Superintendent Vitt, even on the way out the door shows he just doesn't get it.
In the last few weeks he referred to teachers as easily replaceable widgets and interviewed for the superintendent position in Detroit. Then once again this week he showed that he just doesn't get it.
WJCT did a piece about his concern over teaching vacancies, and it would have been nice had they mentioned he was at least partly responsible for so many. They didn't but they did show how little Vitti appreciates teachers and what they do.
From WJCT:
“We know that the number of teachers that would be coming into our district right now, if all things stay the same, would be less than it was the year before,” Vitti said.
Vitti said that could mean using reading and math coaches as full-fledged teachers.
Wow, that might work if all our teacher vacancies were in math and reading, unfortunately they are not.
In the same piece he said:
Then they ranked us high on salary and student support???Are they high? Oh boy, teachers ask yourselves would you rank us high in those categories? Did he fill out their survey? I ask because we all now how he fills out surveys. Remember when he gave himself 47 out of 50 highly effectives after a few months on the job.
Furthermore District surveys cannot be taken seriously. He can reference them all he wants but nobody is buying it
Now the idea of a master teacher is a good one, a suggestion made in this blog over and over throughout the years but when he says teachers crave advancement, he belittles all the people to whom teaching is the career. He doesn't get it, he seems to think that people who just want to stay in the classroom are stupid for doing so. Do some teachers want to go to admin? Sure but you know what most want? A decent salary, realistic expectations and support. Duval county is 0-3 in those categories.
Finally I want to dissect the following sentence to show how ridiculous it is and how little he says can be taken seriously. Teacher recruitment studies show programs like paid residencies, apprenticeships and a work environment where teachers feel valued and appreciated rank high.
Teachers want to have paid apprenticeships and residencies? Um what? Are they recruiting professional teachers or college freshmen? And yes teachers want to work in environments where they feel valued and appreciated and because Duval does not have that type of environment is why we find ourselves where we are.
Teaching is a hard gig and if the super was one for more than a cup of coffee he might know that.
WJCT did a piece about his concern over teaching vacancies, and it would have been nice had they mentioned he was at least partly responsible for so many. They didn't but they did show how little Vitti appreciates teachers and what they do.
From WJCT:
“We know that the number of teachers that would be coming into our district right now, if all things stay the same, would be less than it was the year before,” Vitti said.
Vitti said that could mean using reading and math coaches as full-fledged teachers.
Wow, that might work if all our teacher vacancies were in math and reading, unfortunately they are not.
In the same piece he said:
Another strategy to keep teachers is to promote them into a master teacher role, coaching peers “so that our strongest teachers stay in the profession and don’t leave for other districts or other professions because they’re not growing professionally,” Vitti said.
He said one area where the district struggles according to the research group, National Council on Teacher Quality, is lack of career advancement. But the group also ranked Duval high in other areas like compensation and student support.
Teacher recruitment studies show programs like paid residencies, apprenticeships and a work environment where teachers feel valued and appreciated rank high.
Vitti said the district is improving in school culture according to district surveys.
Um he referenced the National Council of Teacher Quality, an astro turf group with scant credibility which consistently attacks teachers. What, Betsy DeVos or Jeb Bush weren't available? Then they ranked us high on salary and student support???
Furthermore District surveys cannot be taken seriously. He can reference them all he wants but nobody is buying it
Now the idea of a master teacher is a good one, a suggestion made in this blog over and over throughout the years but when he says teachers crave advancement, he belittles all the people to whom teaching is the career. He doesn't get it, he seems to think that people who just want to stay in the classroom are stupid for doing so. Do some teachers want to go to admin? Sure but you know what most want? A decent salary, realistic expectations and support. Duval county is 0-3 in those categories.
Finally I want to dissect the following sentence to show how ridiculous it is and how little he says can be taken seriously. Teacher recruitment studies show programs like paid residencies, apprenticeships and a work environment where teachers feel valued and appreciated rank high.
Teachers want to have paid apprenticeships and residencies? Um what? Are they recruiting professional teachers or college freshmen? And yes teachers want to work in environments where they feel valued and appreciated and because Duval does not have that type of environment is why we find ourselves where we are.
Teaching is a hard gig and if the super was one for more than a cup of coffee he might know that.