If you haven't seen this, you should:

On August 14th, Governor Bill Haslam sent a “Welcome Back” letter to teachers across the state. In the letter, he thanked teachers for their hard work in helping Tennessee improve its student achievement scores. He said he appreciated what they did for Tennessee students every day.

Apparently, some teachers haven’t forgotten that this is the same Bill Haslam who promised to make Tennessee the fastest improving state in the nation in teacher pay in October of 2013 and included a teacher pay raise in his 2014 budget address … only to break that promise in April.

Some teachers sent responses directly back to Haslam. And some of those same teachers sent their responses to TN Ed Report under the condition we keep their names anonymous.  Here are some of the responses we received:

Teacher Response #1:

I appreciate your attempt to understand the inner workings of a classroom and appreciate your words of appreciation for those of us who chose to serve others through teaching. However, I am highly disappointed at the turn of events in which you announced that teachers would not receive pay raises. We already make much less than other TN State employees and much less than teachers of other states.

It is easy to make promises and to break them:
http://tnreport.com/2013/10/04/raising-teacher-pay-a-top-budget-concern-for-haslam-administration/   

I am personally insulted in your lack of support for the teaching profession. My colleagues and I work hard for the families we serve. A normal day for most of us is  7:45 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Though we are only paid to work 8:00 until 3:15, our jobs cannot be completed in those hours. Many times we take student work home with us and are constantly looking for ways to improve our teaching on our own time.

Teachers are generally told “no one teaches for the money”. TRUE, but teachers never expected to be put on the “budget cutting” chopping block each time raises are considered. We feel betrayed with popular campaign promises and rhetoric.

In closing, make no mistake that our hard work is not completed for you or any elected official. Our hard work is for the children we PROMISED to educate when we accepted our jobs. Your letter of appreciation proves that WE have not failed those who have put their trust
in us, including you.


Teacher Response #2

Please tell the PR firm that suggested you send these letters that we teachers are well educated and therefore insulted that they would believe a letter full of empty words could ever make up for what you and your administration have done and are doing to ensure the destruction of public education in Tennessee.

Teaching is more than a job to me. Teaching is my calling. I sincerely love all of my students and work tirelessly for them. I most often work six full days a week to ensure that they have exactly what they need to succeed. I spend hundreds sometimes more than a thousand dollars of my own limited income every year to make sure that their needs are met. I was always proud to be a teacher but, not so much these days. Mostly these days my heart aches for my children. I spend many hours crying for them. Your administration has stripped our classrooms of all joy. Teacher morale is low because we are working in hostile conditions.

Finally, please keep your empty words. This letter is too little, too late.


Teacher Response #3

I am in receipt of your letter of August 14, 2014.
 
I appreciate the welcome back to school. And it is nice to hear the words “thank you.”
 
In your letter, you note that Tennessee is the fastest improving state in the nation in terms of student achievement. You attribute this success directly to teachers.
 
I seem to remember that in October of 2013, you also promised to make Tennessee the fastest improving state in teacher pay — an acknowledgement of the hard work so many Tennessee teachers are doing every single day.
 
Your budget, proposed in early 2014, also indicated at least a nominal raise for teachers was forthcoming.
 
Then, in April, you abandoned that promise.  When the state revenue picture changed, the budget was balanced on the backs of teachers. Not only did your new budget take away promised raises for teachers, but it also reduced BEP funding coming to school districts. Now, teachers are being asked to do more with less.  And students suffer.
 
Your words ring hollow when your actions make it clear that teachers don’t matter. That our schools can wait just one more year for the resources students need to succeed.
 
As for your “thank you” for the work I do, I’d note that I can’t send it to the bank to pay my mortgage. A thank you isn’t going to fix my car when it needs repair. When the price of groceries goes up, I can’t simply use your thank you letter to cover the increase. And when my health insurance premium inevitably rises in January, your letter won’t put money back in my paycheck to cover the cost.
 
The raise you promised but failed to deliver would have helped with all of these things. But your letter does nothing but remind me that you say nice words and shortchange our schools.
 
In my classroom, I place a high value on integrity. That means doing what you say you’re going to do. On that scale, sir, you rate an F.


