Our 'esteemed' school board president and our superintendent of schools have decided to not reward high school teachers for their master's degrees in education. What? Apparently, they want teachers with master's degrees in their content areas instead because, according to their beliefs, those degrees make the most difference in student achievement. So the two and a half years I studied brain development, learning styles, and the best methods to reach those learning styles is 'useless'? I could have saved myself $11,000?
I am an educator, and my job is to educate. Yes, I teach English, and when I graduated with my Bachelor's degree in English, and 67 English credits, there were varying opportunities for me. I chose to teach, which meant I had to take--and pass--the required education classes. However, as an educator, I need to know how to reach various learners and recognize their learning styles or else they won't be successful in my classroom. I could have a Master's in English, but I'm a teacher first and my subject is English.
When I explored post-secondary options, graduate school, I wanted a program that would help me become a better teacher. See, teaching isn't simply about content; it's about the whole student. The whole student includes:what is happening at home; what is happening at school; how the student learns best; what struggles the student has; and the inner conflicts of each student. A Master's in English helps me know more material, but it doesn't help me know my students. My graduate program through Regis University helped me learn about brain development, learners and their learning styles, and how to improve my classroom to work better with more students. That's, in my mind, true achievement.
No graduate program is easy, including the one at Regis, and my summers, school nights, and weekends were devoted to this program, which paid off when I earned a 4.0 at its end. That's right; straight As. Since my employer does not pay for Master's degrees, I spent the next 10 years paying off my loan. Was the entire experience worth it? Definitely. My teaching ability changed for the better, and with the skills I learned at Regis, it continues to evolve. I am considered "highly effective" and my students have tremendous academic success in college.
So now this degree isn't 'worth it'? I'm curious as to how a Master's in English would have made a difference in my job--teaching. A struggling student does not care about master's degrees; a struggling student wants a teacher who can reach her and help her learn. Students are not 'products;' they are human beings, and we need to know how to help them. This fallacious thinking from our Board president and superintendent (who has a Master's in education!) harms students more than helps them. Teachers take classes in their contents; I've regularly taken classes to help me know more content for my subject matter. I know a great deal about literature and writing. but my Master's in Education makes me a better teacher.
I find it a slap in my face that I'm not considered 'worthy' of compensatory pay based on my level of education. But I also believe this is yet another way our district "leaders" are trying to make experienced and well-educated teachers like myself leave the district. I was once a novice teacher, but I had master teachers help me grow into my profession. My Master of Arts Education: Learning and Teaching from Regis University furthered developed my abilities. What happens when only novice teachers are in the classroom? What happens when, after five years, these same teachers reach the 'top' of their salary scale? Will most leave? Definitely. What happens to our children when there are no experienced teachers working with them?
Do those in power and making these decisions care about our children? Our future?
Saturday, March 21, 2015
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Teachermusings: No Union? No CBA? What is the worst that can happe...
Teachermusings: No Union? No CBA? What is the worst that can happe...: My first, full-time teaching job was at a middle school in Amarillo, Texas. I taught eighth grade honors English and creative publications-t...
No Union? No CBA? What is the worst that can happen?
My first, full-time teaching job was at a middle school in Amarillo, Texas. I taught eighth grade honors English and creative publications-the yearbook and newspaper class. I was fresh out of college and sure I could bond with every student and make my life in Texas. After two years, I was finished. I couldn't take the parents' harassment or the students' harassment. I was reported to the principal 12 times during my second year, and one of those times, other teachers reported student threats against me--and I was the one who was yelled at by parents.
When I came back to Colorado, I was still certain I wanted to be a teacher, but this time, I wanted high school only. I felt lucky when I landed a job at a prestigious and private high school, teaching 11th and 12th grades. It was an incredibly tough job; the department head threw away all teaching manuals, so I had to research (in the days before wide-access to computers and Google) each text I was teaching; we were required to assign a 2-3 page paper every week and have it graded quickly; we were to teach 20 words of vocabulary every two weeks; and finally, we were to teach grammar each day, including diagramming. Additionally, we were required to attend after school events and sponsor something. Plus we were expected to volunteer at school functions. I spent one fall volunteering at football games, taking tickets. Finally, the school decided to raise funds for construction by selling bricks, and we teachers were required to donate 100.00 for a brick per teacher. I made $19,000.00 a year.
I worked six to seven days a week, three to four hours per night. I couldn't afford to live on my own, pay bills, and buy groceries each week, so I learned to buy pastas, limit my driving, and live in the cheapest, most rundown apartment I could find. As for the brick, I had to ask my parents for the money because I couldn't afford it. But I was willing to do this because I knew I was teaching in a prestigious, private high school. Granted, I was barely living above the poverty line, and my grandmother would slip me $20 each week, which went for gas, but I was resolved to make this school work. Yes, I had to work summers to make ends meet because $19,000 wasn't enough to support myself.
