This is in response to the letter from Kelly David, “Teacher not convincing.”
You present yourself as so completely knowledgeable and in tune with present day classrooms that I can only surmise you have spent countless hours immersed in the daily intricacies of teaching.
I am impressed by your recognition of biased teacher advertisements. It is certainly incomprehensible for teachers to take a stand in support of education and a wage that complements the work they do. Obviously all that nonsense about class size and composition is a blatant ploy by educators to avoid work. Why trust the thousands of B.C. teachers who are standing together to speak out against our government’s continual disregard for public education? What could they possibly know about it?
It’s uncanny how you’ve uncovered the underhanded sneakiness of those shifty teachers who “hide” assessment data. Funny, the teachers I know provide printouts, often emailed directly to parents, which document all areas of student achievement such as assignments submitted, test scores, cumulative marks and class averages. These provide a far more accurate picture of a student’s progress than term or year-end reports, and they are available daily, weekly, monthly, or whenever a parent requests them.
I wonder if your five business professionals are as keenly aware of the delivery of education as you are. Do they understand that the lack of necessary resources — resources needed to support learning or provide adaptations to students with special learning needs — impedes student development? Are they aware that schools are at the mercy of the government to provide resources? Do they realize that schools have no option of selling more widgets to generate more income or of changing their business model to use resources more effectively?
I challenge you, no, dare you to spend one week inside a classroom. You went to school; that’s clear. However, that makes you no more an authority on education than frequenting Timmy’s makes me an authority on running a business. And as for the Olympics, you are right in recognizing them for fostering the pursuit of excellence. Shouldn’t the same hold true for education? When can students, teachers and parents expect the support they require for their pursuit of excellence?
Nancy Carlson, teacher
Kaleden