We received copies of other responses that mentioned the poor communication style of Commissioner of Education Kevin Huffman and the loss of collective bargaining rights. While teachers may not have a viable alternative to Haslam on the ballot in November, those sending us copies of their responses made it clear they won’t be supporting Haslam.

For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow@TNEdReport

from a TN teacher:

Some TVAAS information I feel compelled to share follows. But first, repeat after me: "I love my students, I love teaching, and I'm good at it." We have to keep focused on the important things during these crazy times in education!

Last summer I did quite a bit of research about TVAAS, & here's what I learned:

I teach 4th & 5th pull-out ESL, so I share Reading instructional time when TVAAS matching rolls around in the Spring. Students are pulled out of their regular classes to attend ESL for about an hour a day. Since my students are pulled out at various times, the percentage of instructional time I claim for each student varies. For example, if a student attends one hour of daily Reading time in his/her classroom and one hour Reading time with me, the classroom teacher and I split instructional percentage & we each claim 50%.

In order for a teacher to have an individual TVAAS score (I'm talking about 4th & 5th grade now) the teacher must have the equivalent of 6 full-time students in the subject they teach in the same grade for a minimum of 150 instructional days. So if I have 20 4th graders and I claim 50% of their Reading instructional time I multiply 20 students times 50% which equals 10 students. I met the minimum of 6 students in the same grade, same subject, so now I have an individual TVAAS score. But remember, only if I claim at least 150 instructional days. I found this out because I claimed this wrong when I was on maternity leave, which is what led me to my research.

Here's where it gets interesting: If you have a student who performs significantly better than the state predicted, that student could be considered a "statistical outlier" & that student's score could be removed. I have had this happen more than once. I spoke to someone in testing who confirmed this. So basically, if a student does much better than expected, the state thinks something fishy was going on. In theory, students who perform significantly lower than expected could have their scores tossed out as well, although ironically, I've never seen this happen on my report. If you teach 120 students, tossing out a couple of scores probably won't make a big impact, but if you only have 20 students or less, it could definitely impact your growth score.

And the most interesting part of all...the state can and will throw out a score from the previous school year. So if Johnny does well in my class and terrible next year, Johnny's score could be thrown out from my previous year's score. And no one will tell you it's been thrown out.

Print your reports more than once a semester, and pay attention to the list of students whose scores were included.

And remember, you love your students, you love teaching, and you're good at it!


Tennessee parents do not want our children's teachers evaluated based on our children's test scores.  This system is unfair to both the teacher and the student.  

Tennessee parents demand testing transparency.

A former worker from the TN Dept. of Ed speaks of the problems with the state of education in TN: 
 
1. The Value Added Model (VAM) is a flawed, inaccurate formula for measuring teacher quality, as more and more data research groups are finding. Be that as it may, I do not believe that Bill Sanders ever intended for his data to be used for teacher evaluations, teacher compensation, nor license renewal requirements.

2. A quality teacher preparation program can produce more effective teachers than a summer boot camp training. [Of course, we need to be constantly striving to update, modernize, and improve!] Also, I believe the time teacher candidates spend in classrooms with good, veteran teachers is the most valuable training tool we have (and the benefit is reciprocal). 

3. Charter schools are often being taken over by corporate entities more interested in turning a profit than in educating children. They are also leading to increased segregation.

4. Teachers cannot be intimidated into improving. They need to be supported, encouraged, well-compensated, and held accountable in a realistic way.

5. 'Merit pay' will never be applied accurately or fairly. (I remember attempts at implementing Merit Pay dating back to the 60's!)

I do believe that there are many good people at the State Board of Education and the TN DOE, who truly believe they are doing the right thing. . . . I believe that they are being led astray by the 'pied piper' of DC mentality in the Michelle Rhee mode. I observed first hand the frenzied efforts to race through the checklist of their reform agenda passing laws, policies, rules, etc. without taking the necessary time to research thoroughly; to gather input from teachers and parents outside of their elite, chosen few; and to develop a plan for implementation that assures all of the pieces are in place and working properly (i.e. the TCAP test results disaster of the past week or so). 

