Our district is required by state law to have annual performance reviews. Teachers are observed, student test scores are considered, and student growth is measured against goals set at the beginning of the school year. In our district, the teacher described here would be cheating. If other teachers have 130 hours of student contact to meet their goals and this teacher is violating district policy to gain an additional 40 hours, she has unfairly acquired 30% more time to meet her goals than her peers have to meet theirs. Since principals also receive yearly reviews, it’s in the principal’s best interest to turn a blind eye to it. If we’re considering values, honesty and fairness should be among them.
@Run4life99 - Wow. Driving 60 - 120 minutes round trip to pick up a kid after school is a huge economic strain for low-income families. That simply wouldn’t be an option around here.
I’m glad that this has worked out well. But for the life of me, I don’t understand how any of this was construed as “teacher-bashing”? Like I said, my H is a HS teacher. (I teach at the post-secondary level.). I have many friends and family members who are teachers. It’s not teacher bashing to question mandatory, grade-affecting after-school sessions where the teacher is doing nothing but handing out worksheets and taking attendance.
I hold teachers to fairly high standards, because those who don’t adhere to them make it tougher on the ones who do.
Glad the AP issue was resolved. AP teachers at our high school give extra credit for evening/weekend study sessions.
99 maya54--What if the medical doctor preferred to be called "Dr. Smith?"
Most medical doctors I know do prefer to be called “Doctor”–out of respect for the time/work/knowledge required to earn their degrees, and to keep the relationship “professional.” I realize that you wanted your children to trust their pediatrician, but a pediatrician is not on the same relationship level as a friend/peer/classmate.
If your doctor loved it, then that was a good fit for you. But I would never want my kids to do this. And I would be kinda creeped out if the doctor said “Call me Joe!” to my child.
The thing I wonder about is why so many people think that if other people don’t complain that means the OP shouldn’t complain either. IMO the whole setup is completely unethical. It distorts grades and forces kids to drop out of other things in their life. Why is this ONE CLASS so important? It is just one class.