Comments on: Proposition 75 Fails

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Nov 2005 05:10:00 +0000

Teacher tenure is important for the reason it was originally conceived: academic freedom. As a Christian teacher in the public schools, I value the protection I enjoy to deviate from the politically-correct, morally-relativist, self-esteem cultic approach to education.
I'm currently finishing a unit with my juniors which contrasted the Puritan Theist literature of the 17th C. with the Rationalist Deist work of American thinkers like Ben Franklin in the 18th C, who attempted to achieve moral perfection though modfying his outward behavior. Without the protection tenure affords me, I would never be able to lead students into the kinds of deep evaluation and personal reflection that provided meaning to the time we spent reading 300-yr old literature, for fear of treading too closely to religious themes. Without tenure, I'm in a precarious situation, a virtual puppet of the administration.
The truth is a new teacher is evaluated both of the two years he serves before tenure is granted, and that is plenty of time for a district, through the school site's administration, to determine whether or not he is fit. No principal wants to be saddled with a bad teacher. I have seen more than one sub-par probational teacher let go, to the great relief of everyone. Increasing the probation to five years is superfluous.
In addition, new teachers are supported with mentors and mandatory workshops that teachers in my era never had.
The system works the way it is. This prop. only would have served to create a disincentive for aspiring teachers in a state that is desperate for them.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Nov 2005 17:22:00 +0000

I'm not sure what you mean by “dubious quality.” There's often a strange assumption that everything conservatives do is only for their own political gain, but we actually believe in and care about the things we promote as being the best option for our society as a whole. I believed strongly in many of these propositions, and I'm sure Gov. S. did also.
Many of the ads tried to promote the idea that there was something sneaky about this special election, but I think that view is unfair.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 23:47:00 +0000

Hi Murdock,
I think that the reason why none of the props passed is because (1) a majority, however slim, disagreed with their premises and did not think they should pass and (2) those within said majority who might've been divided in their mind about what they actually thought about any given proposition were swayed against them by the expense and dubious quality of this special election.
I disagree that media and spin and political speeches and other accoutrementia actually work to sway a majority of the populace. After all, the pro-prop forces had plenty of money and advertising behind their efforts. I think that no amount of rhetorical strategy will sway those who actually read and think. Perhaps I'm wrong, though–just because I read and think, doesn't mean that I can assume my fellow voters do so!
Vicky (your sister in Christ who also happens to be a liberal…)

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 00:58:00 +0000

For me, 75 was a matter of principle. Any group ought to be able to be a political machine for whomever it wants (this isn't about deviously stopping any group), but no person should be made a part of that machine against his will. No one should be put in a position where, after he has to join a union to keep his job, his money is taken and used for a political purpose he disagrees with.
This proposition was about giving the little guy his rights and a voice (like my dad who was always disturbed by things the teachers' union used his money for), but it looks like the powerful won out.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 23:15:00 +0000

As an outsider teacher (Substitute), I am starting to see how much politicking is involved with being in the business of teaching. Part of me thinks it will be good to have a year limit, but that also means that I would have to “make nice” (see kiss someone's —) for 5 long years.
I was in a position last year teaching fourth graders. I loved it. My two in-class evaluations were both positive, no major violations. My year-end summative evaluation (showing that my students did, in fact, improve) was positive. I could have improved my parent communication.
All things considered, I think I did a decent job for a second year teacher (first at this school); however, I got off to a bad start (See: I had a druggie parent come in and cuss up a storm-which pulled me right into tthe principal's office) I fixed what I could on my end, but I from that point on had a big target on my back. I was NOT asked to return (Of course, the principal fires at least 2 teachers a year)
Another teacher had been there over two years and was let go for the same reason (“Not a good match”–that is all she had to tell us) Funny thing about the other teacher-The principal had NOT even been in her class ONCE that year. How screwed up is that?
Under this new proposition, if this happened near the end of 5 years of working for the same person/district, get on their “bad list”, I could be let go with a simple, “It was not a good match.” That is a bunch of crap in my opinion.
Can you tell I have some feelings about this? I haven't truly vented that. Thanks for listening.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 23:03:00 +0000

In general I tend to be in favor of voter initatives. Democracy is a good thing. However, it's not good when the people voting have no idea what's going on. This occurs for 2 reasons: when one side does not have (or doesn't use) the resources necessary to put forward the arguments for their side, or when the voters aren't knowledgable enough to make wise decisions. The problems with voters initiatives are usually a mix of these two reasons. Arnold simply didn't get his point across. The unions out spent and out marketed him. The later reason was a primary concern of the founding fathers, which is why only men who owned land could vote. Supposedly, if a person owns land, he's intellegent enough to vote wisely. We've now opened it up voting with the only qualification being that you're 18 or older. So, back to the original question, I tend to favor voter initiatives, but I'm also very skeptical of them. Throw in with all of this that Californians (generally) don't like having an authoritative government and would rather recall each of their governors than make any real progress.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 22:54:00 +0000

75 was most important because it would go a long way to disable the Democratic-politcal machine that is labor unions. The impact would be great- people would actually be able to decide how their money's used. As I understand it, 73, though it's good, would not have a significant impact. My understanding is based on what I've heard from Steve Wagner (bioethics speaker at Stand to Reason), but I haven't spent any time looking into that myself.
I'm not sure there's a good case for tenure for teachers, but I don't see any objective reason why it's good to keep it at 2 years instead of 5 to achieve tenure. If we're interested in keeping teachers accountable and making sure they're of the quality who should be teaching our kids, extending the period to achieve tenure seems like common sense. The quality teachers, such as yourself, would also benefit from this because the shabby ones are more likely to be dropped under a 5 year plan.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 22:35:00 +0000

Hey Murdock, what do you mean that 75 was most important?
I would have to say I consider the parental notification one was more important-in my opinion. However, I do agree that there was not much in terms of advertisement FOR many.
As a teacher trying to get a full time job, I am also happy about the 5-year tenure bill not passing.
Derrick

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 21:03:00 +0000

I'm curious as to everyone's take on direct democracy and voter initiatives in California. Do you like the whole concept of voter initiatives, or are you more skeptical, or do you treat each initiative on an individual basis?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 15:30:00 +0000

75 was the most important, but I'm amazed that nothing passed. 73 was a no brainer. I think a siginificant problem was that a strong case wasn't made for these props. I saw 'no' advertisements everywhere. I only heard on 'yes' ad, for 74.