I am a firm believer that the best leaders for policy development and implementation should be 'home-grown' educators who understand the cultural landscape in Tennessee, not people from the Washington, DC crowd who come here solely to promote the national reform agenda. Most of the people I reported to in the last two or three years at the Department were extremely intelligent and well-educated, but are younger than my own children and have less than five years of teaching experience.

Thank you, Legislators, for hearing the concerns of parents, teachers, & administrators in Tennessee!

Representative Bo Mitchell, Representative Gloria Johnson, and Representative Mike Stewart filed a detailed request under the Tennessee Open Records Act seeking records related to the suspicious TCAP delay, post-equating process, and strange results.  

Representative Mitchell said, "I hope this information will shed light on the saga so that we can have some level of confidence in the results of this test for which our students, teachers, and administrators were forced to spend much of the year preparing."
 Visit this link to see the request from the Representatives
 
Meanwhile...

Representative Billy Spivey and Senator Janice Bowling requested that Comptroller Justin Wilson investigate the expenditures and conduct of the Department of Education regarding last week’s delay in releasing TCAP scores.  (as reported by Rocky Top Politics)
 
Check out what is going on in Louisiana...  it is the same fishy scenario as TN!
Click HERE to read the strange situation in Louisiana

A TN Momma Bear writes:
"That is like deja vu with what is going on in Tennessee! Kevin Huffman (also a Chief fire Change) is putting pixie dust on TCAP scores here… messing with cut scores and aligning TCAP questions with Common Core supposedly. The test results were not ready from the state when they were supposed to be (everyone is wondering if the scores show that his reforms and Common Core aren’t working). Districts found out the day the quick scores were due to be released to them that there would be a 10 day delay (announced conveniently after a huge education conference in Nashville was finished and after Arne Duncan was gone) so districts couldn’t get final report cards out in time. So, Huffman said districts could apply for waivers to exempt them from including TCAP in student grades. Huffman granted over a hundred waivers to districts BUT he didn’t have the legal authority to do so. It will be interesting to see how he wiggles his way out of this hot mess! People are awful furious at him right now and with the Governor for appointing him. Even the news media isn’t painting a pretty picture of him like they usually do. Hopefully, Huffman will be fired or will resign soon."

Important Fact You Need to Know:  Kevin Huffman & John White are both in an exclusive organization created by Jeb Bush called "Chiefs for Change".   There are only 7 members in this organization, (Plus Tony Bennett who was given "Emeritus membership" after he was involved in a highly-embarrassing grade-tampering scandal in Indiana to protect a wealthy contributor of Governor Scott who owned a charter school that earned an embarrassingly bad score.  Shortly after Bennett's damning and indisputable emails became public, Bennett resigned.)  
 

"The sad fact is that testing no longer functions as a way to inform teachers and parents and to help children but as a blunt instrument to wear children down and demoralize their teachers."  - Diane Ravitch
 

Tennessee Teachers are stressed out to the max.  

Some teachers were told by their administrators to teach the old TN standards (SPIs) this past school year in order to get TCAP scores higher both for their own personal evaluation and also for their school & district.  Understandably, those administrators made this decision to not teach Common Core last year because of the abysmally low TCAP scores of the previous year when their students were taught Common Core.  Their TCAP scores plummeted under Common Core, so who can blame them to returning to the old standards to boost this year's TCAP scores?   

It was a punch to the gut last week for those administrators and teachers to learn that non-Common Core questions on TCAP were cut by the TDOE.  The old SPI questions won't count.  This means those districts who gambled on teaching the old SPIs will have even lower TCAP results.  Furthermore, if TCAP doesn't reflect what students have learned, how can it measure a teacher's effectiveness to teach?

It is sad that adults feel that they must "game the system" to protect their teachers, schools, and districts. Children are the pawns and are the real losers in this overemphasis on testing.

Legislators, please make this crazy testing merry-go-round stop!

From a parent in Tennessee:

I received an email from my daughters choir teacher. He has been teaching for 20 years and is an excellent CHOIR TEACHER in Tennessee. He was going to retire this year but had such a great group of 7th and 8th graders, he decided to stay. This is what he was told:

I learned I have been categorized as a “non-re-elect” teacher. The justification for this is my reading, language, math, history and science scores are low after two years of TCAP testing. They don’t show sustained growth, and based on this, I am accused of being a bad teacher. Actually, I don’t recall teaching these subjects.
 
