Bad teachers or the system

[ASUADPi]

Am I the first teacher to reply?

NCLB- I personally find NCLB a crock of crap. It's all great in theory to "leave no child behind" the problem is there is absolutely no funding behind it. How can I possibly not leave a child behind when it is just me in a class of 21 first graders. I have 2-3 speds (1 is about to be tested that is why I say three). I have about 7 ELL's. I have 8 kids who are low-low. I have 9 or so below or at grade level and only 8 above grade level. I'm by myself. I can honestly only do so much. The only time my kids get any one on one time with me is when I have to progress moniter them on DIBELS (ORF-oral reading fluency). It's so sad. Then the sped kids. According to NCLB ALL kids must be at grade level. That is a retarded thing to want considering there is a population of students in our country who have IEP's (individualized education plans) and they will NEVER be on grade level. To hold that expectation of them and the teacher is insane! One of my sped kids will NEVER be on grade level. He doesn't retain the knowledge. He can barely sing his alphabet. He is at a pre-primer level (that is below kindergarten and I teach 1st).

Funding- Well I just happen to live in the state that is number 50 when it comes to teacher pay and funding. Enough said. I can't do much when the state doesn't spend what it should on kids. As a teacher I get $50 at the beginning of the school year to buy supplies. 50 dollars, that doesn't buy jack. I've probably spent more than 2 grand of my own money in the last 3 years of teaching. That is the only way to get the supplies for my kids that they need. 99% of the stuff in my room, I've bought from my own money. Which sucks because I get paid pretty damn crappy in the first place.

Pay- The notion that my eduction isn't as much as others is dumb. To keep our certificate a teacher has to do professional development hours. These are graduate level courses in the education field. These courses have to be approved by the district a teacher works at for professional development so that you can move up on the pay scale. While I did start out making 40K this year my raise is .05% which is down right pathetic. The only way I make more money is to get more and more education. But the increase in pay will be NOTHING compared to the money I will be spending on my education. Yes, I'm going to persue my education because I want to, but teachers shouldn't have to keep paying for graduate education so that they can get more money. Why is it that I'm supposedly teaching the "future of America". You know those future basketball, football, baseball players, yet I can barely make enough to live on my own? What is that about?

Support: I do have some great parents this year but administrative support could be better. My school is a school that hasn't made AYP for the last two years. We are in warning that the state might take us over. My principal and assistant principal try their hardest but they walked into a school that has problems. There are teachers who are more interested in causing dissention and non-cohesiveness. The middle schoolers have absolutely no discipline and will not hesistate to cuss out any teacher that comes within their path and they are told to do something they don't want to do. The kids suffer absolutely no consequences for their wretched behavior. The district is totally pacifist with how they treat the kids. The parents pretty much "own" the district. If a parent doesn't like what an administrator has told them they can walk right into district office and file a COMPLAINT!! I can't even do that as a teacher! These parents have more power than me! I don't want to sound like a bitch, but who has the education? Who is here to teach your child? If it wasn't for me, there wouldn't be a teacher in this room. The same goes for other teachers.
Now its not to say that this is a statewide problem it probably isn't. But I'm sure other teachers and other districts in my state are suffering from the same issues.

Don't get me wrong there are definately bad teachers. Hell I work with a bad teacher in my grade level and there are at least 4 more in my school alone. The problem is these people have been teaching forever and the district, up until this year, would have to go through tons of hoops to get rid of a teacher. The superintendent just made it easier for principals, this year, to fire teachers that aren't doing their jobs or bringing morale down at the schools. We shouldn't keep teachers for the sake of keeping teachers.