Losers and Jellyfish


Articles Dante Alighieri Arthur Dent Jesus Jones Thomas Paine Other Authors Contact Us! Letter to the Editor Dante Alighieri Arthur Dent Jesus Jones Thomas Paine	Losers and Jellyfish Arthur Dent Terra Nova has some bad teachers in its classrooms. We all know that, and we all know who they are, so no need to name them. The question is why are there bad teachers on campus? The losers we currently have are not new teachers, nor are they "good teachers gone bad" (teachers who seem to retire about 2 years before they actually retire). No, the bad teachers currently ruining the learning environment at Terra Nova have sucked since Day 1. Why, then, are they allowed to stay? Easy answer: we have spineless jellyfish administrators who would rather keep "the evil they know" than to look for someone better. The system is very simple. A teacher applying for a job fills out an application, gets called for an interview, and then is either hired or not. Once hired, the teacher is in a probationary period of about a year and a half, during which time the Administration can fire him/her with no explanation whatsoever. However, once that time period draws to a close, the teacher is automatically granted tenure (a permanent contract with the district) unless the district sends the teacher a letter saying "Thanks, but no thanks." Once the teacher is tenured, thereare about a million hoops which Administration must jump through in order to remove him/her, so you can figure out about how often a permanent teacher is fired. Letting someone go takes a backbone. Many incorrectly assume that the problem is the permanent contract. It's very easy to blame tenure, as though if there were no tenure, bad teachers would simply be fired. However, tenure also protects good teachers. We all know of parents and students who like to cause trouble for teachers, and if it weren't for tenure, they could all-too-easily get good educators fired. Also, tenure protects teachers from principals who have personal vendettas against them. The problem with the system is not tenure: the problem with the system is that you need an administration willing to confront bad teachers and, if necessary, find suitable replacements. Therein lies Terra Nova's problem. If you fire a teacher, you have to find someone else. This takes work and time over the summer - time that Administration would rather spend vacationing than insuring that we have the best teachers possible. There's nothing worse than being forced to come to school, only to find that part of your day is going to be wasted in a monotonous class with a teacher who has no idea what he's doing -- and, even worse, doesn't care. We don't like having our time wasted, and that's what teachers do when they bury us in mindless bookwork, focusing more of their energy on antagonizing the class than teaching it. We don't learn because they don't teach, but the Administration doesn't seem to really care about that; if they did, they would have fired the weak teachers years ago when they started instead of allowing them to become tenured. A couple of Terra Nova's more notoriously crappy teachers are new enough that seniors either remember when they started or have older siblings who suffered through their poor teaching during their probationary periods. What is so frustrating is that everyone knew these people had no business being in a classroom. We students knew it, our parents knew it, other teachers knew it, and Administration, which spineless though it may be is not stupid, knew it. And yet these teachers were allowed to stay. They sucked in Year 1, and they sucked in Year 2. And yet they received their permanent contracts, insuring that they'll be with us to suck for years to come. This is ridiculous. Administration, if teachers aren't teaching, then students aren't learning, and your precious test scores aren't going to go up. DO SOMETHING about the situation while you CAN during those first two years. Don't let another bad teacher receive tenure so that he/she can remain at Terra Nova until retirement. I am sick to death of bad teachers getting tenured, and I am disgusted with our Administration for allowing it to happen. It is not fair to us. It is not fair to waste our time.	Archive Back Issues Why? Cartoons Poetry Random Rants Disclaimers Losers and Kudos of the Week Letters to the Editor Editor's Notes Picture of the Week
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Arthur Dent

Terra Nova has some bad teachers in its classrooms. We all know that, and we all know who they are, so no need to name them. The question is why are there bad teachers on campus? The losers we currently have are not new teachers, nor are they "good teachers gone bad" (teachers who seem to retire about 2 years before they actually retire). No, the bad teachers currently ruining the learning environment at Terra Nova have sucked since Day 1. Why, then, are they allowed to stay? Easy answer: we have spineless jellyfish administrators who would rather keep "the evil they know" than to look for someone better.

The system is very simple. A teacher applying for a job fills out an application, gets called for an interview, and then is either hired or not. Once hired, the teacher is in a probationary period of about a year and a half, during which time the Administration can fire him/her with no explanation whatsoever. However, once that time period draws to a close, the teacher is automatically granted tenure (a permanent contract with the district) unless the district sends the teacher a letter saying "Thanks, but no thanks." Once the teacher is tenured, thereare about a million hoops which Administration must jump through in order to remove him/her, so you can figure out about how often a permanent teacher is fired. Letting someone go takes a backbone.

Many incorrectly assume that the problem is the permanent contract. It's very easy to blame tenure, as though if there were no tenure, bad teachers would simply be fired. However, tenure also protects good teachers. We all know of parents and students who like to cause trouble for teachers, and if it weren't for tenure, they could all-too-easily get good educators fired. Also, tenure protects teachers from principals who have personal vendettas against them. The problem with the system is not tenure: the problem with the system is that you need an administration willing to confront bad teachers and, if necessary, find suitable replacements. Therein lies Terra Nova's problem.

If you fire a teacher, you have to find someone else. This takes work and time over the summer - time that Administration would rather spend vacationing than insuring that we have the best teachers possible. There's nothing worse than being forced to come to school, only to find that part of your day is going to be wasted in a monotonous class with a teacher who has no idea what he's doing -- and, even worse, doesn't care. We don't like having our time wasted, and that's what teachers do when they bury us in mindless bookwork, focusing more of their energy on antagonizing the class than teaching it.

We don't learn because they don't teach, but the Administration doesn't seem to really care about that; if they did, they would have fired the weak teachers years ago when they started instead of allowing them to become tenured. A couple of Terra Nova's more notoriously crappy teachers are new enough that seniors either remember when they started or have older siblings who suffered through their poor teaching during their probationary periods. What is so frustrating is that everyone knew these people had no business being in a classroom. We students knew it, our parents knew it, other teachers knew it, and Administration, which spineless though it may be is not stupid, knew it. And yet these teachers were allowed to stay. They sucked in Year 1, and they sucked in Year 2. And yet they received their permanent contracts, insuring that they'll be with us to suck for years to come. This is ridiculous. Administration, if teachers aren't teaching, then students aren't learning, and your precious test scores aren't going to go up. DO SOMETHING about the situation while you CAN during those first two years. Don't let another bad teacher receive tenure so that he/she can remain at Terra Nova until retirement. I am sick to death of bad teachers getting tenured, and I am disgusted with our Administration for allowing it to happen. It is not fair to us. It is not fair to waste our time.