Forgotten But Not Gone

While James W. Guthrie may have been "pressured" to quit his job as Nevada's first appointed state superintendent of instruction, he didn't keep his mouth shut about what he proposed as "reforms" in education.

He appears he is writing propaganda for the far right, Nevada-based Nevada Policy Research Institute.

Fat chance administrators would EVER allow teachers to make more money than they do. It would simply worsen the problems with favoritism and principal abuse of power which are rampant in education:

Guthrie said Nevada needs bold and audacious ideas.

“These little myopic changes aren’t going to do anything,” he said. “How in the world is a little reduction in class size going to make a difference?”

His paper proposed that the state use Gov. Sandoval’s proposed $200 million in each of the upcoming biennial years for roll ups and the $160 million a year in funds for smaller elementary school classes to identify and pay the state’s most outstanding teachers.

The "outstanding" teachers are the ones who are the best asskissers to the principals.

Great News for Nevada's Teachers

as long as James W. Guthrie doesn't have health problems, which I don't wish on anybody.

Announcement:

Dr. James Guthrie today tendered his resignation as Superintendent of Public Instruction, effective immediately.

“Dr. Guthrie moved to Nevada and helped the state transition from an elected to an appointed Superintendent,” Governor Brian Sandoval said. “I thank him for his service to our great state and I wish him the best.”

Rorie Fitzpatrick, currently Deputy Superintendent for Teaching and Learning, has been appointed Interim Superintendent. Additional details regarding the process for appointment of the next Superintendent will be forthcoming.

It appears his health wasn't an issue. He is 76 years old:

Guthrie, 76, told the Associated Press he told the governor he was “honored to have had a chance to hold this position, and I regret that I must resign, and that I appreciate his giving me a chance to serve.”

Guthrie said he couldn’t say why he resigned, but Sandoval’s education proposals were on the right track and he has no plans to retire.

“I will be seeking a position in which I can continue to make American education better for the children,” he said in a phone interview about two hours after his resignation.

Guthrie told the Reno Gazette-Journal he turned in his resignation at 2:30 p.m. and had no plans.

Of course there might be health issues or some other emergency in his family.



Regardless of the reason for Guthrie's departure, unfortunately the governor is likely to pick somebody just like him, if not worse.

More Guthrie Gibberish

Nevada's sup of schools, the spectacularly unqualified James W. Guthrie, seems to think classroom size is less important than "effective" teachers, despite evidence to the contrary.

Everything he spews about public education are talking points of the anti-public education crowd from both political parties.

“In an ideal world I would ask that you lift class size restrictions” and let local school districts decide how best to spend their resources, Superintendent James Guthrie said during a joint meeting of the Assembly Ways and Means and state Senate Finance committees.

While agreeing that class size matters, “An effective teacher trumps all we know about class size,” he said before adding, “In an ideal world … I wouldn’t be concerned about class size.”

With that kind of attitude, Nevada's teachers are totally screwed.

Any Way You Look at Him,

Nevada sup of instruction James Guthrie is a blithering, blathering idiot who is hellbent on destroying education in the state. It appears CCSD sup Dwight Jones felt insulted by Guthrie's remarks about CCSD, but what is worse is this moron, meaning Guthrie, is still pushing the same talking points against teachers:

I’m happy about that. I’m glad we pay our teachers well. I just don’t think we pay our best teachers well enough. And we pay some teachers too much. And I’d like to change that in time. But the fundamental instrument in place for doing that is the evaluation system we’re pioneering the next two years. That’s just crucial.

Of the state’s 22,000 teachers, I don’t know how many of them are great — I’m going to say 10 percent. And how many are terrible? I don’t know. I know that in the last two years, Clark County has moved to dismiss 36 teachers, 18 a year.

That’s about .001 percent of their teachers were somehow judged to be ineffective for whatever reason. Is that really all the ineffective teachers there are? Suspicious. That’s not the bottom line here. But again, I’m not beating up Clark County until we get the evaluation system into place. They don’t have a basis for dismissal.

First of all, asshole, far more teachers are forced out of CCSD, WCSD, and other districts in Nevada and around the country, and most of them aren't shitty teachers. The vast majority pushed out take resignations or are non-renewed, which are firings, but they don't go through the sham due process hearings like I went through.

"Quality" has nothing to do with whether a teacher gets sacked, except for the rare teacher who commits a criminal act.

If the Sup Doesn't Fit, You Must Omit

Although Nevada sup of education James W. Guthrie believes only ten percent of Nevada's 22,000 teachers are "excellent," he said 16 of the 17 state school district superintendents "passed" his "test."

However, he wonders whether he actually fits in with the state:

Guthrie said he’s not sure he is fitting in perfectly in the Silver State. He said he is driven by urgency. “Every 11 minutes, a student drops out,” Guthrie said. He also said at 76 years old, he doesn’t have time to wait for education in Nevada, found at the bottom of national education rankings, to get better.

His background in education — a policy scholar from the George W. Bush Institute, education specialist for the U.S. Senate and having worked at University of California, Berkeley; Vanderbilt University; Southern Methodist University and the University of Southern California — makes him eager to debate. It’s something that has gotten him in a bit hot water.

He's been mostly a policy flak. He has very little K-12 experience, and what there was happened many years ago.

I Didn't Know They Legalized Dope in Nevada,

but then again dopes have ALWAYS been legal there. The newest one is new Nevada superintendent of public instruction Dr. James W. Guthrie, who despises teachers and public ed in general, yet he thinks teachers could make as much as 200k a year provided they are "outstanding."

This guy earned a Ph.D., and I am sure he felt that credential qualified him for higher-paying jobs. However, in his eyes teaching is so "easy," experience and education shouldn't qualify for higher pay. It is completely and totally batshit, but remember, K-12 teaching is female-dominated. Women don't need the money anyway because they are being supported.

There are some good comments following this article about Guthrie's latest idiotic statements.