Skimming along the same lines Stan wrote in "Big Bucks...", I think there are more issues involved in our future as teachers than just money. Sure, teachers have to shell out a lot of dough to teach their students without getting reimbursed but there is definitely a bigger picture to foresee. What will the future hold for us as teachers if we keep on the same path we're on presently?
Recently, I've heard talk about teachers pay being a direct result of MAP test scores. This idea is ridiculous! Students work at their own pace and learn in their own style. If one student decides they are going to spend a night on the town boozing it up while their still underage before the MAP test the next day, why should the teacher suffer?
The unions teachers join, like the NEA and others, are useless as well because all they can do is talk about what is wrong with the world of teaching without actually doing anything about it. Let me ask you a question: what is the one thing that shows the power of a union? The answer is that they have the right to go on strike. However, since teachers are part of the Federal government's line of public workers, if they strike, they get canned. The power of a teacher's union is kaput.
Then, there is the old faithful of has-been school problems: NCLB. Every time I hear that phrase, I have to laugh because I think of President Bush's last State of the Union where he addressed the only accomplishment his eight years have made: the NCLB. Schools are shutting down in New York because of the greatness of the NCLB. Kids from those "bad" schools have to go to another "bad" school and wait for it to get shutdown too! The worse thing is that the most illiterate person in the free world assumes that 100 % of children will read and work at the same level by 2012. The president can't even speak properly to the Queen of England, let alone eat a pretzel, and yet we're following his rule like Pavlov's dogs.
I concur with a Professor I currently have that states we are going the wrong way with education. I believe that if no one makes a stand, the quotable freedom teachers now have in their classroom will be no more. I can see a future where there are two teachers in every class who watch the other for signs of failure. I can see a future where every school across the nation teaches the same book at the same time every year. I see a horrible future for us as teachers if we stay on this path.
Right now, teachers are stuck writing mundane paperwork and lesson plans for administrators who have no right to expect the same results from every teacher/student. Right now, politicians are writing bills that take a little sliver of the teacher's freedom to "teach" in their own fashion because they think it's the right thing to do (though they have never been a teacher or, some, to college). Right now, Lisa, a seventh grader, is upset because her teachers are not taking care of her the way she needs them too. Her teachers are too engrossed in teaching certain things in a timeline and not veering off at any stop. Right now, Lisa is falling behind. Now she's failing... and the government thinks it's your fault.
I believe we need to get rid of Federal funding for schools altogether and provide more supplies locally. Education should be a local ambition. Parents and anyone else who makes a vocal concern about the school system should not rely on the schools to do all the work while they throw out the excuse that they are too busy to help. Everyone needs to be involved. If we can get the government to mind their own business and let each school fend for itself with helpers in the community who understand what it means to be a teacher, then our tomorrow as teachers will be quite promising indeed.
Fact: there is no way to judge the amount of actual teaching someone has been given in order to decide appropriate pay. Some students will never want to learn... period. Some students are handicapped in a form of learning; perhaps they cannot write.
Fact: a union's only power is a strike. If teachers can't go on strike, see if the students will strike for you. Say, "Class, the MAP is tomorrow but you don't have to take it. Don't show up." Of course, do not say it in those words. What will happen? The MAP will be irregular but is it really so significant? No.
Fact: the goal of 100 % from the NCLB is never going to happen. Some students are blind or are affected by ADHD. They may not care that the government wants them all to be identical in a society that vocally favors difference.
Fact: if we new teachers don't step up and say something to change this, the future I have prescribed will come. It takes many people to change things for the better but only one to change things for the worse. Don't be that one person. Do not be like the president. Stand up and change the system. Save Lisa.
I like my freedom because, without it, I would not have been able to write this.
I want to keep my freedom when I teach... don't you?
3 comments:
I agree with some of this post...but I would like to point a few things out, for argument's sake.
Fact - Though I hate NCLB as much as the next teacher, think about it it this way: At my 30-year retirement banquet, I really hope my main point is, "You know, I really would have been a great teacher if it hadn't been for the map test". Teachers should work as hard as we can to make our voices heard in Congress, but we also have to do the best with the hand we've been dealt. Yes, we're underpaid and unappreciated. Yes, we'll face unbeatable obstacles and setbacks. But we have to do the best we can.
Fact - As much as I disagree with his policies, Bush is not the most illiterate person alive - there are plenty of people in this country who can't read. Hyperbole, I know, but is sounds pretentious. Also, please don't place all the blame on the Republicans - it was a bipartisan bill. Yes, Bush supports it, no, I don't like him either, but he's not entirely to blame.
Fact - Being blind has absolutely no effect on your intelligence or your ability to do well either in school or on a test.
The real power in a teacher's union is their lobbying power. I don't like the lobbyist system, myself, but again, work with what you have.
Also, just to add some fuel to the fire, I hope you're aware that some of the major supporters of NCLB were/are the chairs and stock owners of McGraw/Hill - the company that makes the tests and enjoys a huge profit from selling them to schools.
Oh, and I COMPLETELY agree with getting rid of federal funding and replacing it with local support. The federal government shouldn't be able to control its states through their purse-strings. To be fair, I like standards - it's important to hold schools to a level of accountability. What I don't like is that those standards are inflexible and do not take into account the values of the state and community. How do you expect communities in Southern California to care about the same educational goals as schools in the Upper peninsula, or schools in rural Tennessee, or upstate New York? America should stop expecting its schools to be the "great equalizer" that gives every student the same opportunity regardless of location or upbringing. It's just not possible.
It could be fun teaching with another teacher. Team collaberation might work well. But, I see what you're getting at, and I like the freedoms I have. By the way, I was just told that the MAP test is no more by a teacher in Marshfield. I'm going to check this. Very interesting, though.
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