Schools do have bottoms lines, have you not heard of private
schools? They collect/charge tuition and provide a service, the
quality of the service dictates the price they can charge.
Even public school districts have a bottom line, as the finance and
accounting department at any central office.
On 7/17/14, anon wrote:
> PsyGuy is an ignoramus. Schools aren't businesses. Because
> there is no bottom line to worry about, these principals aren't
> supervised at all and do pretty much what they want. The worse
> a principal is, the better he or she does. Most of them are
> utter crap and got where they are because of connections.
> Talent has utterly nothing to do with being moved up the career
> ladder.
>
> They can literally do absolutely NOTHING, be completely
> incompetent, and they will be backed to the hilt by school
> district central offices. Teachers are easily ruined. They are
> professionals, not Mickey D workers, and should have rights.
> However, they do not.
>
>
> On 7/16/14, re: psy Guy's comment wrote:
>> PsyGuy favors comparing education to business, which is a
>> fallacy of argument. Schools aren't a business. It is true
>> that we have a boss, called a principal, and generally
>> speaking, if your boss tells you to do something you do it or
>> you risk insubordination which can get you fired--that part
>> holds true. We are more like an architect, you don't hire
>> and then try to have an incompetent tell him how to design a
>> house. The part that does not hold water is that teachers
>> (when compared to the other world) are more like
>> subcontractors. We are put on a contract to deliver a
>> service, and when a principal asks a teacher to do something
>> as unethical as changing a grade, the case can be made that
>> the teacher's reputation and career could be affected by going
>> along with something depending on the circumstances. There
>> was, in fact, a case where a principal directed a clan of
>> teachers to cheat on state testing by changing answers. The
>> teachers went along with it, and ended up facing criminal
>> charges. We don't work on a factory line, as PsyGuy would
>> describe. We are essentially free agents that contract with
>> the schools. For me, I maintain high ethics at all times. We
>> have to defend our teaching to the community at large and in
>> the end my job is on the line if my scores aren't strong.
>> Most of the principals I have worked with don't know how to
>> lead in the area of instructional design and many don't seem
>> to know much about classroom management either.
>>
>>
>> On 7/16/14, PsyGuy wrote:
>>> No business owners are the only ones unsupervised.
>>> Principals are very much supervised by both the board and
>>> the sup.
>>>
>>> Sure teachers careers can be ruined from evil principals,
>>> but thats no more or less true than in any profession or
>>> business. You can have an evil VP that ruins your banking
>>> career just as easily.
>>>
>>> Well if your supervisor tells you to change the grade, Id
>>> change the grade. Why anyone would think you could tell
>>> your supervisor no, and keep your job baffles me. Theres a
>>> reason its called a supervisor subordinate relationship.
>>> If im going to lose my job its going to be over money or
>>> seex, not one students grade.
>>>
>>> On 7/16/14, anon wrote:
>>>> Thank you for a great post. It is the truth. PsyGuy
>>>> should just shut up on threads having to do with the
>>>> abuse of teachers
>>> because
>>>> it is clear he knows nothing of what he is talking about.
>>>>
>>>> Principals are the worst supervisors in the economy for
>>>> the simple reason they aren't supervised. It's rare these
>>>> days to find one who is any good at all. Teachers can and
>>>> do get their lives destroyed just on a principal's whim,
>>>> and anybody who denies this reality is either a liar or
>>>> an idiot.
>>>>
>>>> All it takes to get a career ruined is to refuse to
>>>> change a grade when a principal orders it because of a
>>>> parent's complaint. All it takes is to get sick and use
>>>> FMLA to have a career ruined. It's all about covering for
>>>> a principal's or other administrator's worthless ass no
>>>> matter what the consequences to others.
>>>>
>>>> On 7/16/14, Empathy and Sympathy wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> PsyGuy? Are you a naturally self-superior, didactic,
>>>>> person, or do you have to work at it? Bottom line is,
>>>>> are you for real? Or just putting everyone on.
