A Teacher's Turn to Talk

Have you ever noticed that most of what we read about education is not written by educators?  Our glimpses inside the classroom are provided by news reporters who usually begin their stories with pre-conceived notions about the downfall of education as we know it and then proceed to validate their opinions with a few visits to the local elementary school.  As a result, public opinion regarding education in America is shaped by whatever article, book or movie seems to be getting attention from the mass media.  The juicier the story, the more convinced the public is that the story is true.  Throw in a few cutesy pictures and a couple of tears and you’ve got the public hanging on your every word.  Unfortunately, the misinformation that gets published in newspapers and announced on television news programs can have a tremendous impact on the programs and policies on public education.

As the fickle public continues to swing and sway to media trends, politicians do their part to keep in time to the music by grasping at flavor-of-month program that will appease their constituents.   These programs are ushered into schools by ambitious politicians and equally ambitious district officials ready to stop at nothing raise test scores, eliminate the elusive achievement gap, and perhaps end world hunger.  Many of these programs are “awarded” to school districts along with hefty cash awards to ensure “effective implementation.”   As a result, teachers are expected to embrace and fully utilize the latest and most popular learning program that flies into their classroom window.  It has only been a few years since teachers in a district where I was working had to implement an ill-conceived and poorly researched “back to basics” phonics program forced upon them by corrupt politicians.  The bad news is that The Reading First program was a waste of time and money for the schools that were unlucky enough to be a part of it.  The good news is that it is gone now and our students no longer have to participate in phonics drills day after boring day. It turns out that politicians profited from the implementation from this initiative by forcing schools districts to purchase programs that provided donations to the Republican politicians. This wasn’t the first time the hands of politicians reached in to scrape their fingernails against the classroom chalkboard.  For the past few years Washington has been having a love affair with charter schools.  One of the pluses for these schools, according to news reports, is that charter school officials often have “flexibility” in hiring and firing teachers.  On the surface, statements like this serve to appease a dissatisfied public.  However, this “flexibility” has resulted in a dramatic salary drop for teachers at these schools.  The bad news is that pay for teachers has never been high to begin with.  However, parents shouldn’t worry about their local charter school finding trained professionals who are willing to work for low pay because many of these schools do not require their teachers to have credentials anyway.  As I watch the disturbing trends in education, it is difficult not to become discouraged.  As a veteran teacher of twenty-six years, I can’t help but wonder if the voice of the classroom teacher will ever be able to rise above the clever slogans and heartwarming pictures.

What will it take for teachers to earn a voice in education?  Why do we have a Secretary of Education who has never been a teacher and never even worked in a public school?  Perhaps if our politicians were in touch with what teachers face on a daily basis, they would have been willing to step in to help the teachers in Wisconsin who continue to struggle for basic rights as public employees.  I encourage teachers across the country to share their stories—without sound bites, clever phrases of the week or worn out clichés.  However, you can go ahead and throw in a picture of a kitten or two for the heck of it.

The Accidental Activist

In the years that I worked in public schools, I always started the day with the Pledge of Allegiance.  As a teacher of students who were learning English, I wanted them to be proud of this country.  The phrase “liberty and justice for all” resonated with me in a deeply personal way.  I would always have my students sing a patriotic or inspirational song after reciting the pledge.  We learned everything from “America” to the 1960s protest song “Freedom Road.”  I wanted my English learners to celebrate the culture of their new country and retain a sense of pride in the land from which they came.  I also taught my students that all people in this land should be treated with dignity and respect.  Little did I know in my early years of teaching that the values I held so deeply and taught so passionately were not shared by all of my colleagues in the field of education. 

In my twenty-six years in education, I have seen more unsettling incidents than I care to remember.  I came into this field with a willingness to ask questions and a desire to promote values of equity and fairness in the classroom.  Yes, I was the teacher at the staff meeting that often asked the wrong questions.  For this I make no apologies.  I entered the profession of teaching because I believed that all children deserved an education that would prepare them for a successful and fulfilling life.  I believed that by becoming an educational leader, I could continue to follow my heart in bringing about equality and justice for every student, regardless of culture and country of origin.  Unfortunately, sometimes my convictions regarding the basic rights of students resulted in some very difficult and career-shaking events for me.  For example, my career as an administrator was brought to a screeching halt when I spoke out about injustices that were taking place at my school.  During that year, more than a dozen middle school students were expelled after administrators used coercive and highly questionable interrogation tactics to get the students to admit they had committed a serious school infraction.   The expulsions suddenly stopped after I spoke to a district official about the nature of the interrogations that had taken place.  In spite of this fact, only three of the boys were able to return to school that year.  They came from white families whose parents threatened to take legal action against the school district.  The rest of the boys did not return.  These boys were all from poor Hispanic families that were bused in from a low-income area.  Unfortunately, the system of justice in public schools is often determined by one’s economic class and culture.  I have seen far too many examples of this in the course of professional career in education.  This was not the first time (nor the last) that I have found myself in hot water for speaking out for the rights of my students.

As an educator I have always felt that it is a privilege and a responsibility to serve the community.  Therefore, I feel obligated to take great care in using my own moral compass to act in a manner that is respectful of the rights of my students.  The question becomes-- how far should an educator go to stand up for the fundamental rights of students?  Should one stay quiet until those years of service add up to a comfortable life in retirement?  Or, should one risk it all to save a student from injustice?  Luckily, most of us never have to make that choice.  Many teachers never have an opportunity to test their own sense of integrity against the omnipotent “powers that be” behind office doors.  Some of us however, just aren’t the “go-along to get-along” types.

What about you?  Have you become an accidental activist?  Now is the time to share your story.