Welcome to the Common Core Initiative which, indeed, does tell teachers how and what to teach.  Here’s the link for music educators to learn how to incorporate Common Core standards.

Common Core is NOT “just standards”.  It is part of the Common Core State Standards Initiative which includes the four assurances contained in the State Fiscal Stabalization Fund given to the states with these strings:

What does increasing teacher effectiveness really mean?  It can mean that teachers who teach English literature must incorporate math standards, math teachers must incorporate ELA standards,  and even music teachers must incorporate ELA standards….in music.  

(The above excerpt was printed with permission from The Missouri Watchdog)

Dear Representative Harry Brooks from Knoxville & Representative Mark White from Memphis,

We are asking that you please, pretty please, include these:

• Educator Respect and Accountability Act of 2014 (HB 2263 / SB 2047) 
• Repeal Common Core bill (HB 2332 / SB 2405)

on the House Education sub-committee and committee schedules very soon.  Teachers and parents are eager to see these become Law this year.  

As Chairmen of these committees, you have the responsibility of scheduling when Bills are heard and voted upon.  Surely you wouldn't do anything underhanded like delaying those bills until the end of the Legislative Session so the Governor can veto them after all the Legislators have all gone home and cannot over-ride it, now would you, Representative Harry Brooks from Knoxville and Representative Mark White from Memphis???  That would not only be selfish, but it would be an abuse of power by committee chairs.  

We know Governor Haslam isn't happy with these bills, but his job isn't tied to volatile test scores of children using a secret mathematical equation that nobody can explain (His job, like yours, is tied to the ballots cast by us voters, which everyone clearly understands).  And his own children aren't forced to do unproven, untested, developmentally inappropriate standards (Because private schools are wisely not adopting Common Core).  

Representative Brooks from Knoxville, even though you may not agree with the bill to support and respect our children's teachers, 77 of 99  Representatives agree with it strongly enough that they have signed on to the Bill as co-sponsors.  So, it shouldn't take long at all to pass it through your House Education Committee and on to the House Floor so our Representatives can vote on it.  Surely you can squeeze it on your House Education Committee Agenda in the next few weeks, can't you?

Representative White from Memphis, even though your own children aren't affected by Common Core, ours are.  Tennessee parents want this bill heard in a timely manner because a year in our children's lives is too long to wait while we elect new leaders to get rid of Common Core.  Surely you can include this bill in your sub-committee agenda on the March 4th agenda as was originally planned?

We know you're stuck in a difficult situation by the Governor.  In times like these, it is especially important to remember who it is that you have been elected to serve.
 
Sincerely,
Tennessee Parents 

SENATE BILL 2405 
By Beavers 
HOUSE BILL 2332 
By Womick 
 
AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, 
Chapter 1; Title 49, Chapter 10; Title 49, Chapter 2 and Title 49, Chapter 6, relative to common core state standards. 
 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE: 
 SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-1-302, is amended by adding the following language as a new, appropriately designated subsection: 
 On July 1, 2014, the state board and the department of education shall discontinue the use of the common core state standards in English language arts and mathematics. Beginning on July 1, 2014, the standards for English language arts and mathematics adopted by the state board that were in use prior to the adoption of the common core state standards shall become the standards for use by LEAs and schools 
until the state board develops and adopts new Tennessee specific standards for English language arts and mathematics. 
 SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it. 

These TN teachers, under the safety of anonymity, tell what they really think:

