Now Sen. Dan Soucek is back in the pages of the Watauga Democrat admitting that it was his office, and not Watauga Sheriff Hagaman, who suggested the need for police protection at Deep Gap last Thursday. Soucek, according once again to Kellen Short, "said it was routine for law enforcement to appear at such events and said comments on blogs led them to believe they might need to maintain order."
Wait, what? "Comments on blogs"?
The only blog we know of that has had commentary on that Deep Gap public forum has been this one, but Mr. Soucek is once again stretching the truth past its tensile strength if he's fingering WataugaWatch as the proximate cause for thinking his life was in danger when facing the public last Thursday evening.
1. Soucek's staff suggested they needed police protection at least two weeks prior to the public forum, according to Sheriff Hagaman.
2. The first mention of the Deep Gap forum on this blog was on the day of the forum, in the middle of the afternoon, and there were no comments posted under that piece of snark.
3. We know of no other "blogs" that discussed the forum in advance of the forum, and certainly none that would have suggested to any elected official that wolves were about to pounce on the rabbits.
Senator Soucek reminds us of Governor McCrory. He appears incapable of speaking on the record without embellishing the truth to make himself look better.
Rather, "try to make himself look better."
His efforts are not working.
ReplyDeleteI guess he didn't learn not to be a coward at West Point? I thought that was first year. Afraid of his constituents! Gosh.
ReplyDeleteNow he wants to blame the Sheriff!!! C'mon Dan, be a man!! Teachers don't like you, the public is tired of your actions, and you MUST GO!!!
ReplyDeleteWill someone please make it stop!
ReplyDeleteMake it stop!!
ReplyDeleteLately, the comments at WataugaWatch and coverage in local media around Soucek's visit are as interesting as the story itself. Soucek and the recent controversy around Isabel Allende's "The House of the Spirits" book use at Watauga High are useful. It sheds light on what would happen if the vocal minority or conservative faction got even more more power. In both cases, their opening the door to enter and take control also sheds so much light on their issue, that it becomes obvious how much in the dark they have been. Just because they feel strongly about their decisions, made in the dim light of either self righteousness or manipulated by greed, the light of transparency guides us as to how to vote next time around. It is time more people came out of the dark ages and lived in the 21st century.
ReplyDeleteAnon 7:14....and what did YOU learn at West Point.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I think you wackos cant get any lower, someone chimes in with a crack like this. Mr. Soucek honorably served in the US Army for about 10 years and has never shown himself to be a coward in any respect.
You, on the other hand.....
(maybe when you get tired of making cracks about his military service to this country, you could attack his family and/or his religion?)
Veteran and Proud -
ReplyDeleteThe men of my family have ALL served in the military - during wartime and with distinction. A look at Mr. Soucek's record is not impressive (and was not 10 years).
I won't attack him for any of that, however, but I personally will disagree with him vehemently for his mindless rubber-stamping of poor education policy and his incoherent inability to explain WHY he has chosen to side with the anti-public-education folks.
anon 2:48 What do you think? That you deserve credit because the men in your family may have served in the military.
ReplyDeleteSoucek has had more than 8 years of active service and close to 2 years of inactive. guard, or reserve.
Don't start thinking that because you MAY have had relatives in the service that this somehow gives you the right to slime veterans.
You have an opinion on how the state legislature views education. you are wrong, but you are entitled to your opinion just as Senator Soucek is entitled to his.
Teachers and their unions may think they are underpaid but if you ask people in most other professions, they feel that they too deserve more money. Nothing unusual about that.
The Senator's education cost the tax payers between $350,000 and $375,000 dollars. He didn't have a single job in the US Army that an average ROTC graduate couldn't do. I mean, recreation officer at Ft. Rucker, geeze! My father,(KIA), and step-father were heavily decorated officers in the US Army. My step-dad considered people like this to be useless pukes.
