginning of the pandemic, I wanted my child to go back to school ASAP, but then I reminded by a teacher friend that their health was important, too.

I believe no one should be forced to work if the health conditions are unsafe, why should teachers exempt form this? There are too many examples of teachers who did die from COVID-19.

https://www.whsv.com/2021/02/17/ny-teacher-dies-from-covid-1...

https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/nobody-knows-how-...

Re: Life as a public school teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2021

#723

Post by chmod600 »

alisonkisk wrote: post #717
chmod600 wrote: post #709

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It feels like people just aren't in agreement on the goals of school. And without agreement on the goals, it's going to be hard to succeed. As far as I can tell, in most of the world and for a long time, school has been a place for academic education. Those that could not be educated for whatever reason were dismissed. The idea that school should be a general social service for children seems popular among politician…

Teachers don't like teachers being social services. They are right. That doesn't mean they are opposed to schools providing social services. Families getting fed at school like getting fed. They aren't opposed to eating.

I didn't say "opposed". Parents expect teachers to teach and teachers expect to teach. But the job decription is changing and inconsistent -- both at the high level of "what is a school" and the low level of "what should I, as a teacher, try to accomplish today?".

Goals are unclear right now. That, by itself, is bad. We need an explicit decision here, and that needs to be communicated to everyone involved.

Re: Life as a public school teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2021

#724

Post by ericd »

mlyle wrote: post #495
ericd wrote: post #383

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, they can't be completely uninterested in teaching, since they're high school teachers - they're not being hired primarily for their research ability. Part of offering better salaries is also being able to be more selective with who you keep.

I made the transition from a career in industry to education in the past couple of years. It's been an interesting path. I'm definitely a subject matter expert. And I'm able to get pretty deep content into middle school and high school classrooms. And working with smaller subgroups of students is a lot like mentoring junior engineers. But man, dealing with a lot of kids in the room is a challenge-- keeping the lower…

Awesome, good on you for getting into teaching! And thanks for weighing in. I’m surprised that the expertise and passion was only slightly helpful for getting engagement, we found it very contagious in our classes with the teacher I described, especially in the more advanced classes.

Re: Life as a public school teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2021

#725

Post by chmod600 »

duped wrote: post #716
chmod600 wrote: post #709

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It feels like people just aren't in agreement on the goals of school. And without agreement on the goals, it's going to be hard to succeed. As far as I can tell, in most of the world and for a long time, school has been a place for academic education. Those that could not be educated for whatever reason were dismissed. The idea that school should be a general social service for children seems popular among politician…

It's not an idea, it's reality. Schools are state run childcare and child rearing facilities in the United States. Academics are one of their activities.

But it's an inconsistent and ad hoc reality. Let's coalesce on the real goals, and document them, and communicate the goals to everyone, and move on.

Right now we are in limbo. The meaning of "school" is drifting and that obviously creates confusion and arguments, as well as bad results.

Re: Life as a public school teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2021

#726

Post by idiotsecant »

giantg2 wrote: post #661
ericd wrote: post #491

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, salaries competitive enough to draw talent away from other high paying opportunities is just one of many things that need to be fixed to get the public education system doing what it should.

Where's the line of what is high paying? Median salary in the US is about $50k. Many teachers in the US make more than that. Some make less. A lot depends on local cost of living. We would also have to factor in other benefits not typically seen in industry, like pensions, tenure (this is really one of the main problems), and time off. I'm sure there are states where teachers are underpaid. My state is in the top ten…

Yes, trying to apply apply industrial engineering metrics to a squishy social problem has never caused problems before at all. After all, we wouldn't want Any Child to be Left Behind.

Re: Life as a public school teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2021

#727

Post by TedDoesntTalk »

mmarq wrote: post #614
yonran wrote: post #444

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> these kids are not broken. > we are calling it "merit" It sounds like you’re arguing about who deserves the prestige of going to Lowell rather than who actually benefits and contributes to the experience of attending classes at Lowell, which is the most populous school in San Francisco and has fairly large class sizes and tough grading. Instead of pretending that all students are equally prepared for class or that…

> It sounds like you’re arguing about who deserves the prestige of going to Lowell rather than who actually benefits and contributes to the experience of attending classes at Lowell, which is the most populous school in San Francisco and has fairly large class sizes and tough grading. As we agreed that social economic background is a major predictor of admission, claiming that poor kids can’t benefit nor contribute t…

> then state schools should distribute this privilege equally.

No.

Re: Life as a public school teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2021

#728

Post by frenchschool »

dopidopHN wrote: post #243
mindvirus wrote: post #64

One of the most radical beliefs I have is we should get rid of private schools, because it lets the people most capable of forcing change to opt out of an increasingly broken system, and so it doesn't get fixed. Of course I say this as I seriously consider sending my kids to a private school because of articles like this.

I think you are into something indeed. When rich / powerful people have to send their kids to the same schools, it became important to have the best one. In France folks send their kids to public school mostly. The best high school in the country are public. And usually it’s a sign of something weird if you do your high school in the private. All that being said. Money always find a way. Some optional curriculum beco…

In France there is a mandatory "map" where you can only send your kids to the nearest public schools.

So you've got "good" ones and "bad" ones depending on the neighborhood. So, yes, the best high schools are public, in areas with high rents and property prices.

Additionally, the best high schools select their students on academics, proof of residence, cover letter, letters from former teachers, etc. [1]

https://lycee-henri4.com/admission-2/

Re: Life as a public school teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2021

#730

Post by dopidopHN »

frenchschool wrote: post #728
dopidopHN wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you are into something indeed. When rich / powerful people have to send their kids to the same schools, it became important to have the best one. In France folks send their kids to public school mostly. The best high school in the country are public. And usually it’s a sign of something weird if you do your high school in the private. All that being said. Money always find a way. Some optional curriculum beco…

In France there is a mandatory "map" where you can only send your kids to the nearest public schools. So you've got "good" ones and "bad" ones depending on the neighborhood. So, yes, the best high schools are public, in areas with high rents and property prices. Additionally, the best high schools select their students on academics, proof of residence, cover letter, letters from former teachers, etc. [1] https://lyce…

Not that simple : back in the days the « carte scolaire » was design to avoid that. It’s been jerrymandered in the meantime.

But for instance growing up, the big stink was that those poor projects kids we’re in the same middle school that middle class folks. The trick was to pick German to avoid that and be affected to another school.

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