• All we do is test, test, test. There is not enough time to Teach, Teach, Teach. 
• The reason I became a teacher more and more fades away. My love for students and their love for learning leaves because of the stress placed upon everyone involved. Teaching is not about students anymore. They are seen more as data and statistics rather than a personal child.
• I work at school until 5:00 PM everyday and spend hours working at home, because I love my students. Is this fair to my 10 year old and 4 year old? 
• Common Core is a bad idea being pushed through without support materials. You have the cart before the horse.
• There is too much testing. We are teaching kids to hate learning. 
• Teacher effectiveness scores do not correlate with true "teacher effectiveness" at my school. 
• Our curriculum (Pearson) is NOT common core. It says it is… it is not. CC is less standards but should delve deeper. That is not what Pearson Math or Reading does!
• I went into this job as a lifelong dream. I love my kids, I love my parents, and I love teaching and seeing my kids grow and learn; HOWEVER, I have found the things I love are being taken away. We test too much and are way too stressed as teachers...it is not right.
• Too much testing ‐‐ let us teach!
• Common Core is not Kindergarten developmentally appropriate
• I truly love being an educator, but have spent more time away from my family, in tears, and sick due to stress. This is not okay!  My students need more from this district and it begins with respecting us as educators.
• I feel my school is so micromanaged that I am limited to complete the needed things that I know my kids need. PLC's at our school feel forced and counter productive. The students are tested WAY too much and don't have time for authentic learning opportunities.
• I feel as teachers, no one is listening to how stressed, overworked, and underpaid we truly are for the job you are expecting us to perform. 
• Testing is ridiculous. Teachers are wasting too much time collecting data (numbers of no value). 30 to 35 days out of the school year is wasted for testing. Wasted time.
• Educators are not "human capital!" We could be excellent partners in making our school district a truly exceptional one, if allowed the opportunity!
• Assessments are excessive. Students in K‐2 should not be expected to participate in high stakes testing. They are not developmentally ready for this and it is pitiful to watch them take these tests. Our decision‐making as teachers has been reduced and we are not allowed to make decisions about what benefits our kids.
• CBM, TCAP, Discovery Ed, Module Test, SAT 10, CARE, summative test, formative tests … How much testing/assessment needs to be done to determine where a child is? What exactly are we assessing? Something is wrong when students are excited to simply watch an educational video at recess to "take a break."
• Teachers are overworked, putting in 60+ hours a week, at the expense of time with their own families. The students are as stressed as the teachers!
• Our children are over‐tested! Politicians think this is necessary. Educators need to stand up and let the politicians know this. Everyone working for a school district needs to be an educator, not a politician.
• Evaluation scores should not be 50% on how your class did on one test!
• I am expected to be a professional without being treated as one.
• I was told with the transition to CCSS that there would be less standards to cover with the intention of more times to go deeper with the material and reach a higher level of mastery … when will that happen? We still have to cover the same amount!
• The pacing that we are driving our K‐2 students is overwhelming. Students are moving at such a rapid pace they are loosing the enjoyment of learning. Many students that are already struggling feel defeated. As teachers without many extra hands, we feel overwhelmed with a task that seems out of reach. Please give more support staff.
• The overall morale of our school has greatly decreased in the past few year due to the evaluation model and implementation of Common Core.
• Too much focus on data and not enough focus on what really is good for children. We already know who needs help.
• I wish we were respected more and our pay reflected what we did for our societies future generations.
• Certain aspects of Common Core are acceptable, but others are not. For example, the selling point for CCSS, was that we would teach less standards more in‐depth. We haven't seen the "less" yet. More and more keeps getting added to our plates.
• Teachers aren't allowed to use their own judgment in making decisions for their classrooms. The district has put more value on data and numbers and have forgotten that we are teaching children who have human characteristics and problems. We are teaching to the test and students aren't truly learning for life. That is why we have to spend time reteaching the same skills every year.
• Some CC skills are not developmentally appropriate.
• My biggest concern at this time is the SAT 10 for kindergarten. I do not agree with putting the kids through 4 days of 1‐2 hours each day of sitting still and attending to a test. They cry, get frustrated, have belly aches, and talk throughout the test. The scores you receive from these tests are not a good picture of what they know. The kids would be better served if we kept portfolios, narratives, and running records.
• Our elementary kids are crying about coming to school because of all the testing. WHY DO WE NEED THAT MUCH TESTING???
• The common core standards, plus the rigid adherence to class subject schedules in elementary schools, have taken away the art and individualization with teaching
• Common Core and NGSS are a complete intrusion on teacher autonomy of the student learning process. Not to mention a massive waste of funds that could be used where they belong ‐‐ hiring qualified individuals and giving them a competitive and fair salary
• The acronym "TEAM" is a misnomer. All these evaluations undermine the wonderful team we had in place for decades. Now a demoralized staff that should be focused on individual students has to worry about demonstrating a plethora of good traits every day. Our personal commitment to our students is sabotaged by concern over personal ratings.
• It seems as if the adoption of common Core has now reached the most severely disabled students and their assessment for the next year is not in the best interest of the students, but only the company who is selling it. We no longer look at kids individually, but as the same.
• Please listen to the teachers who have expressed some serious issues with the evaluation process and common core standards. If so many people perceive problems ‐‐ there are problems!

