Comments on Teachers Unions Vs. The State

fuck the teachers union and the wasl

The WASL sucks.

More power to the Union.

Only David Blomstrom can save us now.

Teachers will be making a huge mistake by killing the WASL. It's a classic case of shooting the messenger. Perhaps they know that high-stakes testing is mandated by both Washington State law and No Child Left Behind, so they feel they can't act against testing. So instead they act against the test itself.

It's sad and stupid, because, at least from an academic point of view, the WASL is a great test. I'd could go into detail on this, but my point is that the WASL does a better job of testing whether students understand the material compared to your classic fill-in-blanks/multiple-choice kind of test. If teachers kill the WASL it could be replaced with a test that is easier to game, but doesn't provide results that are as authentic.


Teachers should be lobbing for resources to make the classroom better, not to make themselves less accountable.

thats all the union ever does; makes themselves less accountable. teachers unions are the worst unions out there because theres no way to roll a shitty teacher out of a school unless they truly fuck up huge.

The Teachers Union is in the business of fighting for better conditions and better pay for the teachers.

The School District should lobby for more resources to make the classroom better.

Since when do we require labor to fight for the quality of the product?

The WASL, by the way, wasn't designed as an individual assessment. The State Legislature originally adopted the test as an assessment of school districts, not students.

Instead of trying to "roll a shitty teacher," you should try rolling some of the assholes who control the money going into classroom resources.

When's the last time you tried to "roll a shitty teacher?" If you and other parents agree, it's not all that hard. With the incredible degree of school choice in Seattle, you could even seek out a school completely 100% shitty-teacher free!

But you're right. Those damned teachers keep demanding representation in labor disputes and fair pay and benefits. If only the school district hired slaves to teach...

I agree with @2. The WASL sucks elephant tears.

WASL flies in the face of everything teachers try to do. Students learn according to their own unique needs and abilities. To lump them together and force them to take the assessment is absurd; the results do nothing to show a kids true progress.

The issue has nothing to do with accountability and everything to do with what is right for the kids.

Oh my god. I agree with Bellevue Ave on something.

I need a drink.

There are only two unions in America that still work- the teacher's union and the nurses union.
Yeah they are flawed, but my family is filled with teachers and nurses who have a great quality of life due to the unions.

Sorry Julie, Bellevue Ave, all human institutions suck. Start picking on real bad guys- like top down management for schools i.e.-the WASL-(and crazy insurance companies for hospitals.)

Let's talk about the real shit-bomb here: No Child Left Behind, and its retarded "progress" goals that are impossible to meet.

Basically, a public school has to show continuous yearly improvement in each level. This includes students in the ESL and special education programs. Keep in mind that this is not tracking the progress of students as they go through school, it's comparing this year's class to last year's. THE RESULTS OF THIS TESTING METHOD ARE NOT USEFUL FOR DIRECTING POLICY. Which, of course, is what No Child Left Behind is supposed to do - make schools look like they're failing as an excuse for the federal government not to give the states education money.

I'm a public high school teacher, and I pretty much agree with Bellevue Ave. Get rid of the WASL, which is one of the dumbest ideas I've ever encountered. Not even in communist Russia would such an absurd plan have been tolerated to supposedly improve schools dreamed up by clueless bureaucrats. Also, while I appreciate some aspects of what the teachers union does, it should be possible to fire incompetent teachers. These teachers are out there and the posters are absolutely right to say that it is not possible to fire them once the union gets involved.

@4 - I'm a teacher in a public school, and I agree with you that the WASL itself is one of the (if not THE) best standardized tests out there. Definitely the best we have in Washington.

However, in this past session, the legislature decided to make some key cost-saving changes to the WASL, to make it easier (and therefore cheaper) to score. One of the biggest changes is that the number of open-response questions will decrease and multiple choice increases. As I'm sure you know, the open-response questions are the part of the WASL that balance race and gender bias (white males tend to do better than other groups on multiple-choice) and make the WASL a great test. So now it won't be so great, but it will still be high-stakes and expensive, so that's why the unions are taking this action at this particular point in time.

The WEA opposition to the WASL is a strategic mistake that will end up driving away support for higher taxes/new dedicated revenue for K-12. The WASL holds everyone -school admins, teachers, & students - accountable, and accountability is essential for increased public funding.

What is the union afraid of? Teachers who oppose the WASL - so mamby-pamby. If a school can't teach "beyond" the WASL (instead of prepping kids for the WASL) and still get students to pass the WASL, then someone else should run and staff that school.

funding