ReplyDeleteI can't say I'm a veteran. I was in the Marines when my step-dad found out and invoked the sole surviving son thing. He really didn't care for the Marine Corp. He was one of the original Special Forces and retired as a LTC in Special Forces after combat decorations on three continents. I simply worked as a law enforcement officer while my peers went to war. I have zero respect for our Senator and his record. Period!
I don't think your average ROTC graduate is likely to be flying helicopters as Dan Soucek did. And, if your stepfather was really a combat veteran, I doubt he would consider another veteran as a "puke"...but then again, you can spin any way you want to.
ReplyDeleteI am a Marine Corps veteran - I sometimes tease veterans of other service branches but I would never consider any of them as "pukes".
We did consider civilians who denigrate the service of military personnel as pukes though. You know, people like you, Jeff.
To anon 2:48. "teachers and their unions". NC doesn't have a teacher's unions. Not only are the teachers worse off, but apparently, so are the kids. See http://www.businessinsider.com/states-where-teachers-unions-are-illegal-2011-2
ReplyDeleteThey have an association that waddles like a union and quacks like a union. It's a union by another name and smells as bad.
ReplyDelete"They have an association that waddles like a union and quacks like a union. It's a union by another name and smells as bad."
ReplyDeleteThere's one big difference though - the NCAE has no bargaining power and no ability to negotiate contracts like a real union would have. It is NOT a union... in fact, NC state employees can't form unions... it's against the law.
So then, why are so many incompetent teachers keeping their jobs? What percentage of NC school teadhers do you think were fired in the past few years?
ReplyDelete"There's one big difference though - the NCAE has no bargaining power and no ability to negotiate contracts like a real union would have."
ReplyDeleteExcept for its practicing politics just like a union.
Since you two Anonymouses (or maybe it's the same person) seem to have all the answers, please tell us how you plan to determine which teachers are incompetent. What measures can be put into place to identify the best teachers? I'm waiting for your knowledge!
ReplyDeleteDem 12...what measures does the rest of the world use? Most people have bosses whose job is to get the most performance from each employee and to separate those that dont cut it.
ReplyDeleteWhy should teachers be different? There is a certain amount of subjectivity inerrant in any evaluation process
There are lots of reasons why teachers "should be different." The biggest reason is that teachers have no control over many, many external factors that affect how students learn. How is a teacher supposed to be "effective" when he or she may only have a hour or two per day with students, and then some of those students then go home and spend hours with parents who don't give a shit about their education. The students may not have any extra money for books or paper or anything else. They may not get a decent night's sleep or have anything to eat in the morning before school. And you think that a teacher's pay should be based on the grade that student gets on some standardized test? Teachers in affluent schools would always be considered "the best" based on test scores, while many teachers who might be as good or even much better, if they choose to go to poorer school systems, would be considered substandard teachers. You're right about one thing - principals SHOULD know who their best teachers are, but again how are you going to write that into a policy?
ReplyDeleteTeaching is a collaborative effort, usually. Why would teachers cooperate and work together as a team if they are going to be paid based on their "individual" performance? Sometimes a really great teacher in one subject can teach you things that you can use in other classes - so one teacher's "success" could be based on the results of methods taught by another teacher. I just don't see how it is possible to pay teachers based on "performance," a term that can't even be defined!
Anon 12:18 says "Most people have bosses whose job is to get the most performance from each employee and to separate those that dont cut it."
ReplyDeleteAnd most bosses (and professions) don't have to deal with a group of people who know nothing about that profession imposing a merit system on them, that they didn't ask for and didn't want. Ask any NC principal - I think you would be hard-pressed to find many that are happy about what the legislature has done.
Also, if you looked at pay scales across industries, you might be surprised at how many are in fact based on seniority, experience, and/or level of training/education.
Student performance is a primary indication. Don't tell me it can't be determined because it can.
ReplyDeleteIt is not necessarily the test scores on a one year basis, but the proportion of improvement by individual students on a year to year basis as they take these tests.
