Train up a child in the way s/he should go: and when s/he is old, s/he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6
[When I quote this, I usually change the second part to read: and when s/he is old you have a 60/40 shot at it.]
Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. Douglas Adams
The stage is being set for a showdown of sorts over teacher evaluations in MN. The Star Tribune “editorialized” in favor of the legislation passed by both House and Senate. The Strib did a good job summarizing the two sides who will join on this issue with brief bullet points as a sidebar. PRO AND CON"In the event of a layoff, teachers would be laid off based on their effectiveness. ... Experience does not necessarily mean effectiveness."Sen. PAM WOLF, R-Spring Lake Park, a middle-school teacher and author of the Senate bill "Basically, it guts tenure. ... [Under the proposed change], you can lay off a teacher with seniority just because you don't like them." Sen. DAVID TOMASSONI, DFL-Chisholm
I posed the moral quandry I found myself in as the title of this post – and of course gave away my “leaning” on this issue. This too is a place where I am making a compromise. So in the spirit of Lenten honesty and reflection let me begin by being honest about my own “biases” in this matter.
I am the child of an elementary school teacher. I am a supporter of public education and sent my children to public schools. I have volunteered in schools for years.
My daughter taught English in one High School and was the literacy coordinator in another.
My grandfather worked for the railroad and was such a strong advocate of unions that if my father came home with clothes that did not bear a union label he had to return them.
When asked if I support unions I typically take the road of hyperbole and say something like: “Of course not. There is no reason that an 8 year old should not be able, or indeed expected, to put in a 50 hour week like they did in the old days. That is what made America great.”
However, I also served on site based councils at schools my children attended and once chaired one during a debate on whether or not to hire intern teachers to lower teacher/pupil ratios. Intern teachers are paid less. You can “hire” more or less money. The opposition to the hiring was articulated by two teachers. They gave very different reasons.
The first pointed to an inherent problem with intern teachers. The interns need supervision and there was not a good system in place for such supervision. The potential for problems in the classroom, and for a disheartened and frustrated intern, was great – perhaps even likely. Until a good mentoring process was developed he was opposed.
I remembered those words when my daughter found that instead of being a student teacher she was asked to be an intern at a high school while she was finishing her training. Her professor did not want her to do it. He had found that students who began with an internship usually left the profession within 3 to 5 years. (Sadly, I think those numbers correspond to the drop out rate for clergy) He agreed to let her do it if two things happened. The first: she came back to school early so that he could work with her on classroom management. The second: he needed assurance of her being given a good mentor. My daughter got a wonderful one and things went very well.
The second teacher who objected argued differently. He was very brief. “I vote no. This is about union jobs.”
As a parent, I was surprised. I had naively assumed that the client in the school system was the child. I knew others thought differently, but was amazed that at a site council meeting, in front of witnesses, this man would let me – and us – know that the “real” reason schools exist is to provide jobs for teachers.
Yes, I know that companies lay off older workers to save money. One of my members was a plaintiff, and a winner, in a class action suit against an insurance company that bought out a Minnesota insurance and then dismissed everyone over 55. He and his colleagues were properly awarded money
As I understand it, Minnesota has in place now a seniority only system. What the House and Senate wish to do is replace it with one that has other factors as well. I would be foolish not to note, or indeed to state baldly, that whatever the Republicans in Minnesota are able to do to restrict or hamper Education Minnesota they will gladly do. That is certainly a motivation for this legislation. Such a motivation is a bad reason. But developing standards to evaluate teachers is necessary. Despite the words of my colleague on the council, the editorial writer is correct when saying: Studies show that effective teaching is one of the most important in-school variables that affect student learning. School-district managers need the flexibility to retain their most effective instructors when they have to reduce staff. … Minnesota, unfortunately, hasn't done a particularly good job in making effective teaching a focus of policy. Last year, the National Council on Teacher Quality gave the state a flunking grade on dismissing bad teachers, in part because of the seniority-only law. And the state lost out on the first round of federal Race to the Top funds because of failing to address ineffective teaching, among other factors. (Feb 27, 2012)
I began ministry in 1979. I had no idea I would be designing powerpoints, developing social media, hearing Christian Rock, finding Praise Songs, trying to reach post modern audiences, showing youtube videos, and all the other “changes” that have appeared. I am older but that means very little when it comes to my effectiveness or lack thereof.
I know there are bad managers and bosses and those folks will try to take advantage of a new system of evaluation. I know that means we will have to put our best minds and best practitioners to work developing standards. We will also need to watch the evaluators. That has been a need ever since Juvenal called us to guard the Guardians in Satire VI.
But I also have hope. Some of the young teachers I know, and some of the chronologically successful teachers I know, are devoted to learning and evaluation and student performance. They wish to improve and are happy to learn and grow. They know that their job, their “calling” is to help students learn and grow.
I see the same thing among my clergy colleagues. Some see the local church as a place to earn a salary and be given respect. Some see the local church as a place to look for God in the lives of the congregation and to help them grow in the faith as they discover and use their gifts.
