I’d love to say that I’ve spent time this week resting and healing, but I am just not the kind of person who wants to be away from my students so I have worked every day so far. However, I promise that I come home, take my medicine and promptly fall asleep because whatever it is that I’m taking seems to knock me out cold. It’s as if I cannot possibly live a normal life because ALL THIS FASCINATING STUFF KEEPS HAPPENING TO ME.
That reminds me. Welcome, new readers who have found me via our local newspaper. Dave Bakke, a journalist with our local newspaper wrote a human interest story about the experience from going to the Oprah show last week. You may be wondering why he’s taken an interest in me and all I can really say about that is that I like to write and I have a lot to say.
What I promised myself to write about was more on education (big surprise!) and then eventually I’ll write about shoes again because, you guys. I am super tall and my students are really little compared to me so I’ve been on the hunt for great, stylish shoes with no heels. Every time I wear them my students say, “Wow. You’re tall. How’d you get so tall?” and then I bend my knees and lean down to answer them and I’m afraid that scares them so I’m into flats right now and have found some fantastic shoes. More on that drivel later.
My comments on that after show on Oprah still haunt me because I feel like I know what I wanted to say about education, but that I was so fuzzy in my brain that it didn’t all come out right. So, if I were more coherent and lacking in the pain department, this is what I would have said:
Schools are struggling and we know that. But where is the responsibility on the part of the parents and the community in all of this? Charter schools have done some great work, but many of them are failing as well and when we open them quickly without doing our research we are doing school reform wrong. School reform includes public schools and much of what we hear in the movie “Waiting for Superman” is about the almighty charter school. Now, to be fair, I work at magnet school where we have a focus on technology and inquiry-based learning. But I have worked in some tough places, too, and when I say ‘tough’ I mean that it’s hard to steer a freight liner in a new direction when it’s been heading in another for so long. School reform that lacks some evidentiary basis in their model is poor reform at best. Teachers are NOT to blame for all the problems schools have. When problems in communities get too big we give them to schools. That’s unfair because we don’t have the support that goes along with it. We know we need more time with students and we are using an archaic school year to educate children for a world we are trying desperately to prepare them for but with no support. There is a way to reform the system, but blaming teachers and pointing fingers IS NOT IT. What are you going to do to help facilitate that conversation? Are you going to have a panel of teachers and educators and people who are making it work in the public sector? And how can I help? Because I’m there watching this happen and getting just as frustrated. Parents are frustrated, teachers are weary and getting beat up, and schools are failing children. There has to be a better way to make this work for our students.
Obviously, they wouldn’t let me talk that long without pushing me back in my seat. While I have my complaints about teaching in general and teachers I’ve worked with in the past, that’s not the answer to this enormous problem. What other careers out there have to take on the same issues as we have to take on and do it well?
Let’s look at a scenario that mirrors what we’re asked to do in schools. If a company’s workers were responsible for productivity being down I’d like to see the manager or CEO go to all the workers and say this: what I need from you is an increase in work. Probably 50% or so. Get 50% more work done BUT I’m not going to pay you overtime and you won’t be getting any extra help or materials or support. No extra workers to finish your job. Just get this done on your own and don’t fail. There’s no extra money to pay you for the extra hours in which to produce this increase in performance. Take work home and do it there. Do it on the weekends. Meet your deadlines and if you don’t, you will get bashed in the media and everywhere you go people will talk about how much of a failure you are. Good luck with all that.
It’s nearly impossible to detail all the support I see teachers giving students. I’ve seen them feed a child breakfast when they have gotten to school late and missed having it in the cafeteria, picking kids up at home either for school or to take them to an event on the weekend because they couldn’t get a ride, and paying for new clothes and tennis shoes. All of these have repercussions in the classroom when students aren’t at their best. The obvious facts are that some American public schools are failing, but what does that look like in your area? You may think it’s failing when kids aren’t testing well, but we know that it includes so much more. When we make sweeping generalizations like “we have too many bad teachers” we insult a slew of passionately dedicated educators who give so much of themselves that they don’t know where the school day ends and their home life begins.
