Ask a teacher what works in education

2.4.10 – JENNIFER ALEXANDER – As an educator of 26 years, I am saddened by the recent legislation created by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and supported by the President.

Letter to the Editor | Ask a teacher what works in education

As an educator of 26 years, I am saddened by the recent legislation created by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and supported by the President. The recent “Race to the Top” education grants create a competition (much like a basketball game) and award points for programs such as merit pay, charter schools and other programs that are detrimental to the success of students. This plan failed miserably in the Chicago Public Schools, of which Duncan was superintendent.

We know competition creates winners and losers. Do we want to encourage a system for education that promotes losers? Should teachers be held responsible for the test scores of students who were not in their classrooms for the first four or more years of their lives (kind of like being held accountable for the eight years of a previous administration) — students who may have been born addicted to drugs, abused and/or neglected, as well as a whole gamut of influences that affect learning that we have no control over?

Could I have influence over the test scores of a student who reported sexual abuse to me on the first day of CATS testing or those of the student who soils himself daily because of previous abuse? Should my merit as a teacher be based on this?

Isn’t it sad to live in a country that rewards its athletes with million-/billion-dollar contracts but provides salaries to its teachers equal to the poverty level in many cases, forcing those teachers to take on second and summer jobs in order to provide for their families?

It is truly shameful that we value our children the least in a country of such progress. Until the people who make decisions about education are educators and until we can place a dollar value on our children equal to our athletes, while holding parents accountable for their child’s success as much as their teachers, we will not have an education system that produces citizens who can compete with the nations that surpass us now. Only when we provide programs that encourage teachers to do their best and not penalize them for situations beyond their control will we create a future teaching force second to none.

If you want to know what works in education, ask an educator.

Comments

Green Goat

February 4, 2010 at 6:20 am

They do ask …(but choose to disregard the input!) ….LOL.
PttB – Plummet to the Bottom.

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GilNGarcia

February 4, 2010 at 6:49 am

Points well taken. Teachers across grades and courses should be part of school teams to design, implement, and evaluate school improvement plans. Most teachers are quite capable of holding themselves and their school accountable. Likewise, representatives from a varied range of school districts should be invited to work on teams that develop similar plans at the state education agency level. Unfortunately, this seldom happens for a variety of mis-management reasons.

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David

February 4, 2010 at 7:04 am

You are a teacher. I am a teacher. I know you know. But they live in a "thought world." I would ask you what you think of Haberman's conclusions as well.

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Jacquie McTaggart

February 4, 2010 at 7:29 am

Jennifer, you hit the nail on the head. Our policymakers SHOULD be listening to educators, but they aren't – and they apparently never will. I am a FIFTY-year educator, and I've been singing your song for the last 20 years. Unfortunately, fellow teachers are the only ones clapping.

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MOMwithAbrain

February 4, 2010 at 8:34 am

Interesting because Obama was HEAVILY supported by.,..THE NEA!!!
The corrupt union's pick for President is now selling out the teachers in this country but it was the NEA who helped get him elected!
The NEA is behind every socialist who runs, so why are teachers surprised that Obama wishes to centralize education?
This teacher is exactly right. It's absurd that Duncan wants to hold teachers responsible for the crappy curriculum they are forced to use in the classroom, or for the crappy education they get in our Schools of Ed which people like Bill Ayers run.

Maybe the teachers can take control back from their union and start speaking out against this loss of control locally and in the classroom. Maybe teachers can start speaking out about the materials they are foced to use in the classroom that do not educate students.
Maybe teachers can speak out to the poor education they receive in the Schools of Ed in this country which is more concerned about pedegogy rather than giving teachers a quality education to take to the classroom.

Bravo to this ONE teacher who has the guts to acknowledge yet another expensive failure we are all about to suffer through in education!

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TiredTeacher

February 4, 2010 at 8:41 am

Thank you! Great points all around. If only America took its education seriously and used teacher input to solve problems.

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Teacher 35 years

February 4, 2010 at 10:21 am

Teachers and parents and taxpayers no longer have local control over education. We live in Nazi Germany now — did you see how they are allowing recruiting for Obama sycophants in our schools? We've gone over the edge and people have allowed it. We are in trouble big folks.

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Terry Daugherty

February 4, 2010 at 7:03 pm

Great points Jennifer! I hope some day we go back to focusing on how to help students to love learning. MomwithAbrain, go to the title "Ask a Teacher" they would laugh at your concepts of the "powerful NEA" Nobody blames crime on FOP but we blame poor learning by students to the Association that represents teachers. Lets stop fighting windmills.

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