The Real Choice in School of Choice

Posted on by Sweat to Inspire

choice

School of choice is a hot topic in political venues these days. From a teaching perspective it is cannibalizing our public education system. Student populations can swing drastically from year to year as districts spend money on marketing campaigns instead of in the classrooms. Creating unstable budgets and high teacher turnovers all in the name of choice. Recent studies in Michigan show that more than half of the school of choice students end up moving again. Is school of choice making the best educational system for ALL of our students?

Wasn’t a choice already made

Most parents make their school choice when deciding where to live. Real Estate brokers use the public school systems to market homes, apartment complexes proudly advertise the district where residents attend. Every friend I know took the public school system into consideration when choosing where to live. The decision is predominately made based upon test data and state ranking date. Do these numbers tell the true story of a school? No always, so of course many make a drive by of the community school to make a visual assessment and talk to parents who have children in the schools. After all this research housing choice is made that doubles as a school choice. As a resident of the community, parents will have a vested interest in maintaining quality schools.

 What if the community changes and schools slip? or Parents can afford to live where they really want to?

The REAL choice

Schools need parent involvement. Parents can’t just expect a district to have top-notch everything. They need to make the CHOICE to get involve in the school not abandon it. Communities need to rally around their school, asking what they can do to make student achievement happen. Instead school of choice has created a “its not problem, I will go elsewhere” attitude. Schools need parents in every aspect of the education process. From being on PTA to sitting on the district improvement team. Parents can coach sports teams, be hall monitors, and volunteer in the classroom.

It makes me sick when I see school of choice ads. Money that should be spent on students and learning is wasted to sell the dream that the grass is greener on the other side of the tracks. Pretty much same school just different zip code. Parents need to stop buying into this fade. Legislators need to end the concept as it exists today. Choice should be more about instructional practices not social economics.

Building an Education Coalition

Posted on by Sweat to Inspire

There are so many groups with interests in education. From the teachers, their unions to administrators to civic groups and privately funded think tanks. We ALL have a common goal of improving our educational system. We are often working along parallel paths to obtain our goal. Our messages get blurred by each other. Right now perception is that all stakeholder groups spend more time fighting each other than accomplishing anything.

What education needs is less of this infighting and more unity. Stakeholder groups have to find common ground and build coalitions to accomplish our COMMON goal. Ideas that where agreement is found, collaboration is needed to achieve it. Focus needs to be on doing what is BEST for students while being FAIR to teachers. Often one of these is perceived to be compromised for the other.

Teacher evaluations seems to be an area where most can agree. Schools need a clear, transparent and proven evaluation system so teachers can grow and create college and career ready students. Currently here in Michigan the message has become so muddled that the government funded Michigan Council of Educator Effectiveness produced a report backed by most stakeholders. Now this report has been thrown aside for a lesser evaluation system. It is time for stakeholders to unite and DEMAND what is best for students, teachers and administrators, a high quality teacher evaluation system, that provided a state exemplar model and funding to train administrators to use it properly. Without a quality evaluation system our best teachers will leave and districts will be mired in high turnover with much confusion over evaluations.

Join me in using #MIeval hashtag this year to share stories of WHY we need to return to the MCEE report in Michigan.

I feel my district has evaluated me fairly because they have moved toward the MCEE report in anticipation of it becoming law, but I hear many stories of districts living in the dark ages with evaluations. Michigan deserves better! As JFK has said “A raising tide raises all boats” a high quality state evaluation system will raise all student learning!

Finding My Educator Voice

Posted on by Sweat to Inspire

One year ago I was invited to apply to become a Michigan Educator Voice Fellow. Like many who received twitter and e-mail invitations to apply? I was a bit skeptical, but curious. Reading the description: “Be a leader, Use your voice, Elevate the conversation.” I felt it seemed similar to the goal of the #michED community of fostering a positive imagine of education, while raising voice of educators. I had to apply. I was accepted.