The school also had a policy that we were not 'vested' in our retirement accounts until we had attained five years employment with school, but we were required to deposit a portion of our paycheck each month into "our" retirement account. During my first year, the scheduler 'forgot' to assign me a lunch period, but I was told I could use my planning period to eat lunch. However, there were no substitutes for this prestigious, private high school, so we teachers were asked to give up our planning periods to substitute-for no additional pay-for those teachers who were absent. Because I was one of the only people off during sixth period, I often subbed for absent teachers. But wait! I didn't get a lunch because they forgot to assign one. So I often ate after school.
During my first year, my seniors hazed me. They were rude, belligerent, made fun of me, refused to do their work, and blamed me for losing their assignments. They made rude noises in class and then denied doing so. It didn't help that I was a 'traveling' teacher-I had no classroom, so I had to use other teachers' classrooms. I also had colleagues who wouldn't leave their classrooms and let me teach; instead, they watched me, critiqued me in front of classes, corrected me in front of classes, and even when they were wrong, they would not admit to being wrong to my classes. I thought my second year would be better, but we lost a student in a tragic accident, and the school completely mishandled the situation, causing all of us more grief than necessary. I anticipated my third year as my best year yet, but even with that, I was sorely mistaken.
After Christmas vacation during my third year, I was approached by a student who asked me to change a grade. He insisted his college of choice changed admission requirements on him, and that my class was preventing him from attending that school. He offered to do an extra research paper assignment for me, but I told him no. I felt he had fairly earned his high B, and I wasn't going to allow him to do any further work for the previous semester. The next day, my voicemail was filled with long, obscenity-filled messages from his mother because of my refusal. Within the week, the head of our school board was in my room, threatening me with my job if I didn't change the student's grade. I refused him as well. By the end of the first three weeks of school, at age 27, I had high blood pressure, which I have today, and which could cause kidney failure as I age.
This student and his friend began to harass me. I went to the principal to ask for help, and he shut his office door in my face. The harassment continued; they were disruptive in class; they ditched and accused me of falsely marking them absent; they threw a rock through my classroom window, narrowly missing a student with the rock and sending glass fragments all over my room. My colleagues refused to speak to me; in fact, I was no longer allowed to sit at the faculty table during lunch. Eventually, I stopped eating in the lunchroom. I went home in tears each night. When I resigned at the end of the school year, the principal screamed obscenities at me over the phone and called me ungrateful. Then he hung up on me.
When I moved to public school, I knew I would get a raise; in fact, I had a 6500.00 raise in my first year. I knew what each teacher's salary was because we had steps and levels; there was no secrecy like at my previous school where an unqualified male teacher, one who didn't hold a teaching license, made more money that I did. I had good benefits. I had a union that protected me from harassment like I'd experienced at my previous school. I had decent hours, reasonable and doable expectations, and teachers' manuals! I had the necessities to do my job well. I had incentive to further my education because my pay would increase. And finally, when I left my prestigious high school, I forfeited all my retirement money, money I had earned, because I wasn't vested. I lost three years of retirement pay. Now I have PERA and a plan for retirement.
Teaching is an endangered career. We have corporations trying to take over, put us on pay 'bands,' reduce our benefits, and politicians bent on eliminating our retirement plan. Our master's degrees are considered 'useless,' and we are disrespected by our district and our board of education. We are losing our protections, and I fear, we are turning into private schools. Working in a private school taught me about the need for a Collective Bargaining Agreement and union protection. I would never return to working in a private school again. Without a union, without a Collective Bargaining Agreement, school districts and school boards can do whatever they want to teachers. And this is why, 23 years after walking into my first full-time position, I willing to do what I need to do so I never again have to teach in such conditions as my prestigious, private high school. Private schools may have changed over the past 20 years, but one fact remains: without a union, without support and protection, schools can require whatever they want from their teachers. Teachers have no protections in schools without CBAs, in schools without unions.
At this point in my career, I will fight to win against the corporate takeover of my school district.
I worked six to seven days a week, three to four hours per night. I couldn't afford to live on my own, pay bills, and buy groceries each week, so I learned to buy pastas, limit my driving, and live in the cheapest, most rundown apartment I could find. As for the brick, I had to ask my parents for the money because I couldn't afford it. But I was willing to do this because I knew I was teaching in a prestigious, private high school. Granted, I was barely living above the poverty line, and my grandmother would slip me $20 each week, which went for gas, but I was resolved to make this school work. Yes, I had to work summers to make ends meet because $19,000 wasn't enough to support myself.
