Soon to be Teachers Taught about Rights

By Jordan Groff


Education students at Utah State University gathered to learn their rights from Jim Cangelosi on Tuesday night.

In the Merrill-Cazier Library at Utah State's main campus, education majors gathered to learn what they will experience and deal with as they start their careers.

"I liked how it gave me an idea of what could happen and how to prepare for it," said Jennie Cross, a Spanish education major." This made me more aware of how things work in my career."

Jim Cangelosi is a teacher and author who has studied teachers' rights and evaluation tactics. He has dealt with teacher evaluation lawsuits all over Utah and other states.

“I decide if the teacher in question has been railroaded or if they need to be fired," Cangelosi said. "We can look at student outcomes, teaching performance and teaching competence. Standardized test scores over simplify teacher evaluation.”

Barbara Cangelosi also understands how vital teachers are in our public education system.

"Teaching is very complicated," Barbara said. "Teaching is even far more complicated than being a brain surgeon. We are asked to do the impossible."

Jim Cangelosi also addressed the dangers of being fired in the education system. He briefly spoke of how he can understand why teachers in Atlanta and all across the nation are changing test scores.

"Teachers have very little control over test scores," Cangelosi said. "Socio-economic factors and many other factors influence students more than teaching. Although you can lose your job if students test scores are too low.

Cangelosi wants all teachers to be prepared for their career and understand their role.

"We provide teachers with tools to teach well, but we don't teach you how to teach well," Cangelosi said. "All we can do is give you the tools. Programs like these are here to help give you those tools."