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April 28, 2010 08:47 PM UTC

Questions for the Colorado Education Association

  • 11 Comments
  • by: DavidThi808

Hi Boys & Girls. Same drill – any suggested questions. Subject of the interview will be the tenure reform bill. Tentatively looking at sometime tomorrow.

thanks – dave

Comments

11 thoughts on “Questions for the Colorado Education Association

  1. Do you support the goals of the tenure reform bill?

    If tenure reform doesn’t help, or improve how we selec and retain teachers, what would?

    Why does the US school have a shorter school year- days in class-  than so many other countries?

    Why does Colorado not have all day kindergarten?

    The CO School Finance Act results in the state legislature functioning as the school board ordinarily would. DO you favor a return to local control and funding?

    How is it that Amendment 23 apparently requires funding to equal the prior year plus inflation plus population change plus 1% and yet funding is decreasing?

    Since every study agrees that exceptional teachers are one common factor in student performance, what can we do to recruit and retain exceptional teachers that we aren’t already doing?

      1. You know me, Wade, I’m as pro-union as anyone, but the CEA is truly awful. They do a crappy job representing the teachers, and you should be calling them out for it rather than trying to tie the AR/MB primary into it.

          1. In board of education, local school board, state house and senate races, and possibly the governor’s race, but probably not any congressional races–including the US Senate.

            But I like how I’m either with you or against you. The fact that you can’t see the forest through the trees on the CEA, and you’ll blindly defend their leadership (notice I’m not attacking the teachers themselves) for their crappy, half-assed job is pretty special.

            Trying to tie it into me speaking for anyone but myself, or bringing up the non-sequitur of the AR/MB primary is just a peek into the window to your mind, Wade.

            Just so you know, though, I’m against that legislation as its written, just like I’m against the CEA because of its horrible record of representing the teachers you claim to care about.

  2. How much do you have to attenuate the process of determining what it takes to be effective in the classroom? If the amendments you have negotiated to date are insufficient, how long is long enough?

  3. Some of these are easy to look up and therefore may seem like a waste of time, and others I already have my own firm ideas about, but I think they’d be useful for starting the conversation. There are probably too many to actually ask though. Pick your favorites. I know a lot of these look like softballs, but I’m not really ashamed of that.

    How are teachers currently evaluated by principals? How often does this evaluation take place?

    What motivation do students currently have to perform well on standardized tests? Do students take them seriously? Would requiring good scores on such tests to advance (as is done in other countries) make teachers’ jobs easier? Are there aspects of other countries’ systems that would improve education if implemented here?

    What is the retention rate of teachers in Colorado? After the first year? After three years?

    How many (raw numbers and percentage) teachers in the state lose tenure or are otherwise removed from teaching due to poor performance? What mechanisms are in place for teachers to improve their performance if they get a low evaluation?

    What do teachers learn when getting their teaching certificates, or when going for advanced degrees like a Master’s? What problems (if any) might arise if passionate people who are experts in their fields were invited to teach without certification?

    Many people say their favorite teachers are the ones who inspire them in some personal way to love the subject matter. Should teachers be expected to make such a personal connection to every one of their students? Does standardized testing make this difficult? How might this be measured, and how might teachers be rewarded for this?

    To what extent is there political pressure on teachers? For example if a teacher fails a student, is it possible for a politically powerful parent to get the teacher reprimanded or fired? If tenure were removed, would this be a serious concern?

  4. 1. what are the current performance standards for teachers?

    2. How rigorously are these currently enforced?

    3. What does the CEA see as reasonable causes to terminate employment of any given teacher?

    4. Is poor teacher performance a good criteria for employment termination? If yes or no, why or why not?

    5. What educational reforms does the CEA support, if any? And why these or why none if none?

    6. What would the CEA do to improve student results as measured by graduation rates and acceptance into four year competitive admissions colleges?

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