>>>>>
>>>>> What in the hell makes you think you know a single thing
>>>>> about what other people are experiencing and the
>>>>> motivations behind how certain administrators operate
>>>>> and why they do as they do.
>>>>>
>>>>> Sure, you are right in that the job of a principal is to
>>>>> manage the school and the teachers. And that it is the
>>>>> job of the teacher to adapt to a new style of management
>>>>> if required.
>>>>>
>>>>> But if you think you can make a silly blanket statement
>>>>> that all administrators are propelled by nothing more
>>>>> than a desire to better their school with nothing
>>>>> personal involved when it comes to teachers, then you
>>>>> must live on Planet Altair-4.
>>>>>
>>>>> Whether it fits your fanciful vision or not, there are
>>>>> some principals out there who are mean, stupid,
>>>>> vindictive, tyrannical, and have no conscience at all
>>>>> when it comes to destroying teaching careers. And if
>>>>> they have it in for you, then no amount of attempted
>>>>> adaptation on the part of the teacher is going to change
>>>>> it.
>>>>>
>>>>> One bit of proof is that more and more teachers are
>>>>> finally relating it, and many others are leaving in
>>>>> droves (as another poster said), because their physical
>>>>> and mental health, and even sense of personal dignity,
>>>>> cannot forever withstand the assaults .
>>>>>
>>>>> When was the last time *you* (if you ever were at all)
>>>>> in a classroom? What are *your* credentials to presume
>>>>> to lecture REAL teachers who know first hand of what
>>>>> they speak of, as to what they need to know?
>>>>>
>>>>> Your post is about the most insensitively, boorish, that
>>>>> I have read it a long time. I don't mean with me...I am
>>>>> tough enough to handle it, but with Mini. Again, when
>>>>> was the last time you ever bent over a desk to help a
>>>>> student or contribute to the teaching realm. Far as that
>>>>> goes, when was the last time you ever bent over for work
>>>>> at all, unless it was to kiss some C-Scope executives
>>>>> patootie (yeah, I have read you before on this one).
>>>>>
>>>>> Ordinarily, I wouldn't make comments like this to
>>>>> anyone. But your post was beyond the pale and shows an
>>>>> appalling ignorance of the realities of teaching today,
>>>>> and what more and more educators are forced to endure.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On 7/15/14, PsyGuy wrote:
>>>>>> Well they arent dictators, they are your supervisor,
>>>>>> and
>>>>> their job
>>>>>> is to manage you and the school. Thats means that
>>>>>> things dont always go your way, and maybe your no
>>>>>> longer a good fit for the school and its leadership.
>>>>>> Its your job to be flexible
>>>>> and
>>>>>> adapt to your schools leadership and culture, not the
>>>>>> other
>>>>> way
>>>>>> around. Being a good fit for 15 years doesnt mean you
>>>>>> can
>>>>> just
>>>>>> keep repeating that behavior indefinitely. Professional
>>>>>> good professional adapt to change. Including changes in
>>>>>> management. I really dont know why people can think
not
>>>>>> getting along with your boss is going to somehow be
>>>>>> okay.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On 7/15/14, mini wrote:
>>>>>>> Thank you so much everyone for your support. I will be
>>>>>>> substitute teaching. Like some of you are. Because we
>>>>>>> need to make a living. I can never get past this
>>>>>>> because employers look at your last job, even if you
>>>>>>> worked for them before with a great record. I am
>>>>>>> leaving TX because I can't afford to live here
>>>>>>> anymore. I will have to go and live with family. That
>>>>>>> is why I named the good guys and bad guys in my
>>>>>>> situation. For Psyguy yes this is a job, but in the
>>>>>>> private sector I at least would have 6 months to prove
>>>>>>> myself. I didn't get that in a 4 month contract. So, I
>>>>>>> can only assume it was a hack job. Why,I don't know?
>>>>>>> Like I said before my direct supervisor and co-
>>>>>>> workers were very kind, they showed me the ropes, they
>>>>>>> answered my questions. I got along with them. Thank
>>>>>>> you everyone. I know I have lost. I just had to say
>>>>>>> something to someone. Thank you! Thank you!
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