The “work” we do isn’t all done in federal and state laws, not in Congress, and not by having an “education President” like was mentioned in the film. My heart broke for the students in the movie who didn’t get into their school of choice because of the grim educational future that would await them. It irked me to no end that some of the schools they showed were nearly impossible to replicate. Not every student needs that.
Now, onto the issues I had with the movie. I’m appalled that Michelle Rhee took on the job of Chancellor after spending only 3 years in the classroom and hadn’t spent time as a principal or an administrator before heading into that difficult position. And while I agreed with many things said by Randi Weingarten about education I vehemently disagree with her statement about not apologizing for being a special interest group for children. I see her position as being a special interest group for adults as they relate to children, but if we fought harder for kids then we wouldn’t allow the “rubber room” to ever have been created in the first place. Rubber Rooms are places in New York (as depicted in the film) that are to be dismantled this year where teachers on probation or suspension spend their days all the while collecting full pay and putting into their pensions. Many of them read newspapers, played Scrabble, or slept during the same school hours of their students. Ludicrous, yes? The other piece of what I’ve been reading from Weingarten has to do with her chapter in the accompanying book on “Five Foundations for Student Success” and the only piece missing from that is what to do with teachers who have been at this for many years and are still failing students. The support by good leaders for good teachers seems to focus only on the new or incoming teacher and that’s simply not enough. Don’t get me wrong: I don’t want to go in and fire teachers right off the bat. But the expectations and support and growth for all teachers has to show some accountability. Much of what I have heard in my years from veteran (ineffective) teachers is that they like to blame everything on the students and their families and not in making changes to how they instruct.
The other piece of this puzzle is the parents. Ask any teacher what they want from parents and likely the answer will be “Input! We want them to come to conferences and support us!” In our fair city it’s nearly impossible to get parents to get their child to school because we have two truant officers that work for the county (I believe – this was the last time I asked one of them) and yet we are responsible for their attendance at schools. They’ll also tell you that they want parents to make a space and time for their child to study, check grades regularly, and get involved in their education. No small feat, but it’s what I hear over and over. However, on the other side of that coin is what I hear from parents. Many of them complain that they don’t always know HOW to help their child and that they don’t speak the Educationese language so they’re at a loss. From a personal standpoint, I can’t tell you how infuriating it was back in August to read some of my friends’ status updates and Twitter streams that were all about how wonderful it was that their kid was going back to school because now they can have “free time” and do yoga during the day and have a leisurely lunch with friends. I GET IT. YOU DON’T WORK OUTSIDE THE HOME. Stop making stupid statements about how you’re so tired after cleaning up your house and how you’re going to take a nap. It was all so mean-spirited and nasty when I read stuff like “Thank God school is starting! Please take this kid. He’s driving me crazy. He needs to be learning to read and write and do math and I have lots of fun girlfriend time to get to!” I wanted to just scream. Listen up, friends. That crap is super annoying to me.
Finally, I’m very interested in community members helping and contributing to schools. I mentioned on the show that school days are too short and I firmly believe that our school year is too short as well. The retention rate of what students learned 3 months prior upon their return to school is very low. But I get how some businesses that employ students want to use them during the summer months. Summer camps and programs for sports can make some simple changes to help the schools. In a community in Kansas that I visited several years ago I found that when they increased the number of days students were in school then the YMCA and Girl Scouts joined in by re-arranging their schedules to allow kids to participate. In our case in this city, there is the issue of a referendum that gets put on the voting ballot. Schools are missing programs like shop class and technical courses because of the limits of what we can do yet when I talk to community members I hear that we need to offer those, but it always seems as if no one wants to financially support them. Again, this isn’t working. So much has to be reworked where this is concerned and the educational community is begging for some help.
