The War on Public Education in Broward County Florida- A Guest Post by Terry Pruess
LISTEN… PEOPLE OF BROWARD… A FORT LAUDERDALE TEACHER SPEAKS…
Things I plan to say to my leaders with my local and national community of public education supporters listening in...
Let’s NOT be “The Last Honeypot for Wallstreet.”
I have been a loyal, dedicated, caring, hard-working, responsible, dependable, trustworthy, “highly effective” career public educator for 3 decades, Teacher of the Year at Olsen Middle School and a Hispanic Teacher of the Year in Broward. I have been held in high regard and been a leader in three counties: L.A., Dade and Broward. I’ve also been a vocal advocate of student, teacher and parent rights in all the leadership roles I’ve held... As such, I know fully that my opinions will not be met with any repercussions or retaliation.
Some teachers, however, fear that they will be harmed for speaking out, brought up on some false charges, sent off to “Teacher Jail’ or “The Book Depository”…cast out to another school on the far end of the county to teach an unfamiliar subject until they are broken down and leave the profession on their own, marked via “gotcha” evaluations systems as “ineffective,” or even marginalized as a lone disgruntled voice. I’ve seen and heard it all from one coast to another as I have evolved in education advocacy, but those things can not worry me today because this letter is about JUSTICE for our children and communities.
I have been, along with thousands of colleagues, far too “highly effective” to need to worry about retaliation. Right? I am stealing this term from the hands legislators and our imposed evaluation system of Marzano because it fits too many teachers I know, far more than the shamefully low 5%SBBC’s flawed evaluation system officially produced for Broward County… among the lowest in the state of Florida!
So, let me begin…
How we got to this point is not always clear to those of us who are working daily in the trenches, giving love, support, encouragement and a quality education to the students of Broward County. But we do With A Brooklyn Accent: The War on Public Education in Broward County Florida- A Guest Post by Terry Pruess:
