RANT OF THE DAY
"The bottom line is staff felt disrespected..." - How a union president described the teachers who are unhappy that a principal is shifting around jobs in a low performing school.
June 25, 2007 - A school principal has reshuffled staff assignments based on expertise and experience in the hopes of improving Hillside Elementary School. Teachers and their unions are opposed because it disses them. Go figure.
Comment at news site:
Hillside's lost ten or eleven experienced teachers because of this. (I am one of them). That's about half the staff. It's a shame because most of us would have stuck it out the duration, program improvement and all, if we felt respected.TT - A school that rates a 2 at Greatschools.com can afford to lose 10 or 11 teachers. The average years teaching in this school is 6 years. (The least amount of experience of any elementary school in the district.) 16% of the teachers are first-year teachers. Hillside is the worst elementary school in the district.
I was satisfied with my grade level's test scores, being that they were above CA average and some of the highest in the district. That came from the consistency of being in the same grade level for years, working well with my grade level team, and knowing the material. Hillside needs consistency and this change brought the opposite.
One parent comment at Greatschools explains a lot.
The teachers at Hillside are dedicated to the children. Services provided: Boys and Girls Club, basketball, soccer in the planning stages, active PTA, Gate, band, music."Not a word about academics.