I don’t have all the answers. I never claim to have them. All I offer is my opinion as an insider. But I see so much of this as common sense and think that this isn’t hard to accomplish is we have all the tools, some autonomy in decision-making, and the support of the communities in which we live. Keep sending us the children we serve. We know you’re not keeping all your best children at home and sending us the ones you want us to fix. I’m not speaking just to my community here, either. This isn’t a look at how we do business, but an observation of things I have experienced across the country from Boston to California and schools in states in between. I’ve been lucky enough to consult schools in several states over these very issues. Some of us are doing are very best and producing excellent results not just in academic data, but in serving the students and helping to create productive citizens who will one day be amazing adults. Some of us are just getting kids and their families some services that they desperately need that have nothing to do with curriculum. Some of us consider it a good day when we don’t get called a bitch by a fourth grader.
I’ll speak for my own experiences and I am trying as hard as I can. But let me speak on behalf of all teachers and school workers when it comes to talking about schools in a general sense. Give us a break.
Wow and now I’m nothing more than a “special interes group” who doesn’t care about children. Thanks, Kelly.
I never said that, Heather. You know me better than that. If I wasn’t clear, it’s my fault. But advocating for children through th system that way doesn’t always honor them when protection is available.
I can only speak in terms of Canada and our public school system, where the vocabulary & administration might differ (what with all those extra ‘U’s & zeds & what-not) but the problems certainly do not. Several of my close friends are teachers, one taught in a school that was fraught with every kind of inner-city, subsidized housing, impoverished system problem faced by teachers and students trying to do good work in just such a zone, I am a product of public education, my choices as a parent have been for public schooling and I have volunteered extensively in the schools, so I think I can say with honesty that I am able to see several of the sides you represent so well in this post.
I am commenting to say don’t stop. Please, dear MM, don’t stop doing what you are doing every day and don’t stop raising your voice. Because when I attend parent-teacher nights, when I listen the the Principal talk, when I struggle with my kid through the work the teachers assign to be completed outside of the classroom, when I see both the learning and the administrative fallout our kids are struggling to have to do on their own, when I watch the ways in which our schools are being emptied of books, of activities, of advocates of and activities for learning, I am devastated by the myriad ways our school system is failing and being failed. No one party is responsible, the fixing lies in many hands, but there is surely fixing to be done.
Thank you for continuing to try to wield your tools and for typing as hard as you can.
Kelly, I watched a clip from “Waiting for Superman” and the thought that this is how parents and kids vie for a good education made me so, so angry. That education should come from our public schools! I know we face enormous challenges in public education but we have got to, GOT TO, tackle them and get to the place where every child has a quality public school education. How we do it is the overwhelming question.
I’m very lucky that we live in a great district with excellent schools. I started school in Detroit as a kid, so I’ve seen firsthand just how bad our public schools can be when they lack resources. I’ve seen one kid through to college, and now my youngest just started kindergarten. I was invited to be on the principal’s Campus Action Team and I jumped at the chance because I see it as my responsibility as a parent to be involved in any way I can.
It’s hard work to parent our kids through school. Even in kindergarten they have homework now, so every night it’s the routine of get home, get him focused on homework, get dinner, make sure we read, then bedtime. I would much rather kick my shoes off and have a drink when I get home! But it is essential for all of us to do this for our kids, and to help the parents who don’t know how important their involvement is to see it, and do it, too. I know we are not going to get all parents to do it, some just don’t care or are too worn out by their lives to step up, but I believe most parents want the best for their kids. Well, the best is getting a good education so they can go on to college.
I strongly believe that we need year-round school in this country. I don’t care about summer camp, baseball camp, vacations…in my opinion all of those things can happen, just on a different schedule so that we can do the most important thing we need to do, which is fix our education system. I agree with you that it’s not just teachers, you can’t put the blame on one cause when we all know the issues our society is dealing with. We have got to prepare our kids to live and compete in the global economy. We are doing such a poor job of it now for so many of the kids. That falls on parents, teachers, legislators…it falls on all of us.
