For about the past month, my colleagues and I have been repeatedly disheartened as we stare down the barrel of a cannon aimed at our profession. Sadly (as is usually the case with education) sweeping, drastic, one-size-fits-all reform is being proposed for public schools that is grossly inaccurate in its assessment of the problem and dangerously short-sighted in its solution. My heart has been so heavy and for the second time in my life, when I arrive at work every day, I have to will myself out of the car. I have to take a deep breath and remind myself that I really am making a difference regardless of what my immediate administration, my district administration, the state or the country is saying about teachers. And yes, I take it personally because I AM A TEACHER.
I took this job knowing that I wouldn't be paid well. Knowing that I would get more complaints that accolades. Knowing that I would be responsible for parenting and then criticized for doing so. Knowing that there would never be enough money to suitably teach my content. Knowing that standardized testing was part of the job description. But, most of all, knowing that what I do is the most important thing (besides being a good parent) that is done in our society. Without teachers, there would be few other professions. How does one become a doctor or lawyer or director of a conglomerate? Someone had to teach those people to read, write, do math, and, ultimately, to think! I am aware that much of society views the teaching profession as a "fall-back" career. How many times have I heard, "Those who can't do, teach"? I have even been told by someone at a dinner party that, "You're a teacher - how wonderful. 3 o'clock end to your day and all that time off! Teaching seems like it would be an easy career to pick up. I love kids. I might do that when I retire from my real job." We left that particular dinner party immediately because my husband was aware that I was about to punch that guy in the trachea and he didn't want our children exposed to such violence. And knowing all of those things, I purposely decided to become an educator because I know that I MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIFE OF A CHILD EVERY DAY.
Here in Florida, the new Governor is proposing legislation that will effectively end public education as we know it. While I am aware that Pay-for-Performance standards for education are being recommended even from the President, the proposed methods of instituting this policy in Florida will have disastrous effects on the teaching profession. More importantly, it will devastate the good teachers as well as the teachers who need to be removed. Right now, the proposal is for 50% of the majority of teachers' pay to be based on student test scores from ONE test. I teach students for 180+ days and now what I get paid will be based on their performance on ONE DAY out of those 180+ days. And how is it fair to the students to say that ONE DAY encompasses all that they know and have learned? At this time they have not even determined how the other 50% of my pay grade will be determined but they're ready to pass this bill. For teachers in specialized areas (like art or foreign language) it is even worse. Because most of these subjects do not have a standardized test, those teachers' pay will be determined based on how that student performs in all his classes. That's right, an art teacher or librarian's pay will be based, not just on the applicable subject, but on how that student performs in, say, Science. That is, of course, if art and band and other like electives are still offered in schools since these programs will be (and have already been) the first to go due to budget cuts. And, as my colleague Sally D commented, "Would they cut the pay of cops who work in high-crime areas or cut the pay of the cashier who didn't pull through as many customers because the one's she did check-out had more items?" Why are teachers being penalized for all of it when so many variables exist in the education of each student?
What none of this takes in to account is the kids and parents. The kids are the one's who are supposed to be benefiting from all of this change and yet none of the politicians or administrators are looking at the students. As much of this legislation had been in the news here in FL, one of my students commented ,"Why don't they just ask the students who the good teachers are. We know." Indeed. And popularity contests aside, students do make very good judges of which teachers know their shit and which teachers are just collecting a pay-check and biding their time until retirement. Additionally, no one is laying any responsibility for education at the parents' feet. Again, Sally D asked, "What about the parent who buys his kid a $300 phone but won't hand in $4.99 for a supplemental book?" Or what about the parent who asks the teacher why the student isn't doing his homework. Is the teacher at home with the student? And then there are parents who are working 2 jobs, coming home at midnight and still managing to be involved with their student's schoolwork. When teachers leave the profession in droves because the accountability measures are unfair, the students are the ones who will suffer. Teachers are not immediately replaceable as some would like to think and when the good teachers abandon public education for private education or completely different careers where there talents are valued, who will be left to teach?
