Education

Overheard

February 18, 2005 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

“We don’t fire the police if crime goes up.”

—Greg Gores, a history teacher at Lodi High School in California, expressing his indignation at Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s recent proposal to tie teacher pay raises to assessments of their classroom performance.

“I picked up the chair and said, ‘OK, which one of us throws first?’ ”

—Julia Pruchniewski, recounting how she responded 30 years ago when a student lifted a chair and threatened to throw it at her. Citing an increased workload, the 52-year-old English teacher recently appeared before the Anne Arundel County, Maryland, school board to announce that she was quitting in the middle of the school year, three years before she’d planned to retire.

“Thank goodness we have term limits. He can go bury his head down in the bitterroot for a few years and stay out of our business.”

—Eric Feaver, president of the Montana Education Association-Montana Federation of Teachers, referring to lame-duck state Senator Fred Thomas’ suggestion that the Treasure State cut the jobs of 1,700 teachers and spread the savings among the rest.

“We’re moms using guns as tools to protect our kids.”

—Marta Ellison, a member of the Hanna Springs Intermediate School Parent-Teacher-Student Organization, in Lampasas, Texas. She’s one of three mothers who took in about $9,000 raffling two hunting rifles and ammunition to pay for a fence to separate school grounds from the surrounding area, where several registered sex offenders live.

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Personalized Learning Webinar
Expanding Teacher Impact: Scaling Personalized Learning Across Districts
Explore personalized learning strategies that transform classrooms and empower educators.
Content provided by DreamBox Learning
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Classroom Technology Webinar
How to Leverage Virtual Learning: Preparing Students for the Future
Hear from an expert panel how best to leverage virtual learning in your district to achieve your goals.
Content provided by Class
English-Language Learners Webinar AI and English Learners: What Teachers Need to Know
Explore the role of AI in multilingual education and its potential limitations.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education From Our Research Center What's on the Minds of Educators, in Charts
Politics, gender equity, and technology—how teachers and administrators say these issues are affecting the field.
1 min read
Stylized illustration of a pie chart
Traci Daberko for Education Week
Education Briefly Stated: August 30, 2023
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: August 23, 2023
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read
Education Briefly Stated: August 16, 2023
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read