Patricia Ann Hill

Patricia Hill's Response:

This data is helpful to me. However, it belongs at my school site and with LAUSD, not in the hands of a biased publication with its own political agenda and motivation. It is unfair for you to publish our names with this data, which is only evidence of one component of our practice as teachers. What does the Times, and specifically the reporters who went so far out of their way to make this information available to the public, think will be gained by this? Was it necessary to publish our names and ratings (by a controversial data analyzing model)? The same information could have been presented by school, with teachers in each grade level simply identified by a letter or number.
What the Times has done is personal, and I feel my rights and privacy have been violated. I have contacted the ACLU and am awaiting a response. What a shame that the Times chooses to violate the privacy of professionals who give their students so much more than academics, who are advocates for them, and who provide a safe learning environment for them on a daily basis. Professionals who have had furlough days resulting in paycuts, health benefit cuts, less support on the school site, larger classes, and who are forced to spend their own money to get necessary items for their classrooms are now being judged by a mostly unqualified public. I teach third grade, a grade where test scores generally dip due to the new and rigorous curriculum. I also teach the students who are learning English. These factors affect their progress. I am absolutely horrified at your lack of journalistic integrity. Needless to say, I have canceled my subscription and will cease using the LA Times in my classroom. I owe my students access to a newspaper which reports the news in an unbiased manner. I will use other publications which demonstrate competent reporting and journalistic ethics.