Assigned Reading

Education consultant Lisa Keegan is exactly right when she argues for more freedom in the teaching profession. The attempts to mandate some single classroom model that will result in perfect schools only result in failure. All too often the focus, and the blame, is on some strategy or policy, rather than the teachers. Teachers. for the most part, are what make or break schools.

Memorize this: schools are great when teachers are great.

There is no best model; there is not a single approach that works. Kids can succeed in traditional classrooms, in front of computers with teachers aside, at home on a computer, in classes large and small…all depending on the quality of the teachers involved.

The discussion in the comment section that follows Ms. Keegan’s column is also interesting, and worth checking out.

Now this is what I have been talking about for years. School districts looking to save money should consider outside management of non-teaching services. Cumberland has contracted with the Sodexho company to manage custodial services. While no custodians will lose their jobs, those who choose to leave voluntarily will not be replaced.

Besides saving the district serious money, the management company will also train the custodians and oversee the work. In Cumberland, parents, teachers and students have been complaining about poorly cleaned and maintained schools, and this hire promises to improve the facilities.

Superintendent Donna Morelle has it exactly right when she tells the Valley Breeze:

We’re not in the business of managing buildings, we’re in the business of education, so let’s go find someone in the business of managing buildings.

We must view schools as places to educate kids, not employee adults. Good move Cumberland.

I went to the Gaspee Day Rally at the State House. I must admit I was expecting to be disappointed. The April 15th rally was connected to a national movement, and I doubted a strictly local event would motivate RIers. I was wrong.

I arrived around 5:00. Although the crowd was significantly smaller than the last rally, it was in fact a crowd. With big names like Arlene Violet and Governor Carcieri, the protestors were energized. Maybe, just maybe, a real movement for change has begun. I certainly hope so.

Here are some photos I took at the event.

I’ve been teaching for 17 years, and it’s amazing to see the successes former students have as adults. I read through the college news sections of the Valley Breeze to see which students graduated and from what colleges, what degrees they have earned and what honors they have received.

One parent leaves occasional messages for me at our school, sharing her son’s successes. John really shined in our writing workshop when he was in fifth grade. He’s was a talented writer, a good athlete, and an all-around good student. His mom called a couple of weeks ago to let me know that John, who is now a senior at BU, earned an internship with Major League Baseball, covering the Red Sox, and his first article was posted on the website.

Today, the Valley Breeze has a front page article on John’s success. He should be proud of his accomplishments. I certainly am.

A recent study by the Friedman Foundation reveals at higher burn out rate among public school teachers than their private school counterparts. (h/t Joanne Jacobs)

Public school teachers have lower job satisfaction, less autonomy, less influence over school policy, less ability to keep order, less support from administrators and peers, and less safety. Just about the only thing they have more of is burnout.

I really love teaching, and after 17 years I still feel lucky to call teaching my profession. Some classes are more challenging than others, due to academic, emotional, and behavioral needs of the students. But it is not the needs of my students that threaten to dim the flame

I feel the burn out factor creeping up on occasion. The cause is precisely what the study identifies. Less autonomy and influence have created a school system I work for, but not one to which I belong. More and more decisions are made by those in ivory towers, who think taking a 20 minute walk through our school a couple of times a year is all that is required.

Our administration decided to cut a resource position in our school for next year. The Response to Intervention (RTI) model has kept resource students in their classrooms, and brought special education teachers into the classes to provide direct instruction to these students. Other needy students also benefit by having a special education teacher working with the regular classroom teacher. An IEP isn’t necessary for these students to receive the instruction they need, so less kids are referred to special education. Despite the additional teacher, the program should save money, as less students are labelled special education, with all the federal protections and guarantees that come with it.

Our school has significantly reduced the percent of students labelled special education; we meet the needs of our kids without the label. The district encouraged this process, but is now cutting a position needed to sustain the program. Those students who haven’t been labelled will now be left without the support we had assumed under the RTI model our district was promoting.

Our staff knows money is tight, and budgets need to be cut. No administrator, however, met with us to determine the best ways to save money at our school. We have plenty of suggestions, including staff reductions, that we believe wouldn’t have as damaging effects on our students. Again, no one asked.

Private and charter schools are much better at creating educational communities. Faculty and families are invited into the decision making process in more meaningful ways. Teachers see their ideas turn into action, and adjust curriculum to make it work for kids.

Despite being the professionals in the trenches, teachers have less and less input in how to teach their classes and do what is best for kids. Their voices are heard and valued. As a result teachers, veterans in particular, are becoming cynical, and burn out settles in.

I promised myself when I was first hired that I would teach only as long as loved it. I still do. But for the first time, I’m praying it stays that way.