Thanks Patty for this article. I posted it this morning but had to put in my two cents. As an educator of 32 years and now teaching an adjunct class at a junior college, I agree with most of this article but don’t agree the whole problem is in leadership. Having been married to a principal, I think they are often as frustrated as teachers. As a reading consultant for 7 years I traveled to many different school districts and the word I heard everywhere I went from both administrators and teachers was: OVERWHELMED. Overwhelmed with paperwork and new programs and demands for sure – but let’s look at where those all stem from…students who come to school not ready to learn. Teachers cannot possibly in a school day teach the behaviors, values, responsibilities, work ethic and respect needed to be a successful student. If leadership including our legislators want to raise test scores they need to quit making new programs and revising the standards and teacher evaluations that were redone over and over during my career. Teachers know what they need to teach. Leadership needs to quit putting all the responsibility on the teachers and the schools and start requiring parenting classes for any parents who want their child to have the gift of a free public education. We can keep pointing to the schools as the problem and keep over-regulating and revising. But until we look at where the real problem is we will continue to have only the very most dedicated work for the low pay, the long hours and the disrespect that comes with this profession that can also be very rewarding when working with students who come to school wanting to learn.
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 02:27:43 +0000