We are at a crossroads in education but instead of politicians acting as crossing guards to make sure everyone gets across safely, they have set up road-blocks and they're searching everyone's car whether or not there's any evidence that the driver is a criminal. Legislators need to hear from everyone, not just teachers, that the proposed fix has to be equitable to students and teachers and, ultimately, our future.
11 comments:
Reagan - I couldnt agree with you more here, but at the same time I don't have the insight to develop an alternative. What you're saying is all true. The proposed plan doesn't take into account the collective progress a student makes over the course of a year. We all know that some students don't test as well as others, regardless of having a firm grasp of the content. One day and one test is nonsense.
BUT if we want to see change for the better, I believe it is up the teachers to come up with the solution.
I'm making this up on the fly here, but I think the best solution involves a grading method similar to the one we grade our students with. In other words, grade and pay teachers based on a blend of things that matter. We don't grade the students based on one test, we grade them based on homework completion, collaborative projects, book reports, essays, and tests. Couldn't we grade the teachers based on similar relevant categories? Teachers should be expected to do the bare minimum and will receive bare minimum pay for it. But we should encourage them to earn higher pay by living up to a higher set of standards. Not in theory but in practice. The more quality and effort teachers put I to their curriculum, the more they should earn. We should reward for things such as staggered testing, attendance, creative yet relative community service projects designed to give real world
experience, after school mentoring, coaching athletics, heading up edu ational after school programs, etc. Test scores SHOULD be a part of the grade, but only a fraction of it...
I'd like to apologize upfront for any spelling and grammatical errors throughout this rant as I'm typing this on my phone in a moving vehicle.
I think students and parents should also have a say in how teachers are graded (and paid). Some may not like the idea of the popularity contest, but as you said, kids know which teachers are there for the right reasons.
I agree with everything you said! There has to be a better way to do it all. I work with people daily who are incompetent and YES they need to be held accountable - as do I - to make sure we are all doing our level best for the students. I think a system like the one you mentioned would be a perfectly acceptable system. Multiple facets of evaluation for a job that has myriad aspects to it. Not even salesmen are paid 100% commission. And - if we're talking business model here - I would love to have my students and parents weigh-in. After all, they are the "customers", right?
The issue is that there is no proposed legislation that I have seen or heard about that makes even half as much sense as what you suggested. You wanna run for office, friend?
If we get paid based on our kids' test scores, what happens to those of us who pour our heart and soul into teaching the kids with special needs? Most of my students can't score in the average range on an IQ test, but are mandated to be proficient on standardized testing by 2014? I have only read about what you're facing in your state. It hasn't gotten to that point here yet, but I feel like we're headed in that direction and it makes me wonder how much longer I'll be able to do what I do.
Reagan - I'll need a running mate! Now that's one intimidating ballot, huh? Hmmmm.... Maybe you're on to something here :)
Haley- You're a perfect example. Especially in your situation, testing simply can't apply to your pay. Perhaps in your field of expertise, the parents opinions matter even more. Theyre not looking for child care while they're at work... parents of special needs kids will instantly recognize whether or not the teacher leading their child's classroom is a competent innovator or glorified babysitter. You should be paid accordingly (along with basic testing and other applicable standards of advanced performance)
Cedar - I think our name pronunciations alone would give people fits!
And, after thinking about this for most of the weekend, I think you make another good point. Who better to help make the evaluation system than teachers? The struggle here is that no one is listening to teachers. Again, that lack of conferred professionalism within our career causes politicians, and even some administrators, to think that they know better than we how to judge teachers' effectiveness. To make matters worse, here in FL, we are a no-strike state, so any leverage teachers might have has been stripped from us. We have to rely on our teachers' union's bargaining power to hope that changes get made to the proposed legislation.
Since you're on a roll, how do we get the legislators to listen to us when, if we strike or organize a sick-out, we can be summarily fired?
