Is there any reason why parents are not allowed to nominate teachers, or even PTAs?

Going on a limb here, but I frankly think that the reason there are so few nominations is that many city principals and administrators don't celebrate their teachers in such a way that awards like this would become popular media for those admins to express their appreciation for their staff.

Some of us are looked down upon, scorned, scolded, and generally told that we need to do this better and that more. We are threatened with PIP's, told we need better management, and degraded in ways that clearly show a lack of respect for those of us in the classroom.

Oh...and administrators and principals only show up in room for disciplinary problems or formal observations. Its impossible to ascertain who is a great teacher when you show up, in baseball vernacular, for the "league minimum".

Nick is an amazing colleague and does remarkable work.

Poly's Social Studies department head and Librarian were also the sole recipients of a national grant for collaborative learning.

The Social Studies head has also won this award and state-level honors as well.

But Nick is a great teacher and I can think of no one more deserving than he.

On the other side of the spectrum from David Ortiz's comment, in a great school with good administrators you're going to have lots of outstanding teachers. How is a principal supposed to pick a single one without generating lots of hurt feelings? I think Mr. Greer's statement on the video about there being a lot of great teachers in this building showed that there is a sense of teamwork that makes it hard to pick out an individual. Nonetheless, I think it's an excellent idea for every school to have to select a teacher of the year and for there to be some communication to other teachers and students and parents as to why this individual was selected.

And to Mr. Greer (if he reads this blog) - congratulations on a job well done that is obviously appreciated by your whole school community!

I feel confident that even if there had been a greater number of nominees, Mr. Greer would have come out on top.

He is an outstanding educator whose enthusiasm and dedication are rare and unmatched. He taught my son freshman biology and mentored him both on and off the soccer field. I am thrilled to see Mr. Greer honored by the top brass!

I agree with a parent comments 100%. I did not mean in any way to diminish the quality of instruction provided by Mr. Greer or any great teacher in our city. I just meant to suggest that a possible reason there is a dearth of nominees comes from a pervasive antagonism that exists between teachers and administrators in a great number of schools in the city.

It is also correct that there is a correlation between great administrators and great teachers. If each school were thought of as an autonomous business, and employees were/are treated with great care and respect, people want to be there and perform their best for the kids. There is just (sadly) a lack of those institutions in the city. Hopefully, we are moving towards more harmony and greater respect for what we do in the classroom on a daily basis.

Congratulations to the Poly HS selected district classroom teacher of the year.

Perhaps in piggy backing on the raised issue and concern for why only a limited number not more than 13 teacher of the year BCPSS district candidates applications were submitted an increase over last SY2007 were only submitted can become a official Office of DREAA data Climate Survey question for all teachers/administrators in SY2010??

This staff recognition process confirms a sign of the low professional moral in the BCPSS exist we still do not have Great School administrators/teachers, but in-spite of we do have Great Students.

"This staff recognition process confirms a sign of the low professional moral in the BCPSS exist we still do not have Great School administrators/teachers, but in-spite of we do have Great Students"

Does this statement make any sense to anyone? If the students fail, the teachers are at fault. If we have great students,we have no part in their achievement? For good and bad,teachers and parents are partners.

Congratualtions to Nick! I know your award is well deserved.I think of you as representing all of us who work so hard and care so much! Enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Congratulations!!! That's incredible. Well done. Want to lead some PDs? Just kidding (sort of...).

Congratulations to Mr. Greer, he sounds amazing.

Big Papi busting out the baseball vernacular, how appropriate! I would think that communication is lacking between North Ave. and the Principals, and/or between the Principals and the teachers of the schools. For all the people who commit their lives to this cause only 13 submitted applications is an embarrassment.

I name the 9th grade teacher who taught a kid to read as teacher of the year.

The teacher who took a high school student from 5th grade learning to grade level.

The teacher who kept a kid from dropping out. (maybe by getting them hooked on urban fiction--and even maybe cosmo girl)

The teacher who had an autistic kid in class.

the teacher who explained why there were so few white kids in school. and was honest

the teacher who taught to kids rather than data points.

the teacher who spent way too much of their paltry salary to make it happen in the classroom and for those kids

the teacher who made structure and meaning out of chaos

to the teacher who knows that school reform has nothing to do with showing up on monday and bringing your best game

the teacher who doesn't teach at poly (and doesn't teach honors kids at poly), city, et. al and stays in the game

those who have hope in the unseen.

the teacher who understands that baltimore schools are an affront to an america based on the notion that "all men are created equal."

for they weren't on the agenda of "teacher of the year"

but they are. the invisible teachers of the year

Good to see Poly is still hanging in there and is still better than City.

Teacher of the Year--I remember the day when that award was something teachers would fight about or be jealous over. However, in BCPSS, the award serves in most schools to show which teacher is on the "favored" list or has made the principal look good in some shape, manner or form. I have been at the same school for a number of years and can count on one hand the number of times that a principal or administrator has expressed appreciation for the job I do or that anyone else does for that matter. Climate surveys do track that teachers are not feeling supported but no one ever seems to take notice and make the necessary changes.

I apologize in advance for further pulling these comments away from congratulating Mr. Greer, but I literally can not stop myself.

