On Schools and Teachers

[H2O Man]

I am finding the discussions about school teachers here on the Democratic Underground to be very interesting. I especially appreciate the contributions to these threads by forum members. I also find some – though certainly not all – of the comments by those who express concerns regarding the issues involving the teachers unions protecting incompetent teachers.

In my opinion, there are some people (for an extreme example, John Mark Karr) who might have a teaching degree, but should never be in front of any classroom. However, I've yet to meet any teacher who supports keeping incompetent teachers employed. I suspect that the union issues are similar to those I experienced while employed at a county mental health clinic; I was the union VP, and had to be sure that workplace policies were followed when employees were brought up on charges that could result in their termination.

It would be as foolish to limit discussions involving education to a tiny minority of unqualified teachers, as it would be to focus solely upon a few bad social workers when discussing mental health services.

Because we live in a rural area in upstate New York, my four children have had the opportunity to attend schools that somewhat limited budgets, but which afford a good learning environment, in that the classroom sizes are reasonable. My boys, for example, attended a school from K to 5, in which the largest class for either had twenty students. In high school, one of their teachers was a friend of mine, who won the national “Teacher of the Year” years ago. He worked summers at Cornell, with Carl Sagan.

My daughters attend a smaller nearby school. I'm proud of the fact that the older one has made the highest scholastic achievements in the school's history, and that her younger sister is giving her a run for her money.

I have a pretty high opinion of both school districts. That doesn't mean that I like every teacher, or agree with everything they say or do in their classrooms. But I don't think that any are so incompetent that they should be fired.

As a social worker, I found that there were correlations between the home environment and a child's success in the classroom. That includes a range of important issues, including parental involvement, and economic status. The price of required school supplies this year struck me as cause for concern for many families, for example. When I think of “school clothes,” I remember when in an 18-month period, my son D went from size 7.5 shoes/sneakers, to size 14.

The schools in our area now have more “social services” than they did when I entered into social work. The school setting requires that the staff deals with far more problems than they did a generation or two ago. In my opinion, a significant factor in improving school systems can be found in the community. It seems unrealistic to think that the school alone is going to provide everything needed to improve our children's education. There has to be an increase in community involvement.

I've served as the head of a local PTA. I'm on the Booster Club now. Teachers in a number of area school districts have me do presentations in their classrooms every year. I attend a heck of a lot of school events, including sports competitions. I'm far from alone in these things – there are many other people who do a lot more than I do. But, there are simply not enough.

Being retired allows me more time than many community members. There are lots of parents who have work schedules that do not allow them to attend these events. I understand that. What is encouraging to me is that other parents “fill in,” providing everything from transportation to their children's friends, to encouragement at sporting and scholastic events.

That support goes a long way in promoting students' connections to the school. Just as school districts have to be creative in their use of limited budgets, community members need to think outside the box. One of the best programs for “at risk” youth, for example, is the Big Brother/ Big Sister Program. When an adult volunteers as a friend and mentor for a youngster, they help that child build the foundation of self-esteem that is so beneficial in their life, both inside and out of school.

In the discussions about improving the educational system are being discussed, I think that it is best if we do not buy into the current effort to demonize teachers and their unions. I've found more problems are rooted in school administrations. More, our country seems focused on investing more in weapons and wars, than in our nation's youth and schools. I believe that it's better to focus on the positive steps that we can take, including investing more than our school taxes in the education system. I know that this is not the entire solution, but it one part that we can do something about.

[el_bryanto]

1. well written

I think people in America are generally down on Unions; they've been driven out or marginalized in most other industries. Therefore when you say that unions need to be part of the discussion of education (which they do need to be) people automatically assume they will play a negative role.

Bryant

[H2O Man]

3. Right.

I agree.

In the 1990s, I remember being in a meeting with our County Board of Supervisors, negotiating our contract. When the topic was holidays, one supervisor said, "You don't need Martin Luther King's Day off. We don't have many Negroes in the county." I said that I didn't think there were any "Negroes" in the county, since the late '50s. The state rep whispered to me that I needed to "talk in a way that the dumbest of redneck can understand."