Another method of determining teacher performance is the review of the teacher's methods and performance by a panel from out of the area. This review should be not be announced so as to get a true idea of the teacher' performance.
The primary method is that administrators should do their job and objectively review the teacher's performance on a day to day basis.
"It is not necessarily the test scores on a one year basis, but the proportion of improvement by individual students on a year to year basis as they take these tests."
ReplyDeleteDo you mean they should track the students over several years, or track different students with the same teacher? When does the teacher get the merit pay, then? Years after they have taught the students? If a teacher retires, do they get a retroactive bonus? If a teacher transfers to another school or leaves for a job in another field, do they get paid after the fact? How much more do you think teachers should earn if they are determined to be "exceptional" teachers or whatever label you want to apply to them? If a teacher's rating goes down the following year, are they then subject to a salary reduction? I'm sure you won't address any of these points, because you never do. I await your one-sentence response.
They should "track' every student every year. Teacher evaluations of students should cease and evaluations be done by the administration. That is what it should be there for.
ReplyDeleteA teacher should not get a reduction in pay if his performance slips for as much as three years in a row. He should be terminated.
I don't know how much an exceptional teacher should earn as there is not really enough money to pay one what he is worth. It should be substantial.
I do know that treating an exceptional teacher the same as you treat someone that is just there to draw a pay check is not the answer. It kills the incentive to do a good job and eventually eliminates the exceptional performance of those that give up and say "What's the use?"
All of these points have been maid many times. It is a shame you refuse to remember them, BW.
I have to wonder if you can handle more than a one sentence answer.
Anon 9:45 said "Teacher evaluations of students should cease and evaluations be done by the administration. That is what it should be there for."
ReplyDeleteWow, the ideas from the right just get curiouser and curiouser. I'd love to meet the principal, or group of principals, who can evaluate students in Biology, Physics, US History, World Literature, PE, Art, AP Calculus, and Spanish!
Here's my crazy idea: attract competent and caring people for the teaching profession, train them well, and then let them do their jobs! Hint: paying teachers a pittance, constantly questioning their dedication and competence, and then saddling them with endless paperwork just to prove their worth is going to make it hard to attract anyone to teaching.
Anonymous 9:45, you almost made it through an entire post without an insult, but you just had to throw one in at the end, didn't ya?? I don't recall you making these points before... I can't remember every post on this blog! And so what? We're always making the same arguments over and over again on here (and in real life). What's the big deal? And why do you find it necessary to insult the people you're responding to?
ReplyDeleteIt was nt an insult. It as an observation that you cannot or do not choose to remember that the exact things you question have already been discussed, so there is little use n getting past a one sentence reply, BW. Thank you for the affirmation.
ReplyDelete"Here's my crazy idea: attract competent and caring people for the teaching profession, train them well, and then let them do their jobs! Hint: paying teachers a pittance, constantly questioning their dedication and competence, and then saddling them with endless paperwork just to prove their worth is going to make it hard to attract anyone to teaching."
You are probably right. Having a job that does not have any oversight or standards would probably attract a lot of people. The problem is they are not the people you would want to teach your children if they are afraid of these things.
"They should "track' every student every year. Teacher evaluations of students should cease and evaluations be done by the administration. That is what it should be there for."
ReplyDeleteSo the person who is with that student on a daily basis should not be evaluating that student? The teacher sees the student progressing, and knows what the student can do and where improvement is needed. There aren't enough administrators in the world to be able to do the evaluations of all the students.
"It was nt an insult. It as an observation that you cannot or do not choose to remember that the exact things you question have already been discussed, so there is little use n getting past a one sentence reply, BW. Thank you for the affirmation."
ReplyDeleteWhen were those things "discussed" as you say? As far as I know, every thread can open up discussions about any topic. Sheesh.
They were discussed in some manner in almost every thread that has been posted about teaching, BW.
ReplyDeleteYes teachers should evaluate the students, Anonagain. So should administrators in order to evaluate the teachers.