Just How Many Teachers Don’t Teach?
Re “Back to Basics: More Teachers in Classrooms,” June 24 Orange County Commentary by Steven B. Frates:
As the person who directly oversees the Division of Education in the Capistrano Unified School District, I must take serious exception to the assertions made by Frates regarding the number of credentialed teachers “not actually teaching.”
According to Frates, 23% of the credentialed teachers in CUSD were not actually teaching in fiscal 2000. If one were to accept this assertion, fully 475 teachers were wandering about our district engaged in “mentoring ... or other non-teaching activities.” The actual number of teachers so engaged was 10, or roughly 0.5% of credentialed teachers.
I am shocked that Frates made such an inaccurate assertion and equally shocked that your paper would devote columns to this misguided attempt to “discern certain broad tendencies.”
Austin G. Buffum
Deputy Superintendent of Education
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