DC Teachers and Providers Speak Out: From The Trenches !

Here's a post just in from the trenches. DCPS related service providers speak out about our real working conditions that you rarely hear about in our mainstream press as well as the cronyism and nepotism and politicism that are still pervasive even under the helm of our school chancellor. Check this out from a DC School Psychologist.

Candi:
"As always thanks so much for all you do, keeping everyone informed and working tirelessly on our behalf. First, please write to the Obama campaign and respond to Obama's most ill advised praise for our Chancellor and the "great" Mayor for all they are doing for education in this city. They ( Obama and his campaign advisors ) need to see/ read those voluminous articles to the contrary.

Michelle Rhee went to the Democratic National Convention and berated the democrats as shameful for only being concerned about unions and NOT about education of the inner city students ! Can you believe the gall ??? Here in DC we have classes with 35 and 45 students, some reform that is. Her only methodology for reform in fire, fire, fire, hire non-educators - anyone she can find, and let the classroom teacher:student ratio's be damned! Obama just might lose votes by aligning himself with those two DC lightening rods for public contempt.

Most people recognize the "destruction of public education ", and it's replacement with poorly conceived privatization, to be a republican initiative. Just as their repetitive attempts to dissolve the US Department of Education keep coming to the surface. Remember when Service master replaced all school custodians.... and what was the benefit there other than more privatization ?

Secondly, every new DCPS administration comes along with the battle cry of "down with the pernicious practice of friendship, kinship, cronyism and nepotism" as the #1 problem with DCPS staffing. Well, the 5 new School Psychology heads ( including the two who subjected us to the most elementary " ethics training " session recently, are all tight friends, schoolmates, cronies from way back and also long associated through family friendship with one of the administrators under Dr. Phyllis Harris as reports have it.

Additionally, these "program managers" are the least seasoned, least experienced of all the psychology workforce. But then, that's what apparently qualifies one to work under the current regime. When reading the published Human Resource job description for program managers, there is such a massive list of responsibilities that they clearly don't have time to hold "peer review/ case conferences" in addition to staff developments, which rarely develop anything because of a pervasive lack of psychological acumen and creativity." Anonymous DCPS School Psychologist. Posted by The Washington Teacher.