My stumbling block is how do we get there? That is the incredibly frustrating piece of all this. How do we do it? If we don’t do it together, I don’t see it getting done.
What I forgot to say in my comment, Kelly, was that I think you’re amazing and I am SO glad to know that there are educators like you out there You make a huge difference, and you touch so many lives. Rock on, woman!
Hi Kelly,
I saw the clip from Oprah and thought you made an important point about engaging the parents in the community. It is important for parents to understand how to support their children in their schooling in order for them to succeed. There are many children who will have very different educational opportunities than their parents, and it’s important for them to be able to understand how to support them. If the parents are unable to do so, then it’s important for students to have that support within the community/school.
It is a shame that there are many schools that do not seem capable of this. I was on the subway going through the South Bronx, and passed what looked like a prison– a large concrete building with barbed wire on the gates, tops of the buildings, etc. My friend told me that was the local high school. What type of life are they preparing these kids for? If the parents are unable to be there, then who is? It makes me thankful that I was able to have the opportunity to go to great schools, with plenty of teacher/administrative/community support.
I enjoyed the clip and, as always, I enjoy and look forward to reading your posts!!
I did the public school thing for five years and loved every minute of it. I taught hard kids–low-income, little parental involvement, and my specific group was also learning disabled, but we had enough support that it never felt impossible.
We were well-funded and well-supported. We had a longer school day. Educators were in teams; we met often to discuss everything under the sun. We shared responsibility so we could get more done and help more kids. We brainstormed a LOT on how to reach them where they were and even skirted the rules a little to make sure they had a good foundation. And yes, we stayed late, fed our kids, bought them clothes, drove them places, and all the other things that go with being a teacher.
We also made huge strides with our kids. I was PROUD of the work and effort we put into helping them. Our test scores weren’t impressive, though. Our children were so far below the bar that even moving them up significantly failed to produce a rating of “proficient.” I never understood that–the line in the sand delineating successful and not successful. Shouldn’t improvement be noted somewhere? It hurts still when people blame failing students on “bad teachers.” We worked our tails off, taught our kids a lot and still many of them “failed.” Technically. And how many Americans are even in touch with what we’re asking of today’s children? How many are aware of the circumstances teachers deal with on a daily basis? Many of the people who are so up in arms about “the children” wouldn’t dare enter the neighborhoods where they live.
I could go on and on, but this is enough for today. Thanks for saying all of this, Kelly. It needs to be said.
I missed the whole Oprah thing, but think this is a great post. Now off to find that clip.
We are feeling beat up over here, and this article is well-done. Thank you. I replaced a woman who didn’t teach but the very few, left her kids unsupervised, let them get injured, have sex, hated and didn’t serve special ed, and a variety of other things–now she has a position of firing teachers who don’t do their jobs(far away from here) Oh, the irony. AND 3 different principals adored her.(in my school) crapula. You know what, don’t approve this message, I get scared even writing it. but I want you to know it. OH Oh and another irony, got that big national board certification, so now that means zero to me. PR.
Kelly, I was always supportive (I think) of my kids’ teachers when
they were in school. Although, I did see a lot of parents who most
definitely were not. It was despicable. I never knew what to say. I
don’t know how you handle it.
When my oldest daughter was in fourth grade, one cold, winter night,
the fourth grade teachers held a two and half hour math workshop for
students and parents in the cafeteria. There were only about 20 kids
and adults in attendance (maybe less), plus three teachers, the
principal, and I think an outside educator from some organization.
They had really cool handouts for everyone, plus a test at the end.
These educators discussed math concepts and problems and solutions and
made it super fun and interesting. They didn’t just touch on
something once. They went over it and over it and over it. They
worked the room, going from table to table to make sure we were
getting the problems and doing the handouts right. And if someone
needed extra help, they took the extra time to explain it.
