Guffanti's Teacher Insults are Wrong

Guffanti’s Group Verbal Abuse of Teachers Exposed

Guffanti and his group of followers have repeatedly said that VUSD teachers are lazy and over paid. They have also said that many teachers especially the older teachers in the district need to be fired. Jim Gibson the other ANTI public education VUSD Board Member and current board president has advocated firing 10% of all VUSD teachers every year just like his hero the infamous Jack Welch did at General Electric. Guffanti and the ANTI’s have also said that VUSD teachers were not doing their job of teaching children until Joyce Bales and Guffanti forced them to. One of the Guffanti group said that teaching was full time pay for a half time job. They have repeatedly said that we are the highest paid teachers in the nation. They accuse teachers and others who oppose Guffanti of only being interested getting more of the district money for themselves at the expense of our VUSD students.

FALSE ACCUSATIONS

These are all false accusations of course. They are also slanderous and despicable charges to level against over-worked VUSD teachers. The comments show an incredible ignorance of what teachers do and a complete lack of empathy for our incredible job responsibility. Worst of all they show just how dark of heart, how mean, and how irrational these folks would be if we allow them to get another majority on our board. There is no telling how much damage they would do to our students, our schools, our teachers and our district.

'PUPPETS" TAKE US FROM THIRD FROM TOP TO NEXT TO BOTTOM IN SALARY

Now some facts, twenty five years ago VUSD teachers were ranked as the third highest paid teachers among unified districts in San Diego County. Our school board at that time made a commitment to never let VUSD fall out of the top three. That was twenty five years ago, a time when ordinary folks without hidden agendas were elected to our board. The only concern of those elected VUSD board members was how to make VUSD a better place of our students. Today of course we are one election away from a majority who wishes to use their position of power on our school board for fringe politics to benefit their personal political agendas rather than improve educational opportunities for our students. We have had to fight this group for the last 18 years. During those 18 years something very negative has happened to our VUSD teacher salaries and benefits. Today we are second from last in salaries in the county of San Diego. (CTA office San Marcos)

PUPPET CHARGE DOES NOT PASS SMELL TEST

Our ANTI-public education friends have consistently charged over those 18 years that the Pro-public education candidates that we have gotten elected are "union puppets". Weird that our "puppets" have so lowered our VUSD teachers' standings in wages and benefits among San Diego County school districts. You would think we would have better control of our "puppets" if they were puppets as the ANTI charge. Again the lies of the ANTI crowd (Guffanti's gang) just do not pass the smell test.

TOUGH TEACHING JOB CAUSES HIGHEST ATTRITION RATE OF ANY PROFESSION

Here is another thing that our ANTI friends never acknowledge, public school teaching is so difficult that on average 14% of new teachers quit in the first year. (from Donna Foote, “Relentless Pursuit”) This is the percentage of first year teachers who quit. Remember they have spent four years getting the education to be a teacher and a further fifth year of UNPAID student teaching education classes and UNPAID classroom teaching to get their credential. These are the cream of the crop of all graduates from our Education Institutes. These new teacher who quit in droves after the reality of public school teaching hits them are the very best of the various graduating classes each year. They are the ones with the best grades, successful recommendation from student teaching and most able to interview well. Of this cream of the crop that gets a job in the first place--14% quit. Seems high to me. But it is not high enough for the Guffanti's dark-hearted, angry haters. They want even more teachers gone.

YOUNG TEACHERS GIVE UP TEACHING AT AN ALARMING RATE

Think of the incredible investment of time and money these first year teachers give up. Six years of their young lives have been invested if we count their first year of teaching, yet they quit teaching in huge numbers. Six years amounts to a quarter of their young lives. They give up on all that hard work and all of their dreams. Do they quit teaching because the job is so easy?

Many still have to pay their student loans but they no longer are willing to work as teachers to raise the funds to pay off those loans. Would young teachers, deep in debt, quit an easy job with half time work for full time pay? It seems to me that people burdened with tens of thousands of dollars of student loans would try to keep a high paying easy job. Hey Guffanti, if the money is so good and the work so light why do so many first year teachers leave the profession?

DARK HEART OF GUFFANTI

The accusations of Guffanti's group of nasty dark hearts make no sense to any one willing to look at the facts. Problem is facts never favor Guffanti and his group, but his group doesn't care. When the facts do not fit their prejudice they make up new facts.

GUFFANTI GROUP TERRIFIED OF CHILDREN

Weird Guffanti’s group is so disrespectful to teachers. Most of Guffanti's gang are afraid of having six or seven of their children’s friends over for a couple hour birthday party. They get so exhausted after the party. Yet when we put in six plus hours a day with thirty children and we do not just entertain them we teach them, Guffanti's group gives us no credit. you will never see Guffanti, Gibson or any of their group voluteer as a Sunday School teacher. Children are so scary for them.

Even more damning to the litany of lies, hate and disrespect that Guffanti’s Group spews is the fact that by the end of the fifth year of a new teaching career, more than 50% of all new young teachers have gotten out of teaching. There is no profession with a higher attrition rate.

OUR OLDER TEACHERS ARE OUR BEST RESOURCE

The older teachers in our district are the hardest working, most successful teachers and they are the survivors who have overcome all obstacles and thrived. Their students learn more in an hour than Guffanti’s group could teach in a year. Yet the older teachers in the district are the ones that Guffanti's group targets with words like "tired", "old" and lazy" If you have the stomach for it , you can read the actual quotes that the Guffanti haters have used about teachers. All quotes are from the NCTimes newspaper in the last two years. See their quotes in the October 19th post on this blog entitled, "Outrageous quotes from Guffanti's Group."

STATISTICS FROM DONNA FOOTE'S BOOK, "RELENTLESS PURSUIT"

NOTE: All statistics in this blog post come from the book by Donna Foote, “Relentless Pursuit” and were confirmed by Paul Cummins, New Vision Foundation. I heard them both speaking together on CSPAN book TV recently.

Donna Foote followed new teachers around in an LAUSD high school (Locke Senior High School, http://www.lockehs.org/ ) and wrote down exactly what she saw. She read some excerpts from her book on the air. They were the most accurate description of classroom problems and student behaviors that I have ever heard. Her beautifully and accurately written words created a realistic picture of problems teachers face. Her words probably would scare away nearly any one contemplating teaching. I wish the editors of the NCTimes would read this book and see what teaching is really about. Any in the Guffanti group that are capable of learning would benefit from reading this book as well. Perhaps they might quit hating teachers and start helping instead.

Most teaching books are sanitized and turned into a Pollyanna version of the real thing. This book is not.