Making the grade

[tonysam]

As a young principal early in his career, Heath Morrison understood the concept of evaluating teachers while observing a German 4 class.

“I thought, ‘I don’t know what they’re saying,’ but what it forced me to do was focus less on what the teacher was teaching and more on how the students were learning,” Morrison said. “It was obvious the entire lesson that the students were engaged, they were doing multiple activities and there was assessment.”

Today, as superintendent of the Washoe County School District, Morrison is entering his fourth month on the job and is still learning about Nevada’s system of evaluating teachers as required by state law. However, speaking from his daily visits with teachers and principals, Morrison said the outlook on teacher evaluation needs to change.

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This guy, like far too many superintendents in mid- to large-sized school districts around the country, is an Eli Broad Academy flunky. In other words, he is bad news.

If he were truly interested in reform, he would do a major housecleaning of people in the so-called "green house" (administrative building) and fire principals known to violate state and federal law. Instead, he prefers to scapegoat teachers.

[sasquatch]

1. Well the primary function of a system is to protect the system

If that means screwing over the staff and students so the administrators can have a larger salary, then that is what happens.

[tonysam]

2. Yep. This guy is getting something close to

$250,000 a year just so he can shitcan teachers. He has only four years of classroom teaching experience, as a social studies teacher. I KNEW this guy was bad news, especially when the union started bragging him up.

See, the teachers' unions in Nevada are basically in bed with the districts. They are worthless in defending teachers in wrongful dismissals.

[harry_pothead]

5. I hope the California Teachers' Association is better

I just joined the student affiliate (SCTA)

[tonysam]

6. Just make sure of two things when you finally get to teach

1. Work for a district that doesn't have Eli Broad people in the top ranks such as superintendent.

2. Make sure you have a lawyer in case you need one, and you probably will in this climate.

[harry_pothead]

7. Eli Broad People?

Are they statewide? I live in the Bay Area.

[tonysam]

8. They're nationwide, and they're also in the Bay Area as well

The Broad Report

[YvonneCa]

3. This was my experience...

...as well. Have you ever heard of 'mobbing'? I hadn't until a counselor told me about it...he thought I had experienced it at work. It's like group bullying in the workplace...in other words, the PAR program.

[tonysam]

4. Yes. It is truly sick

I never saw this in the private sector or even in other governmental endeavors, just school districts. It is one sick culture. There is something truly wrong when a school district creates a false case against a teacher, meaning me, and then, when the district finds out I didn't fake my illness and the principal was negligent in doing what she was supposed to do by Nevada law, simply COVER up for her by committing criminal acts. These acts included bribery of a witness for me by offering her a job with the district's administration, suborning perjury, committing perjury, and falsifying documents in order to deceive a hearing officer or administrative judge.

But taxpayers are financing this criminality, which is largely unknown to the public.

[tonysam]

9. More about Morrison's shenanigans

Washoe County School District trustees will meet with senior staff, principals and members of the community Thursday for what is billed as the the first-ever “Data Summit,” which will start at 8 a.m. in Room 1001 in the College of Education Building at the University of Nevada, Reno.

The purpose of the event is to evaluate progress made over the 2008-09 school year in meeting the district goals outlined in the Blueprint for Student Success, the district’s long-range plan.

“We are bringing together in one place and at one time, all of the data we have about progress—or the lack of it—on meeting the goals set by the trustees”, said Superintendent Heath Morrison. “We will take a hard look at where we are doing well, where we still have work to do, and decide where we might have missing pieces of data. “All of this work is important as we begin planning for the 2010-11 school year,” Morrison said in a statement.

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Students aren't students--they are data to be manipulated. Cook the scores, shitcan the teachers, do anything to make Morrison and his ilk look good. Then he'll trot off to some other unsuspecting school district and ruin it.