The whole thing was just amazing, especially to someone like me who
got lost to the math world in 3rd grade due to an unfortunate thing
called “new math.” At the end of the night, we were all mentally (and
probably physically) exhausted, but smarter and happier and richer.
Despite the subject matter, it was a very relaxed setting. I remember
thinking, “now this is the way to teach and learn.” I loved it. I
wanted to go back to fourth grade to learn everything I missed the
first time around. My daughter got a lot of mileage out of that
workshop. A lot. Plus, it definitely helped her that I learned
something, too, which made me better able to work with her on her math
homework in the weeks and months afterward.
I also remember thinking, “this has got to be really expensive to put on.”
I believe the teachers liked it, too. They said they hoped to do more
workshops in the future, but they never did that I knew of. We would
have gone to every one. I always think about that math workshop and
wonder if anyone is doing anything like that now. I hope.
The doing 50% more with less? That is happening in corporate life as well. My old team of 13 got cut to 5 with the same or larger workload. So it is going around.
I do hate to see all the blame fall on bureaucracy and teachers, while the parents get a free ride. Politicians are just pandering when they talk that way. Teachers can’t solve all of society’s problems.
Yes yes and YES! What they would’t give you the time to say IS exactly spot on. And I wish you would have had the forum to say all of it.
In addition to my regular blog, I have started writing specifically about parenting and education over here: http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/from-this-side-of-the-lake/
And I have not had to work in tough places. And to be honest, my current school is a very good school, but every school has its pockets of students that could be doing better and so often the reason they are not, has nothing to do with the job that the teachers are doing and everything to do with the baggage that comes to school with them.
Kelly, I’m so glad you wrote this post. It’s beautifully written. Charter schools ‘ain’t’ where it’s at anymore than public schools are, they just seem to get the glory right now. I find it infuriating and it makes me feel so incredibly helpless as one who fights the good fight daily and gets up every day just so someone can push me down on the playground with their potshots.
I’m fortunate that my kids have amazing teachers. My kindergartner especially. I have a great relationship with her– and we talk a lot about what my child is doing in class, at home, etc. I have noticed a trend (never noticed this when the older ones were in lower grades) where parents seem to think their child couldn’t possibly do whatever the teacher has said the child did. Parents blaming the teachers because their little angel poured glue on the floor then stomped through it like it was mud on the playground; or parents blaming teachers because their sweet little child can’t sit still and be quiet for more than 30 seconds at a time, and rather than deal with this issue at home, they blame the teacher and request the child be moved to another classroom. In other words, there are parents out there who don’t discipline at home, and blame the teachers for ‘not disciplining at school.’ The way I see it.. that is not the teacher’s responsibility. When my son misbehaves at school, he gets put in time-out or recess taken away, which is fantastic. But he also gets reinforced punishment at home. If he didn’t, I would be sending the message that what he does in school is acceptable, and it is NOT. There are kids in his class that disrupt the learning process because the parents refuse to believe their little angel can be a little terror when they aren’t around. Teachers are educators– they can not be expected to teach our kids discipline as well! Parents have to be involved, all the way around… we have to teach our kids what is appropriate behavior and what is not, and we have to be involved in their education! If that means spending 3 hours helping with homework while missing Oprah and Dr. Oz, then so be it!
I didn’t mean to hijack your comments section, for that I apologize. I just feel very passionate about this subject, as a parent. And I really feel that if we don’t start seeing more parental involvement and support, we are going to lose the good teachers we have! Teachers should be thought of more highly than pediatricians! Our kids spend way more time in the classroom than the doctor’s office!
you speak so much to me, when you talk about education. now that i’m on the other side of the desk as a parent, i still think parents are short-changing their kids. not all, but so so many are not doing their due-diligence to keep their kids motivated and well-behaved. nickie hits the nail on the head when it comes to parents who think their kids can do no wrong. there are so many parents who think their devils are angels. and it’s not doing the kids a damn bit of good. keep on with your bad self, kelly.