I was going through some of the less positive posts and thinking how if we swap citywide for charter it all sounds fairly familiar along with trying to read some incoherent ramblings that I really couldn't understand. Then I came across this gem of a line as to a situation that qualifies a teacher for being exceptional - "The teacher who had an autistic kid in class." I just can't stop myself from going off.

The presence of autistic kids in your class is not a cross to bear that gets you nominated for sainthood. Now, if you actually do something positive with that kid, say differentiate instruction and testing to help them get something out of your class; if you educate yourself and the neurotypical kids in your class about autism and gain some empathy; if you provide a safe social situation for your autistic student and keep other kids from harassing or beating that kid...then you're a successful teacher of an autistic student. But, given the number of autistic students and the goal, one would hope, of having all of them in decent placements, this will not qualify you as exceptional; there should be too many teachers like this. If that's all it takes, I wish I had known and I would have nominated the teacher (and school and IEP team) who's doing all that for my autistic kid.

I am sick to death of the idea that it's a drag to have an autistic kid in your life. I've got one in mine and it's a privilege. I can't tell you all the things I've learned that are useful in dealing with so many other things than my autistic kid. I truly believe in inclusive education, but not in schools or with teachers that see my kid as a burden. With that off my chest maybe I can get back to my job.

Sorry, one more thing - don't assume that Mr. Greer has no autistic/aspergers kids in his class unless you have gone through his last 7 years worth of 503's and IEP's. You might be surprised at the number of smart and academically successful kids who are on the autism spectrum, of course that would mean that you quit making assumptions about autistic kids.

I applaud Mr. Greer on his accomplishments. I do however think in many ways it sends the same old message to the majority of our kids who are in zone schools, NOT only do Poly, Western, and City have the best facilities, students, and resources they ALSO have the best teachers. I think Mr. Greer made great changes in the lives of his students, because he was given the opportunity to - by his administration and his school culture. Many teachers wish they had the same opportunity, but find themselves in many ways locked into the culture that dominates their schools. Alonso's Great Teacher in every school message is true, in fact i think most teachers WANT to be the teacher of the year, however they operate in a system that is broken and are forced to conform with the broken system. Once again congratualtions to Mr. Greer, hopefully we see other teachers afforded the same opportunities in the future, to truly make this competitive for zone schools and all high schools in the city. The truth is most principals probably wouldnt want the attention brought to their school, unless it was a poly or city.

Every year in each Maryland school district the question is asked on why the number of nominees is so low. It isn't because principals don't celebrate their teachers and it isn't because there aren't enough qualified teachers out there. One problem is the nominating and qualification process itself. Every year school districts try to streamline the nominating process in hope of getting more teachers to participate. In the end, the "finalists" still have to meet the State Department of Education’s rigid criteria, complete an extremely long, time consuming package of information. And, believe it or not, not all teachers want to participate in this competition and choose to decline the nomination before they are even vetted for the process.

This doesn't prohibit any parent group, PTA, or school from honoring their school’s teacher of the year. And perhaps, as Dr. Alonzo and others who have worked with this competition have expressed, the all of the individual school Teacher of the Year winners could compete in the district-wide program. But again, each school representative will still have to meet the criteria provided to the district by the State. Something, unfortunately, not every teacher can do each and every year.

I hate to use this positive forum as a speaking point, but I figure people are looking at this thread. I stumbled across this link (http://bit.ly/dXl0g) about the inappropriate management decisions/procedures by The Sun's operators, and I wanted to share it with InsideEd readers.

The economy is a mess, and tough decisions are necessary. But there's a way to handle corporate decisions, and this operating procedure falls significantly below any imaginable duty of care owed to dedicated journalists.

The Sun's writers are instrumental in keeping citizens of this community aware of critical issues and local news. We rely on their professionalism and tireless efforts to enable an informed populace. Their efforts are necessary to sustain a healthy and stable democracy. They have accepted this responsibilty and bare it with each daily contribution to the news cycle.

The Sun owes their journalists more than a phone call while on assignment when deciding to terminate an employee. I am appalled by the sheer audacity of the lack of professionalism.

Again, I want to reiterate, I understand that businesses need to make tough decisions, but the blind adherence to the bottom line does not justify the procedure used to square the balance sheet.

I'm sure there may be some here that want to respond that this comment may seem hypocritical after the City Schools let many people go. The difference, I believe, is the process. Of course I don't know how it worked for school employees, but I hope beyond all hopes that the organization I work for was more respectful to personal hurt that accompanies a termination decision. Regardless, this is about The Sun, not the City Schools.

I have heard that Sun journalists are going on a byline strike tomorrow - withholding their names from articles and not communicating on Sun forums for which their names would be displayed. I think this is a commendable decision, and I pray that the same Sun managers who operated in such a negligent fashion during the last round of cuts recognize their employees' clear dissatisfaction with the lack of business professionalism. Should The Sun's management chose to retaliate against The Sun's writers who participate, I promise that this paying subscriber will no longer continue to be one, and I will urge my friends in Baltimore to do the same. Here's to David against Goliath.

Sorry the link didn't come through: http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/05/david-steele-fired-baltimore-sun-press-box.html