Click HERE to read THOUSANDS of recent comments from Teachers in Knox County, TN.

You can also see more teacher comments on Twitter: #KnoxTeacherQuotes

Knox County teachers, like many other teachers in Tennessee, have valid concerns.  In the past few months, Knox County teachers have bravely spoken at their public school board meetings, even though they risked their jobs by doing so.  These teachers are committed to quality education and their students.

Their requests are fair, logical, and benefit their students:

• A validation system that respects teachers as professionals; provides useful content-specific feedback for growth; and does not detract from the educational process.
• An end to the excessive standardized testing that takes up valuable instructional time, restricts the curriculum, and treats children as data points.
• A redistribution of financial and other resources AWAY from corporate interests and back into our children's classrooms.
• An educational decision-making process that includes students, parents, and teachers as valid and valuable contributors and equal partners.

"A teacher's license is their most valuable possession, worth more than their house, land, or car combined. They spent years in college qualifying for it, spent a career improving it. But most importantly, a license allows a teacher to do what they love - and that is to teach.  You better have an ironclad reason to take that license away.  And there is nothing about a statistical estimate (TVAAS) of what students are supposed to do on tests that remotely sounds fair to killing a teaching career." - TN Rep. Matthew Hill

Tennessee parents applaud Representative Matthew Hill (R-Jonesborough) for vowing to create a bill to reverse the state board’s decision and “put once and for all into code that we will not use a statistical estimate to determine whether or not a teacher gets to keep their license.” (Click HERE to read more) 

We also applaud Representative John Forgety (R-Athens) for sponsoring and filing HB1375 to prohibit the TN Department of Education from revoking or non-renewing an individual's license based solely on data from TVAAS, some other comparable measure of student growth, or any other single criterion.  (Click HERE to see the bill and HERE to track the bill)
 

THIS WAS ABSURDLY WRONG:

August 2013:
As if to demonstrate their utter contempt for teachers, the Tennessee State Board of Education changed the licensure rules on a telephone conference call that was open to the public.

The vote was 6-3. Some board members said the change should be delayed because the changes were not well understood by the board.

Not all the board members agreed with voting to adopt a plan that had elements that concerned them, even with the delayed implementation.

Dr. Jean Anne Rogers of Murfreesboro suggested voting the proposal down and studying the issues “piece by piece” rather than implementing something that board members did not fully understand.

“I just have such serious concerns with a couple of the issues,” she said.

A dog was heard barking in the background of the call, although maybe it was a teacher howling in despair about the board’s unending attacks on teachers.

As a result of the changes approved by telephone meeting, teachers’ licenses will be tied to student test scores.

This is a strategy that has not produced better education anywhere but is guaranteed to produce teaching to the test and a narrowing of the curriculum.

It is not clear what will happen to the licenses of teachers and other staff who do not teach tested subjects.

Perhaps Tennessee will invest tens of millions to test everything.

We know who benefits. Not teachers or students. Testing corporations do.

The change in licensing rules was warmly endorsed by the Wall Street hedge fund managers’ group Democrats for Education Reform. Their members take home millions of dollars in income every year, but they don’t see why teachers need to earn more than $40,000 a year unless they raise test scores. Teachers in Tennessee earn less than the secretaries of most board members of DFER.

The above comments were written by Diane Ravitch, whose book, Reign of Error, reached the New York Times Bestseller List in 2013.  Diane Ravitch is Research Professor of Education at New York University and a historian of education.  
 

Tennessee Parents do not like what the TN Board of Education has done and continues to do.  Though they use the buzz-word, "accountability," quite often in regards to our teachers, the appointed State Board of Education and the TN Commissioner of Education are not held accountable to the voters.

We wholeheartedly support legislators who support our children's teachers and, thereby, support our children.

Tennessee parents trust teachers.
We do not trust TVAAS.
We do not trust TCAP.
We do not trust the TNBOE.