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Teachers won't be silent

7/26/2014

 
Governor Haslam and his appointed Commissioner of Education, Kevin Huffman, scheduled 12 secret meetings across Tennessee with selected teachers and Superintendents.  The public and media are not welcome to attend.  Public school parents are also absent from the guest list of the Governor's private meetings.

While we would like to believe that they truly want to hear what is going on in our children's schools, the secrecy of these meetings, the exclusion of elected school board members, and the pre-screening of those selected to attend prove otherwise.

Some brave teachers decided to not wait for an invitation to be heard.  They staged a Press Conference 30 minutes before one of the Governor's closed meetings!  A local school board member and Rep. Matthew Hill also spoke at the press conference, which was held in the parking lot of the same building the Governor's private meeting was taking place.  Rep. Matthew Hill's closing comment was, "This is what grassroots looks like!" pointing at all of those gathered in the hot Tennessee sun to have their voices heard.  Rep. Van Huss and Rep. Shipley were also present to show support to teachers, students, and public schools.  



This is a statement released to the media by one of the teachers at the Press Conference:

Teachers are here today to once again express their disappointment in this administration's lack of transparency and unwillingness to have an open, authentic dialogue. Teachers are still trying to wade through the lack of transparency in the wake of the TCAP debacle only 2 months ago. Now- a few weeks prior to state primary elections and a couple months prior to the governor's own election- Gov Haslam and Commissioner Huffman are traveling across TN conducting short, secret, and selective meetings. To be the "Fastest Improving State," all stakeholders, teachers, parents, and school board members need to be able to come together and work collaboratively, transparently, and publicly to produce the best education possible for our students. A true and reasonable voice, elected by the majority of teachers, should be the voice representing teachers not an appointed one or one that simply echoes back a scripted agenda. Teachers, by nature, are relationship builders. We build true and lasting relationships with OUR students, OUR parents, and OUR school districts. Teachers are able to build these relationships by listening and communicating with ALL vested stakeholders. We need leaders in TN that are willing to do the same. We call upon Gov Haslam and Commissioner Huffman to open the school doors in TN and have an open, authentic dialogue about the future of public education in TN. We are waiting......


Click HERE and HERE to see news coverage of the event





Parents & Teachers Protest Against Common Core & Teacher Evaluations When TN Governor Visits

3/3/2014

 
GOVERNOR GREETED WITH PROTESTS OVER EDUCATION STANDARDS IN SMITHVILLE, TENNESSEE 
February 27, 2014
by: Dwayne Page
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A group of local educators, students, and others opposed to Tennessee Common Core standards greeted Governor Bill Haslam with protest signs and chants as he arrived in Smithville Thursday evening to speak at the local Republican Party's Reagan Day Dinner. The event was held at the county complex auditorium.

The Governor did not acknowledge the protestors as he emerged from his automobile and entered the building where friends and supporters were waiting to welcome him.

Many educators say they are fed up with the pressures put upon them in the classroom and they want the Governor, a supporter of Common Core, to hear their voices. "We're sick and tired of being sick and tired with the way teachers and kids are being treated in education," said Bill Conger, President of the DeKalb County Education Association. "We're over testing and putting too much on the kids. The Common Core and the standards they're trying to set for us are too high, too fast and they're putting pressure on teachers making it difficult for them to do their job every day," said Conger.

"It's difficult for the teachers to live up to all the mandates," said Bryan Jones, an eighth grade science teacher. "We just can't teach school because of all the paperwork. We have so many things going on we have to do to comply with the state. It's also very difficult for the kids. Common Core is something we need to reject as a county and state," added Jones.

Lisa Mabe, a third grade teacher at Northside Elementary, said the evaluations and merit pay system are most unfair to teachers. "We teach our hearts out every day. We want our students to do well but we are judged on an evaluation system that isn't fair. We're scored one through five and we're rarely given five's because we're not perfect. Yet we do everything that is expected of us. We love our kids and we want them to learn. We only ask that they treat us fairly. The merit pay isn't fair. They want to give us raises based on our job performance and our test scores but our classes aren't divided equally. If you want us to have merit pay, you've got to base all our classrooms equally and give all teachers a chance to achieve those standards but it's not set up that way. It never has been. I've been teaching for nineteen years and I've had more evaluations this year than I had my first year of teaching. You are welcome in our classroom anytime. I want to be accountable. I am accountable, but do it fairly," said Mabe.
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Click HERE to read the article and see the video from www.WJLE.com

    Authors:
    real parents & real teachers
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