A Teacher Grows Disillusioned When a Fail Becomes a Pass (NY Times)

Parent Cafe
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<p>Epiphany–I totally understand that your standards for yourself are very high. I have no doubt you would be a teacher I would love to have had teach my children.</p>

<p>I was responding to this:</p>

<p>“I’m not going to make a judgment about his missing 24 days. Maybe it was sulking, maybe something psychosomatic was going on, as he may very well have been struggling with a desire for excellence that was not being honored at this school, and it literally made him sick. I’ll tell you one thing, though: I’ve seen enormous absenteeism at such schools in my state, which is a big tip-off to me that morale is low.”</p>

<p>I know schools like this; our own is not so different. It seems to me, though, that there is a responsibility that trumps low morale or disappointment. It would be honorable to quit rather than keep not showing up. Again, as I said in my post, that comment seemed to excuse the absenteeism on the grounds of low morale or reaction to difficult circumstances, and echoes the actions I see demonstrated by the worst teachers in the public schools I know (and in general by bad workers in every field–it just seems more excused in schools, for whatever reason.) And I have no doubt that, whatever the circumstances, you yourself would respond differently.</p>

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Absolutely. But a tenured teacher is on a gravy train. Their quality, in my experience, ranges from excellent to abysmal; yet their pay is based on longevity.</p>

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<p>I have a slightly different take on the teacher, since my kids attend HS math teacher misses 20+ days per year, all excused. 1) Standard medical leave, a few days per year. 2) In-service training, a couple of days per year. 3) Every religious holiday for her faith. 4) District-level conferences and meetings. 5) Etc. And, unfortunately, her students suffer, particularly since she’s not a great teacher even when she’s in class.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, there is no way to know what those “24” days are comprised of, just “medical and personal,” whatever that means. Given his strong evaluations, I’d cut him some slack.</p>

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<p>bluebayou:</p>

<p>Wow about the 20+ days of absence.</p>

<p>I posted that I have no opinion about the 24 days the teacher was absent. It was the 2-day snit that got me.</p>