The Fix The Teacher Relay
So here is my question Relay Graduate School of Education: Why is everything a teacher problem? And why should I bag what you are shoveling?
I've been doing this going on 25 years and I have seen countless reform groups come through preaching the same sermon. These groups have come in and syphoned millions of dollars out of this district all with the promise of fixing us. None of these magic bullets has done anything to change the issues that plague this community. Now I am not saying that our teachers are perfect. We, ALL, could improve. But what do you have that is effective? How are you going to earn my respect? I spent 21 years teaching special education, 17 of those in middle school. I have worked with some of the most difficult, at-risk students in Pueblo. What is a teacher who taught kindergarten for 3 years in New Hampshire before becoming a consultant for a big money reform group going to do to earn my respect? Don't tell me anything that you have read in a book. I can read a book. I can read a book on flying an F-18, but that doesn't make me a pilot. You want my respect? You want me to listen to you? Show me. You want improved Tier 1 instruction? Show me how it’s done. Take over our classes for a year. Be my mentor. Write your magic lesson plans with me, and write your wondrous objective on the correct side of the board with me. Show me how it's done. Stay past the honeymoon period. Live this life.
As the years have gone by, what I have seen is that the more reformers we get, the more oversight we get, the worse things have gotten. I only mention the following as a point of reference: The last year I taught reading to my ESS students, which was when NCLB became law, unsatisfactory scores for Reading for my students’ state exam went down by 33%. Because I am not reading certified, I could not teach reading after that. Now I am not saying I am the best reading teacher in the world, but I think I did a pretty good job. How has reform helped my students? I have taught math and pre-algebra in middle school when TIRs couldn't handle the difficult children. My coaches and reform consultants all said I had great lessons and did a good job, but couldn't offer any advice in regards to increasing attendance, engagement, or motivation.
So here we stand again. The next supergroup come to fix us.
What are the thousands of dollars you demand going to bring us? Are you going to give us a welding class? A carpentry class? An auto-mechanics class? A computer science class? Are you going to provide a full-time mental health professional? Are you going to feed our children dinner? Are you going to run an after-school program so our children have a safe place to be? Are you going to offer parenting support classes? Are you going to provide transportation to our most needy children so they don't have to walk through some of our most dangerous neighborhoods in the city, in the winter, in the dark, without a coat? Are you going to bring us paper? Pencils? Textbooks? New computers? Are you going to repair and rebuild our buildings? Because those are all things that your fees will support. Or are you going to bring us more micromanagement and criticism?
We get enough words. We get enough criticism. What we need is support.
So here is my question Relay Graduate School of Education: Why is everything a teacher problem? And why should I bag what you are shoveling?
I've been doing this going on 25 years and I have seen countless reform groups come through preaching the same sermon. These groups have come in and syphoned millions of dollars out of this district all with the promise of fixing us. None of these magic bullets has done anything to change the issues that plague this community. Now I am not saying that our teachers are perfect. We, ALL, could improve. But what do you have that is effective? How are you going to earn my respect? I spent 21 years teaching special education, 17 of those in middle school. I have worked with some of the most difficult, at-risk students in Pueblo. What is a teacher who taught kindergarten for 3 years in New Hampshire before becoming a consultant for a big money reform group going to do to earn my respect? Don't tell me anything that you have read in a book. I can read a book. I can read a book on flying an F-18, but that doesn't make me a pilot. You want my respect? You want me to listen to you? Show me. You want improved Tier 1 instruction? Show me how it’s done. Take over our classes for a year. Be my mentor. Write your magic lesson plans with me, and write your wondrous objective on the correct side of the board with me. Show me how it's done. Stay past the honeymoon period. Live this life.
As the years have gone by, what I have seen is that the more reformers we get, the more oversight we get, the worse things have gotten. I only mention the following as a point of reference: The last year I taught reading to my ESS students, which was when NCLB became law, unsatisfactory scores for Reading for my students’ state exam went down by 33%. Because I am not reading certified, I could not teach reading after that. Now I am not saying I am the best reading teacher in the world, but I think I did a pretty good job. How has reform helped my students? I have taught math and pre-algebra in middle school when TIRs couldn't handle the difficult children. My coaches and reform consultants all said I had great lessons and did a good job, but couldn't offer any advice in regards to increasing attendance, engagement, or motivation.
So here we stand again. The next supergroup come to fix us.
What are the thousands of dollars you demand going to bring us? Are you going to give us a welding class? A carpentry class? An auto-mechanics class? A computer science class? Are you going to provide a full-time mental health professional? Are you going to feed our children dinner? Are you going to run an after-school program so our children have a safe place to be? Are you going to offer parenting support classes? Are you going to provide transportation to our most needy children so they don't have to walk through some of our most dangerous neighborhoods in the city, in the winter, in the dark, without a coat? Are you going to bring us paper? Pencils? Textbooks? New computers? Are you going to repair and rebuild our buildings? Because those are all things that your fees will support. Or are you going to bring us more micromanagement and criticism?
We get enough words. We get enough criticism. What we need is support.