School will start in a few weeks–there’s always that mixture of excitement and dread, the known and the unknown.  I’m concerned this year because when we left in June, we were shocked by the cuts to the budget but we also had a sense that the worst was over.  Not so.  No one is sure exactly what will happen when we open.

I worked most of the summer–many people forget that teachers are not on vacation in the summer, they’re unemployed for a few months.  I talked with teachers at every grade level, and the gist of our conversations was that people are sick of feeling paranoid and tired of having to do more with less.  One thing that hasn’t changed–never changes–is that most teachers love their students and want to create the best learning experience possible for them.

Just like a bad marriage or a bad investment, there comes a point where you give up on the old and try something new.  If we’re lucky, that will be the response to this crisis.  In trying to make that point in one of my workshops, I asked the teachers when we first present the concept of subject/verb agreement to our students.  Most agreed it was in second grade.  I pointed out that when I work with 9th grader who still makes blatant errors when they write, I’m aware that I have to teach grammar and usage in a very different way.  Why do the same thing, year after year, workbook after workbook, when it doesn’t work?  Do something different.

I’m sure that’s listed somewhere in some business model–”Think Small”–”Think outside the Box”–”Think”.  We don’t need profit margins running our schools–like standardized test scores–but we do need to adopt the best of the business practices, which brings me to tenure.  It’s time to let it go.  I’ve always done things differently in my classrooms; I gave up teaching in fear long ago.  I’m not sure whether I’d have been fired somewhere along the line without tenure protecting me, but I know I would have felt confident that someone would value my services.  Last year was the first time in 30 years of teaching that I did not work with a burned-out, ineffective teacher whose job was protected by tenure.  That’s because we had a staff of six core teachers and a few part-timers in a brand new school. 

The teachers’ union was created to protect teachers’ rights–to lobby for benefits and shield teachers from being unfairly attacked and fired.  Teaching is not a competitive job–sure, we compete for leadership positions, prime classroom space, and a cushier duty schedule, but overall, we are paid by our years on the job and you can’t underestimate the value of experience.  I walk into a classroom on the first day with a sense of confidence that has been earned through years of hard work–my students benefit from my decades on the job.  However, we can’t mix up experience with expertise. 

I firmly believe that 99% of all teachers enter the profession with a sincere desire to do the best job they can.  I also know that those who misjudged the challenges inherent in working with kids or those who did not receive support from their colleagues sometimes just give up.  Or worse, just get bitter.  After a few months, it’s easy to spot the gifted teachers; it’s just as easy to spot those who are not suited to the profession.  If they slip under the radar for three years, it takes extraordinary measures to remove them from the job.  That makes no sense.  A committee elected by their peers can fairly judge whether a teacher should be retained or let go. 

This year talented teachers received pink slips because they lacked tenure or seniority.  Teachers who do more harm than good retained their jobs and were protected by their unions.  In talking to the young teachers at the end of last year, most were dismayed by the budget cuts, but all said, “I’m just happy to have a job.”  They know they have to work for their position and pay more attention to their students’ needs than the back-biting going on in the teachers’ lounge.  They need to stay competitive, they need to hone their teaching skills, they need to find a way to get along.  In any community, teachers have always been among the leaders.  We need to use our common sense and talent for evaluating work to create a system of teacher evaluation that will protect the growth and prune the dead weight.