Once accepted I was still curious to what this Fellowship would entail. Friend questioned the funding and wondered if we would elevate our voice or the voice of a special interest groups. Would I have to say things I didn’t believe? Would I have to sell snake oil? Valid questions of the unknown running through my mind as I drove to Lansing for the initial convening last November. Curiosity caught my attention, I had to find out the answers, knowing that I could back out if I didn’t believe in the voice I was asked to raise.

Arriving in Lansing I met incredible educators from all over the state, as we gathered many of us had similar concerns of the unknown. Quickly these concerns were answered. We were to elevate OUR voice in support of OUR passions sharing OUR experience. The fellowship provides support, connections, and delivery methods to TEACHERS’ voice. They provided training in message writing, social media and contact with legislators. Giving format models for us to follow and tools to use. Never once did they tell us WHAT to say. We were instead instructed to say what WE BELIEVE.

The year went quickly in the fellowship. I received support from the leadership and 49 other fellows. A weekly e-mail blast shared what we were doing with all fellows. We supported each other via twitter, blogs and at conferences. Many opportunities arose due to the fellowship for me to share my educator voice. I was sad to see the year come to an end.

Lucky, I was asked to be a LEAD FELLOW for 2015-2016. I get to share my voice about the state of teacher evaluations in Michigan. I will be working with teachers, administrators and stakeholder groups to lead our legislators to revisit the Michigan Council for Educator Effectiveness report of 2013. Michigan needs a top notch education evaluation system for our students, teachers and administrators. Senate Bill 103 does not provide us with one. Leaving evaluations up to local control with NO state model and NO local bargaining means districts can have unfair, biased evaluation systems.

Find your educator voice. Speak from your experience to make our states education systems better for students and educators. Follow Michigan Education Voice Fellows to see what they are sharing their voice about. Never be ashamed to share your voice, just make sure your respect others and their opinions.

7 hour work day and summer free must be the life ….

Posted on by Sweat to Inspire
Photo by Todd Bloch
Photo by Todd Bloch

Tuesday morning I was taking out the trash, my neighbor waived then said “7 hour work day and summer free must be the life” jokingly as he placed the cans at the curb. Teachers hear these sentiments from non-educators all the time. Trolls fill the internet with animosity towards the teacher workday. Comments like “Teachers get full time pay but only work part-time” perpetuate the myth that teaching is a well paid, easy, part-time job. The common teacher comeback is “just work a day in my shoes”, ending the exchange. Ironically, when talking to others about teaching middle school the most common response is “you can’t pay me enough to teach teenagers.”

Why do comments like these feel like daggers in the heart of teachers? Teachers work hard and are passionate about what they do. Our career choice is unlike most other professions for many reasons:

  • Teacher preparation hour is like most other jobs. If teachers are lucky they get 30 minutes of preparation time per day. Most elementary teachers have roughly 200 minutes per week. This is when teachers can grade paper, design lessons, organize room, tutor students, communicate with parents, read and reply to staff communications and go to the bathroom.
  • Going to the bathroom has to be scheduled. Teachers spend most of their day in front of students, going to the bathroom can be a challenge. Elementary teachers especially have a struggle since they don’t have passing time between classes.
  • All meetings and collaboration happens after the bells. Most jobs have all their meetings during the scheduled day. For teachers this never happens because teachers need to be in front of students. Teachers spend countless hours before and after school in meetings or collaborating with co-workers to make the school days go freely. Think about all the afternoon and evening activities you see your children’s teachers attending. This is on own the teachers time. Many teachers have to miss events for their own children to be there for their students.
  • No going in late, cutting out early or extending lunch like most jobs for appointments. If a teacher has a doctor’s appointment it has to be after school hours or in the summer. Otherwise the teacher has to take the time off. Juggling these appointment can be a major struggle for educators that need to going to regular appointments. Just ask a teacher who has been pregnant during the school year.
  • Homework. Teachers have the most. What doesn’t get accomplished during their prep time still has to be completed at home for instruction to continue the next day.
  • During summer teacher do get a break but also attend professional development and hone their skills for the next year.

