"Find Another Profession" : Really? Is That the Only Answer?

As president of our chapter, I often get questions about the contract. I do my best to answer but mostly I refer them to someone at HSTA or Paul, who has been our negotiations representative for as long as I've been president, but this one really got to me.

Question: Is it a violation of our contract for a principal to suggest that teachers seek other employment options? Thanks!

My answer: That's terrible! If she thinks a teacher is not up to par, she needs to go through the process of evaluating with the tool we have now, the Pep-T; a teacher would have due process rights in case he/she feels the unsatisfactory eval is unfair. It is hard to say whether it is a violation of the contract but if you have an active APC, it would be a good topic and you would speak to teacher morale. As we go forward with the new contract, we can speak to the cause of such a statement. I am thinking it has something to do with overwhelming demands put on teachers and the principal trying to pressure teachers into accepting this as a condition of the job. As much as possible, teachers should try to ask for time to do these tasks that are mandated by principal but not given time to do them. There is a lot we do beyond our work day, but we do it if we find value in it, like for me, keeping up with my grading. But if it is demanded beyond my work day and I hate it and I disagree with it as valuable, I would not do it unless time was allotted for it, somehow. Unless teachers stand up for their rights, the principals will keep demanding more and then try to do mind games to get you to do them.

One of the ideas we came away with at the Town Halls was that we are the experts, we are the ones who should be informing education policies, as opposed to outside entities who think they know how to fix everything. I can just imagine what happened at her school to make the principal say such a thing. I have talked to teachers from her school who report increasing demands - meetings, data collection, etc. Someone must have said something about the workload and this must have been the principal's response.

So, if this is the scenario at your school as well, you need to speak up. That is the only way things will change. This can be addressed in negotiations. We negotiate pay, benefits, and working conditions. We want to improve all aspects of our profession, but we need to articulate the working conditions that we envision by which we can provide our students with a truly quality well-rounded education, that is not only about test scores. Maybe you're sick of hearing about Finland and Singapore, but one of the aspects of their working conditions is that they are paid fairly for their non-instructional time! Yes, we had some of that before furloughs. But, those days always had restrictions. Imagine that we got our non-instructional days back and with those days we could pursue activities of our choice that were in line with goals that we chose, that we valued. Imagine the best professional development or the best planning sessions you have ever had. Imagine if they were rejuvenating rather than depleting.

Okay, those of you who know me, know that I am the eternal optimist. And maybe I am more like Don Quixote chasing windmills. But the only way things ever got better or even invented, was having an idea, and manifesting that idea. So, if someone asks you what do you think would improve education, make sure you take the opportunity to tell them.

Here are the questions that were asked at the Town Halls. Share your mana'o, please. Answer the questions that resonate with you or all.

1. What should be the 5 biggest priorities of focus for improving our schools? Be as broad or specific as you like, but please try to be concise and clear.

2. Measuring ‘student learning growth’ has been central to the current discussions on school reform. How should we measure and define student learning growth? What are the best assessments or mix of assessments?

3. It has been suggested that teachers do not want to be evaluated at all. We know this is false, but we need to positively engage this issue. So, how should teachers be evaluated? How can teacher evaluations be used to improve classroom practice?

4. We hear many teachers argue that student learning and school quality are deeply intertwined with issues affecting the greater community – poverty, language access, etc. So how can we better engage the community in education? What issues in the community need to addressed in order to support students and schools?

Help spread the word. Please share.