The saddest part is that a good portion of my students' parents are special needs themselves. When I call to say it's time to schedule their child's annual review for speech therapy, they sometimes act as though they didn't realize their child was getting speech therapy. I can't rely on them for my evaluation. They don't even know my name, much less what I do with their kids. And if I rely on my colleagues in my building to evaluate me, I'm sunk too. Unfortunately, most of the classroom teachers in my building don't know what I do. They think kids come to speech to play games. When I talk about working with kids on social skills and narrative language, they often say, "what does that have to do with speech?" It's a big, crazy mess. I love that, as educators, we are paid on an even scale based on years of experience and education. What I would like to see happen is for there to be less red tape involved in firing those who everyone knows need to be fired. As it stand now, you pretty much have to either steal money or sleep with a student to actually get fired...and it's ALL about who you know.
Reagan - strikes are old school and they just piss everybody off to the point where nobody wants to work together anymore. Although they may be effective in the short term, they end up being counter productive and harmful to everyone by brewing nearly unrepairable long-term animosity. Be smarter than that... use modern methods. Do something that has the natural ability to go viral. You're one of the smartest people I know, so come up with something that will garner attention locally, regionally, and if done right, nationally. The more attention you can bring to the topic the more likely it is to take off. I'm not suggesting doing something gimmicky just to get attention, like organizing "topless teacher Tuesday" (oh wait, yes I am). No, but seriously, if you're serious about this, you should organize the more dedicated, reliable, and articulate teachers on staff to put together a campaign. A campaign to raise awareness outside of your school, your area, your state. If it were me, I'd map out a plan. A real tangible plan. One that if applied would satisfy most teachers, students, and parents. One that grades and pays teachers as we've suggested earlier in this discussion. I'd know this plan backwards and forwards. I'd be prepared for attacks on its validity. I'd think through all potential loopholes and short comings of this plan. And then once I were confident that it was the best alternative that anyone had yet to offer, I'd campaign it. I'd organize local meetings with powerful and influential people. I wouldn't only include liberal, education-centric minds, but involve some of the most progressive yet conservative business minds you can find. All walks of life can contribute greatly here. This is not left or right. This topic can be spun in such a way that makes everyone, regardless of political affiliation agree that this isn't a political thing, but an American thing. This is about creating the best education system in the world, and the only way to do so is to reward the teachers who are responsible for educating our children and encouraging them to be stars. I'd U-Stream every group meeting live online for the world to see and encourage collaboration. If your suggested plan is sound enough, if it is logical, if it is fair and unbiased, then I can guarantee you that you will be heard. And I can guarantee you, other teachers across the country will rally behind you. Communities outside the world of education will hear you, and you will create change. I firmly believe that the ONLY plan that will work is one created BY the teachers - as long as the plan is not perceived as one-sided, the authenticity of such a campaign is undeniably powerful.
Think about it...
Now go do it.
I'm just sayin' :)
Love ya' Reagan!
I think the three of you are on to something. Get proactive in what is rightfully yours. A grassroots movement starts with an idea.
Invite others for input (parents, teachers, students and administrators). Organize it, plan and outline it and invite teachers from across the states to do the same. Fight back for what you so diligently have strived for. Take it to the state, go to the media and then press on and take it to Washington. This is how we make constructive changes.
GO FOR IT.
FIGHT BACK!
Reagan, as I follow the FL situation and the WI situation, and now the OK situation of trying to reduce firefighter and public workers (including teachers) pensions. I have become more and more pro-union. I have seen TONS of union abuse in my former life at American. But it was my union who saved my job after I had already received a pink slip. And they did so by saying, 'you want to save money? Here's our solution that will accomplish your goal, but it's better for our members (no layoffs), and ultimately it's better for our city.'
Cedar R said it best, 'it is up to the teachers to come up with the solution.' If the teachers are unionized in FL, then the union needs to get together, come up with a solution (with grass roots teacher input), use their political power and flaunt that solution to every politician and TV camera to garner support from the rest of the common sense voting citizens out there. You asked, 'how do we get the legislators to listen to us when, if we strike or organize a sick-out, we can be summarily fired?' We've seen several clips of teachers in WI, but I have not heard a resounding all encompassing voice. That's what FL needs...the booming voice saying 'THIS is the solution to your problems that will accomplish your goals mr/mrs state rep/senator.' Now it's debatable what the FL legislature goals are: crush the teachers/union, fix a budget problem, or fix education, but whatever they publicly declare as their goal, that's what the solution should accomplish.
Soooo...... Viva la revolution??
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