BTSA EMANCIPATION!
Free at last! Free at last! God all mighty - free at last!!
Just came from my "portfolio review" and my Get Out of BTSA Jail card is on the way to Sacramento. While not a religious person typically, I instantly got down on my knees and, sobbing my thanks to the Higher Power of your choice, created quite a stir in the little bomb shelter type bungalow that served as District 3's Portfolio Review site. I then grabbed a bunch of office supplies and hightailed it home where I proceeded to rip, tear, and burn anything BTSA related that I don't have to keep. It was cathartic. I recommend it highly.
I also recommend that you contact the Powers That Be to blow the cover off this BTSA BS. Below, I've cc:d a post from another BTSA prisoner. I've been emailing this lady my rants - perhaps you can do so as well.
Lastly, I recommend selling all the BTSA books you've been saddled with (and probably, like me, didn't have time to read) on E-bay. You won't make a fortune, but it's as close as you'll get to squeezing anything beneficial from the evil labryinth that is BTSA.
FYI: Here is the mastermind behind BTSA. Her name is Kerry Mazzoni. She is now a lobbyist in Sacramento and used to be a State Assembly Member. She authored the bill SB2042 (along with others laws leading to BTSA) which is stamped on your credential. She has responded with nasty letters to teachers who have written her expressing their frustration. Mazzoni even went as far to say to a teacher who wrote her expressing his frustration about SB2042 that, "I have concerns that you may not be cut out for the profession." She claims short stints as an adult school and pre-k teacher as her experience. She has no credential, never went through BTSA, and claims to be an expert on education.
Her email is kmazzoni@teamgsi.net and her work phone # is (916) 552-2629. I encourage those of you who are sick and tired of the BTSA hoops to call or email her letting her know how you feel.
posted by gossamerb @ 8:04 PM
4 Comments:
Thanks for the info on Mazzoni. Thanks, too, for emailing her about your BTSA experience. The more of us that do so, the more chance of changing the system!
I too am "Free at last"! Are you staying with LAUHSD? I have lived in southern Ca all my life and as I was in college I heard little good about LAUHSD and that there paperwork was terrible. If you look East of Los Angeles you probably find a better district to work at. Don't let one district destroy it for you!
Glad to see you stuck with it.
I am a support provider and can and do go through the materials with my folks and break down/simplify what is required. I doubt if many others do that. It's too late for you, but the State is paring back on the requirements for next year.
As someone suggested there are a lot of Districts which are worth looking at. It is probably worth staying in LAUSD for a few years just to have a job history. But remember that most Districts only accept up to 7 years of experience transfered. So make sure you get out by then. And LAUSD is so large that if your admin is evil and incompetent you should be able to transfer. If not evil then might be worth staying. Most are the latter. Actually, the conferences that you loved so much are a really good place to find out where schools are which are run well.
Hang in there.
The worst part is that all this work, and LAUSD will not allow you to receive college units. I went to work for another county and they receive 8 units for each year. I called to ask if LAUD did this and as soon as the woman on the other side picked up she just answered NO, and I let her know she didn't even hear what my question was. LAUSD will never get it together, and that's too bad, because the students and teachers who really want to make a difference pay for their ignorance.
BUT all in all congrats on surviving the haze... =)
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