Tuesday, Mar 10, 2009
Today's Lunch Break:
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/10/obama-calls-for-overhaul-of-education-system/
I have many friends in the teaching field, and as this can be an emotionally loaded subject, my apologies if I offend. Let me first say that I truly admire what you do.
Certainly the problems in our school systems have no simple solutions. As for me, I generally support (and all opinions of mine are subject to change, given additional facts and added perspective) charter schools, school vouchers, magnet programs, and merit-based pay. However, I don't pretend that any one of these is a silver bullet, or that they should be applied uniformly across the board[1].
The most powerful solution lies in strengthening the home and in parents being better parents, but I do think the government has an important role in improving our education system. All regional challenges are unique, and I believe that state and local leaders (as opposed to the federal government) should be given more discretion on what is best for their area. In fact, I hesitate to make any sweeping generalizations about what I think should be done--well, with two exceptions. I'm in support of ending Bush's failed No Child Left Behind and of limiting the power of teachers unions.
Many of our public school teachers work hard and care about our children. But the present system fails both our teachers and our students. Change is necessary, but any attempt at reform or innovation is quickly shot down by the teachers unions, a protective group that (to a certain extent) propagandizes parents and students (this is what I observed in Utah during the failure of the school voucher program)[2].
With the voting support Obama received from the teachers' unions, I was worried that he would cave to their demands, considering their enormous power as a special interest group[3]. I am glad that he is speaking boldly on this issue, and I hope that we do see a change in the quality of public education [4]. Here is my two cents on what else should be done.
I met dozens of classmates who would have made phenomenal high school teachers. They had the creativity, energy, intelligence, and personality for it. Few, even those interested in the idea, ultimately went that route. This reluctance to pursue education was particularly pronounced among the male students at BYU.
The standard line is that we get the best teachers because money isn't the motivator. But that's not true--I watched many of the best future teachers go to law or dental school instead. Teachers deserve to take pride in their profession on the same level as doctors, lawyers, and businessman, and many of the brightest students need that sense of identity, pride, and accomplishment to make the leap into a career.
So we want to improve our public schools? Perhaps we need to visit our colleges first. I'd like to see the day when I overhear this part of shallow conversation from a BYU student: "Yes, yes, he's going to be a teacher. Yes, its so nice to be dating someone with so much ambition...and, lets be honest, someone who's going to be making a six figure salary when he's done with school."
[1] There is no "one size fits all" in education. We won't find the cure for cancer by only attacking the problem from one approach. (Of course, "cancer" will never be "cured" in the usual sense of the word, as it is not one disease but a constellation of different diseases. But learning is not only one thing either, as not all kids learn the same way--which is why fighting against alternatives like charter schools or supporting a measure like No Child Left Behind both seem so ridiculous to me.)
[2] We need innovation and evidence-based reform. Let's bring science back to the school classroom--and to the school administration.
[3] Considering how populist the GOP has become in recent years, I wonder if we'll see some shifts in allegiance there.
[4] I don't agree with all of his proposals, however. I agree with some of the criticisms on his over-emphasis on college education for all, for example. I do feel better about moderate pick for education secretary after finding this commentary though.
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Comments
Comment Moderation is enabled. Your comment will not appear until approved.I have a dozen solutions to the education crisis. And please, allow me to preface this with clarification that I indeed see the value and necessity of parents in education. There is no substitute for strong parenting. That said, having two strong parents in the home who are dedicated to teaching values, work ethic, and the importance of an education is not a reality for countless children. My comments focus only on what a school can do on its own, regardless of family stability. Naturally, a child will succeed at far greater levels with the combined support of family and school, but when family support is absent, it is still a collective responsibility to educate that child. And frankly, if the "good Samaritan" aspect is not enticing, it is still in the best economic interest of the state to do so.
I learned very quickly that achieving significant results in a failing school is not impossible. The students were 3, 4, 5 grade levels behind not because they were incapable of learning, but rather the product of a failed school system.
So what's the problem? Unqualified, unmotivated, incompetent faculty and staff. I place a high level of responsibility on teachers, and especially on administration which I view as even more important to student success than the teacher. Just because they have good hearts does not qualify them for the position. There is a place for that at church, but not in education.
At the core is the inability to recruit, train, and retain highly qualified educators. More often than not I was told, "Are you sure you want to teach? You are far too smart and could do so much more." And by "do so much more" they mean "make so much more."
There is little incentive to teach. For a highly qualified candidate who takes their job seriously, the pay ranges from poor to okay. The hours are grueling (60-80 weeks), the job is never done, the personal attacks are endless, your "summers off" are filled with professional development, your breaks within the school year are spent going to the dentist and DMV and bank and just plain recuperating, criticism abounds if you use your personal or sick days, there are attacks on teachers everyday on the news and in the online/print news journals, going out on a school night is unlikely and near-impossible, there's the constant threat of being sued and subsequent documentation required to CYA, the high-stakes testing comes with serious consequences for failure (and no reward for success "you should be doing that anyway"), pay raises are based on length of employment (never on merit) and are capped at about $20,000 more than a first-year teacher (regardless of skill and performance), earning a master's only gets you $500 extra per year ($1000 for a doctorate), planning periods are nonexistent, and at the end of the day, no one says thank you. Folks pay lip service to the "noble profession" of teaching and say, "It's the hardest and most important job in the world, other than a parent" but their real recognition only comes with an irate phone call about how their child came home in tears with a 0 on an assignment and how it is the teacher's responsibility to write the child's homework in their planner every night (even though you have 50 students, gave the child 10 extra days to complete the assignment, emailed the parents, and phoned home 4 times from your 20-minute lunch break or while you were making dinner for your own family).
There are intangible rewards, yes, but those don't usually appear until about 7 months in, after which you enjoy them for a couple of weeks before end-of-school-fever kicks in.
If you don't love teaching, it's ridiculous to even consider. And if you DO love teaching (like I do), your family can't always afford to have you stay in that field for the long-run.
I have a bazillion solutions on how to remedy this and create actual incentives to recruit and retain highly qualified teachers (and some thoughts on teacher unions, which I vehemently opposed before teaching, but ultimately joined out of sheer necessity). But that will have to be a post for my own blog. This is your blog and I've already overstayed my welcome. Good day to ya!
Thanks for such a detailed comment...and there is no such thing as "overstaying your welcome" here!
For those of us very far removed from the trenches, and with very little first-hand knowledge of a teacher's life, it is all too easy to throw out cursory solutions and sweeping statements that don't give justice to the complexity of a situation. I apologize if some of my remarks seemed flippant. (Stay tuned for next week on Lunch Break, where Elliott provides all the answers on solving the crisis in the banking industry *and* ending the war in Afghanistan!)
My post's title and opening paragraph were misleading--unintentionally so, I assure you, in blogging I often start in one direction and end up in another--as it sounded like I was about to make a criticism on teachers. No, the phrasing there was in reference to experiences I had in Utah, where I got some pretty emotional responses from teacher/friends vehemently against school vouchers (which I tend to support). I originally set out to question why there was so much backlash, especially from unions, to adopt new programs or explore new solutions (as is the case here in D.C., with the attempted reforms and their failing school system).
However, I think that my final point, as uninformed and naive as I am on this matter, closely follows the sentiments you express. Our teachers are being horribly undervalued, overworked, and underpaid, and among other things, teachers need higher salaries.
I hope that this post (and your reply) has gotten people to think about the role that public education and teachers have in our society. I look forward to reading about your ideas and solutions on your blog--which will undoubtedly prove to be more substantial than mine.