When it came to the pay scale for social workers, the same supervisor said, "Oh, social workers! They're a dime a dozen." I replied, "Well, sir, that's the good ones who do their job well. The bad ones are a heck of a lot more expensive." In this instance, he understood what I was saying. But the BOS didn't care.

We started picketing, and had some good support from the area's media. Then, the BOS understood and paid attention.

[Tatiana]

2. Thank you, Mr. Waterman.

For anyone who teaches, what has been happening of late can be viewed as nothing other than a direct attack upon the teaching profession and union-busting.

I wish someone would realize that teaching unions not only exist to make sure due process is maintained, but they also negotiate on behalf of children. That is why teachers have fought so hard for smaller class sizes. That is why teachers fight for services special education students should be receiving by law. This is why teachers fight against narrowing curriculum and to maintain art and music programs.

We want students and families to succeed!

What is even more hurtful is that this treatment is coming from the party that I thought believed in a free, fair, and excellent public education for all. Charter schools sound fantastic to many, but don't be a kid who has a learning disability or requires special education services, because you just might find yourself "counseled out." The way I see it, unions are helping to protect someone of our most vulnerable students who don't have someone to speak up or go to bat for them.

[H2O Man]

4. Well, thank you.

I remain friends with a number of the teachers that I had in school and college. I remember when I was a homeless teenager, writing in my English journal about being very hungry .... and that teacher bringing me bags of food. Now, I was an angry kid, probably one of the very worst hoodlums in my town's history. I was sleeping in cars and empty buildings, stealing food, and heading towards serious problems. Her giving me bags of food was definitely one of the reasons I stayed in school. Those are life experiences that I will never forget.

[blondeatlast]

5. Someone here on DU suggested that it's being approached the same way

HMO's were introduced; they do a few good works, get good PR, then the accountants arrive.

I thought that was a very apt analogy that maybe younger DUers won't recognize. But I thought the approach seemed familiar; now I recognize it. Sadly, I'm seeing too much "buying in" to this notion of teachers being the problem. and sadly, the likes of Oprah, who is blindly led--and then blindly leads millions upon millions of others, doesn't help.

[felix_numinous]

6. All of our service professions have suffered

because they have lost their autonomy under the last few administrations. The trend toward privatization has allowed corporate types to infiltrate professions with a business model that demands short term results that look good on paper rather than addressing the deeper social issues involved. Healthcare (which is my specialty) saw privatization of hospitals and the takeover of pharmaceutical insurance and legal institutions with agendas that contradict good healthcare.

Education, Health and Welfare are social services that are all interrelated, and thus their funding and governance need to be separate and assured as part of our infrastructure. Their mission statements need to be longer term than the 4 or 6 year terms of politicians. Good social services certainly need oversight, but balanced with assurances to workers rights. This was my concept of social services in the 1970s when I began my hospital career.

I believe in empowering the individual, and that much damage is done by shaming teachers and students. This authoritative dominating model builds resentment and impedes creativity and progress.

[blondeatlast]

7. k

[MichiganVote]

8. K&R

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. You know I was readying the Excelsior while in Mexico City

I wish I kept that editorial. They were talking why Mexican Education is in the dumps... usual issues came up...

Bad teachers.
Unions.
Large class sizes.
Anti school attitudes among parents, who really do not value school.

But my favorite since it applies here too...

Politicians enamored with short term talking points that sound good, not realizing education is a long term investment that will take 25-30 years for the first results to truly show up... not the short term 2-4 years of a politicians term.

I did a double take. This was a discussion on how to improve education and the fact that Mexico needed to fully change it's view of it into long term evaluations... I have yet to see anything like this in any local or national media.

OH and for the record, yes there are bad teachers, who are the products of a substandard educational system.

The Unions can be a problem only when you fight them instead of work with them.

Large class sizes, you betcha... 60 kids in a class is all but doable...

And yes, there is an attitude, like here, that education and school is a thing them elitists do...

But this little thing about investment long term... I have yet to see that in OUR high valued and vaunted media...

[stevedeshazer]

10. Yes, I agree. And I'm tired of well-meaning teachers and educators being used as punching bags.

This demonizing of teachers is just part of a larger effort to paint all public employees as the bad guys, in my opinion. It troubles me very much.

Recommended.