I’m a product of the Central Bucks HS system, now the HS is CB West.
In the ‘50s the social studies teachers were so poorly paid that they took up a table at a local tavern playing cards and nursing a nickel beer until someone with a real job bought a round for the house. Then they could have another. Couldn’t be thrown out.
When the state failed to bust the illegal teacher’s union in the late ‘60s, early ‘70s they got a raise. Their response, more pay less work.
I got in trouble because I ridiculed the teachers for going to the local Firestone dealer for their 5% teacher discount. Their tires were more expensive, their front end alignment was more expensive than where I had my first job as a kid. Their front end guy who did alignments brought his own car to us for alignment. Small town, his brother went to the same HS.
10 days sick leave, you can bet they used 9 1/2. And the school year was 182 days. Let see, that’s out sick about 5% of the time.
The principal at CBW was David Spahr, shaker from Nebraska and hopefully long gone from this planet. They decided to hire a third principal and rotate them between the Admin building, West and LEast. First guy rotated to the Admin building, Sparhky.
Had a boss (we fired him) whose wife went from special ed teacher to teaching six grade math in the Neshaminy system down in lower Bucks. She made 82K/yr back in ‘94. She used to bring the questions her students asked home to her husband and get back to the kids with the answer the next day. Only took her 1 1/2 years to actually be able to answer the questions herself. Her husband told me this story more than once.
Almost met her, they stopped by the workplace but he made her stay in the car.
At least CBW used to have a good football team, but since CB South is there it sounds like they lost all their best players.
I’m just glad I graduated before they came thru and re-evaluated the school system. Think major downgrade.
If I gave my teacher’s grades they wouldn’t have been good with a small handful of exceptions.
Actually, I’m surprised to hear you say what you do about the teachers here. Since I’m taking education classes (and in contrast to what a lot of Freepers think of such classes, mine have mostly all been excellent), I’ve visited a lot of Bucks Co classrooms. Yes, I’ve seen some mediocre teachers and one very bad one. But overall, I’ve been surprisingly impressed. However, instead of sending my own daughter to CBW, I sent her north to Plumstead.
I have just learned that to become a social studies teacher (probably any type of teacher) in CBSD, you basically get hired as a substitute the first year and during the first semester you teach, a principal will be in the classroom observing you at least twice a week. You don’t get a contract until after the first or second year you are there (I forget which). If you are not a good teacher, you get fired before you get a contract.