The leadership academy principal I had told a teacher who just returned from maternity leave that her school children must come before her own infant. The principal was trying to mandate meetings after school (besides the monthly faculty conference.)
-------
During my tenure as a teacher, young attractive and idealistic, I was pursued mercilessly by my married principal to begin an intimate relationship. Turning him down continually, my patented response to him was, “I don’t mix business with pleasure.” I was 22 years old and wise for those 22 years. He was in his fifties. His response was to observe me in my classroom every day for months, memorialize his observation in writing always finding something wrong with my lessons, waiting for my written response to his letter and calling me into his office to discuss the lesson and the response....When I received a “U” rating in June of that year, I contested it.
Would one expect less than a policy based on discrimination of women from Michael Bloomberg, one of the spearheads of ed deform who famously told pregnant women to get rid of it. (I put a bunch of quick links to articles about that incident at the end of this article.)
Think this one through. Teachers are expected not to go home when the school day ends, and "service" within the school might count as part of your evaluation, which could lead to a u-rating and firing. And then there's the sexual harassment. So many stories of male (and female) supervisor sexual threats towards women. Retired teacher Joan Mettler wrote a story in The Wave about her being U-rated because she wouldn't sleep with her principal. And there are so many stories of political persecution too.
So, since 75% of the teaching corps are females and we expect at least some of them might have children one day - and maybe want to buy a house in the more affordable suburbs, thus requiring more of a commute, and those with children might feel that tug at 3PM to get home, and those with sick children might need to take a few extra days off a year - well, SCREW YOU!! THERE'S NO ROOM FOR FAMILIES IF YOU ARE A TEACHER!!!!!
Here are some voices of women commenting on the teacher evaluation system and the implications for women. (from the ICE listserve.)
My husband and I both taught and I was the one when they were young who did the "running around" with our three girls even when I went back to teaching after a hiatus. On Parent/Teacher nights, I left school, picked them up, fed them and then dragged them with me to conferences where they did their homework. Then we took the bus home. Not until my husband was out of the classroom was he able to take off early to pick up a sick child and go to the doctor. Getting involved in anything at school or in the community was not easy, almost impossible when they were young. I feel for the young teachers at my school who have begun their families. To be asked to come to a function in the evening or stay after school is a juggling act, an imposition on their family responsibilities. Now that my three are young ladies, I can be involved and give my time. But even the youngest one who is not out of HS yet will call her dad, "What's for dinner tonight? Are you going to be home?" And it's not just for the meal, but for the sense of family gathering that she asks. Maybe all the parental care we gave to raise independent, civic minded, educated daughters should be taken into account as I am evaluated...not the "extra time" I put into the school building.--------------
I have been a single mom for over 19 years with 2 daughters. I was lucky that my children were in the same school that I taught in and therefore were able to stay late with me and attend after school and evening events with me. A lot of the times they were in them so that killed two birds with one stone! It was quite tough and that was before the extra 150 minutes and all this overwhelming data!-------------------
I'm concerned about the evaluation of teachers based on their work in communities or extra work on school committees, etc.
I think there is an inherent bias here. At the risk of stereotyping, it has been my observation that women take more responsibility for child caring and care taking. That does not mean that there aren't men out there contributing. But more often than not, if the father is not a teacher or is not on a early schedule, it is the woman with young children who is running home for dental appts., pediatrician appts.,etc. As my daughter says, as much as my son-in-law takes responsibility for their daughter, he still doesn't know her shoe size.
When I go to the nursing home every day, I see the sign ins - it is overwhelmingly the "daughter" visiting.
And then there is the single parent - running home to pick up kids or to parents to do care taking.
When my kids were young, I checked out at 3. When they were grown, I usually stayed until 4 or 5 o'clock.
And doing work during the day, giving up preps, etc. is not easy either for the mother or caretaker - you need that time in school to do prep or just rest - because there is no time at home to do that stuff.
---------
Participation on school committees should never be part of the evaluation system:-------
a. It interferes with the contractual business of the UFT, which treats participation on such committees as part of its internal affairs and should not be "evaluated" -- just like voting in our internal elections should not be part of the evaluations.
b. One of the strongest reasons that UFT members do NOT participate on committees is that in way too many schools they are waste of time (principal gets what they want anytime they want to: by coercing,threats, retaliation, etc.) .
---------
If you can't ward off any movement to include participate on commitees, etc. - then perhaps you could try giving equal weight to caretaker teachers - those who have small children and other kinds of dependents that exclude their participation. It is just as important to do raise your children in the way you see fit as it is to serve on a school commitee or participate in community work. If you include one form of "credit", you must include the other.
The leadership academy principal I had told a teacher who just returned from maternity leave that her school children must come before her own infant. Principal was trying to mandate meetings after school (besides the monthly faculty conference.)
Bloomberg
Lawsuit Says Bloomberg's Company Discriminates Against Pregnant ...
Sep 27, 2007 ... Lawsuit Says Bloomberg's Company Discriminates Against Pregnant Employees. 2007_09_bloombergwomen.jpg Mayor Michael Bloomberg's civilian ...
gothamist.com/2007/09/27/lawsuit_says_bl.php - Cached
Pregnant staff at Bloomberg claim sexual prejudice - Americas ...
May 3, 2008 ... At least 58 female employees at the financial news service Bloomberg are filing claims against the company after it was alleged they were ...
www.independent.co.uk › News › World › Americas - Cached - Similar
U.S. sues Bloomberg, alleging company bias against pregnant ...
Sep 28, 2007 ... U.S. sues Bloomberg, alleging company bias against pregnant workers ... Lewis also said the company had no policy allowing employees to work ...
www.nytimes.com/.../28iht-bloomberg.4.7675416.html - Cached - Similar - Add to iGoogle
New York Class-Action Pregnancy Discrimination Lawsuit Against ...
Jun 23, 2010 ... The female employees allege that Bloomberg violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, ...
www.new-york-employment-lawyer-blog.com/.../new-york-classaction- pregnancy.html -
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg Testifies in Pregnancy ...
May 15, 2009 ... This isn't the first pregnancy discrimination charge against Bloomberg. In 1997, a female executive employee said that the mayor urged her ...
www.lifenews.com/2009/05/15/state-4148/
--------
Check out Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/. And make sure to check out the side panel on right for news bits.
No comments:
Post a Comment