Teaching is a tough job. It is getting tougher with the lack of public support for our profession. If you are jealous of a teacher’s life then become a teacher don’t bash one. Nobody is bashing professional athletes for only playing at most 162 games in a season, so why bash teachers who make far less? Let’s stop bashing others and start understand what we each do to make this world a better place.

Teachers do one of the most important jobs in the world: EDUCATING the next generation. Shouldn’t their jobs be respected and supported rather than bashed?

Let’s Spend some time together….

Posted on by Sweat to Inspire
from Flickr user: eye2eye
from Flickr user: eye2eye

Hello Legislator, let’s talk. You are on summer recess, hey so are us teachers. Roughly a quarter of your job has to do with passing legislation that controls my job. Isn’t it time we sit down and really talk? I see in the paper that you attend all the local business meetings hosted by the Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis, and the Rotary club. When are you going to stop by and say hi at the meetings I attend?

Maybe you missed the invites or don’t know that teachers are busy all summer planning for the next year. If you are a Michigan Legislator here is a list of all the summer professional development where you will find many teachers who would love to talk to you. Maybe you could show up at an Edcamp in your district and host a session on educational legal issues or educational policy in action. You could join the educational conversation on twitter and connect with #michED teachers Wednesday’s at 8 pm ET.

Summer is a great time to talk to ALL of your constituents especially teachers. Sure you can stop by schools while in session but we are busy working. Oh also remember that when you are hearing testimony on educational issues: EDUCATORS are busy working so we can’t make it to Lansing for you to hear our voice.

We would love to have you stop by join our conferences, hear our voices like you do the business interests.

Need for Teacher Code of conduct ….

Posted on by Sweat to Inspire

is

Last night as I was reading my twitter feed, I noticed a tweet about House Bill 4791, that would require districts to adopt a social media policy for teacher and student interactions. This bill is being introduced by State Representative Adam Zemke from Ann Arbor, with the best intentions of making districts have a policy where many have none.  I quickly tweeted my hopes of having connected educators input on the bill, Rep. Zemke quickly replied that he would love to have input including his office phone number.

 

Having a Social Media policy sounds great in theory. This bill allows local control for districts to come up with their own policy. This is where I get scared for many educators. A simple policy that many districts could take is prohibition of teacher/student contract via social media. Teachers would lose a valuable tool for connecting with their students where they are spending most of their time. Connected teachers in these districts would feel like they are losing a huge part of their practice. Other districts will spend money on this mandate by having their legal team research a policy draining a part of already limited resources. Some district might even feel that a policy gives them licences to monitor teachers social media accounts. (This would be costly and invokes visions of George Orwell’s book 1984.) Leaving teachers feeling paranoid of any social media use. Is there a better path than having to pass legislation every time new tools come about for teachers to connect with students?

What if Michigan Department of Education in collaboration with ALL stakeholders created a “Teacher Code of Conduct”? This code could be updated by MDE when needed. It would be similar to Hippocratic Oath that Physicians take. This code would be published on all teachers certificates, reminding teachers regularly. The Teaching Code of Ethics would address all the concerns with those few questionable teachers. A simple line like:

I will have only professional interactions with my students (and former students until they are adults).

This covers social media, letters, notes, phones and verbal conversations in one line, without adding burdens to the 500+ districts to create new policies. Laws already exist to cover the underlying concerns with inappropriate social media contact.

Will district policy (proposed by this bill) or a teacher code  of ethics stop the few perverted minds that the bill intends to stop? History says, probably not. A teacher code covers the societal concerns with teachers and social media without mandating districts coming up with their own policy.

Next we will be discussing bills requiring districts to have auto use policies, physical contact policies (covering hi-fives and handshakes) to bill covering every aspect of teachers day. The teacher code offers a more sensible path to the same solution for all teachers in Michigan.

Thanks for reading.