The school also had a policy that we were not 'vested' in our retirement accounts until we had attained five years employment with school, but we were required to deposit a portion of our paycheck each month into "our" retirement account. During my first year, the scheduler 'forgot' to assign me a lunch period, but I was told I could use my planning period to eat lunch. However, there were no substitutes for this prestigious, private high school, so we teachers were asked to give up our planning periods to substitute-for no additional pay-for those teachers who were absent. Because I was one of the only people off during sixth period, I often subbed for absent teachers. But wait! I didn't get a lunch because they forgot to assign one. So I often ate after school.
During my first year, my seniors hazed me. They were rude, belligerent, made fun of me, refused to do their work, and blamed me for losing their assignments. They made rude noises in class and then denied doing so. It didn't help that I was a 'traveling' teacher-I had no classroom, so I had to use other teachers' classrooms. I also had colleagues who wouldn't leave their classrooms and let me teach; instead, they watched me, critiqued me in front of classes, corrected me in front of classes, and even when they were wrong, they would not admit to being wrong to my classes. I thought my second year would be better, but we lost a student in a tragic accident, and the school completely mishandled the situation, causing all of us more grief than necessary. I anticipated my third year as my best year yet, but even with that, I was sorely mistaken.
After Christmas vacation during my third year, I was approached by a student who asked me to change a grade. He insisted his college of choice changed admission requirements on him, and that my class was preventing him from attending that school. He offered to do an extra research paper assignment for me, but I told him no. I felt he had fairly earned his high B, and I wasn't going to allow him to do any further work for the previous semester. The next day, my voicemail was filled with long, obscenity-filled messages from his mother because of my refusal. Within the week, the head of our school board was in my room, threatening me with my job if I didn't change the student's grade. I refused him as well. By the end of the first three weeks of school, at age 27, I had high blood pressure, which I have today, and which could cause kidney failure as I age.
This student and his friend began to harass me. I went to the principal to ask for help, and he shut his office door in my face. The harassment continued; they were disruptive in class; they ditched and accused me of falsely marking them absent; they threw a rock through my classroom window, narrowly missing a student with the rock and sending glass fragments all over my room. My colleagues refused to speak to me; in fact, I was no longer allowed to sit at the faculty table during lunch. Eventually, I stopped eating in the lunchroom. I went home in tears each night. When I resigned at the end of the school year, the principal screamed obscenities at me over the phone and called me ungrateful. Then he hung up on me.
When I moved to public school, I knew I would get a raise; in fact, I had a 6500.00 raise in my first year. I knew what each teacher's salary was because we had steps and levels; there was no secrecy like at my previous school where an unqualified male teacher, one who didn't hold a teaching license, made more money that I did. I had good benefits. I had a union that protected me from harassment like I'd experienced at my previous school. I had decent hours, reasonable and doable expectations, and teachers' manuals! I had the necessities to do my job well. I had incentive to further my education because my pay would increase. And finally, when I left my prestigious high school, I forfeited all my retirement money, money I had earned, because I wasn't vested. I lost three years of retirement pay. Now I have PERA and a plan for retirement.
Teaching is an endangered career. We have corporations trying to take over, put us on pay 'bands,' reduce our benefits, and politicians bent on eliminating our retirement plan. Our master's degrees are considered 'useless,' and we are disrespected by our district and our board of education. We are losing our protections, and I fear, we are turning into private schools. Working in a private school taught me about the need for a Collective Bargaining Agreement and union protection. I would never return to working in a private school again. Without a union, without a Collective Bargaining Agreement, school districts and school boards can do whatever they want to teachers. And this is why, 23 years after walking into my first full-time position, I willing to do what I need to do so I never again have to teach in such conditions as my prestigious, private high school. Private schools may have changed over the past 20 years, but one fact remains: without a union, without support and protection, schools can require whatever they want from their teachers. Teachers have no protections in schools without CBAs, in schools without unions.
At this point in my career, I will fight to win against the corporate takeover of my school district.
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Powder Keg
Being a teacher in the US right now is like being in the middle of a powder keg, awaiting its explosion. Why? Because there are groups of people, average citizens to politicians, trying to destroy public education as we know it. What puzzles me is why.
Teaching is a profession requiring years of education and post graduate education. Moreover, teachers are expected to stay current with educational trends, integrate technology into their classrooms, and focus on 21st century skills our students will eventually need. No one has adequately identified these 21st century skills for me, but as a teacher, I'm supposed to KNOW.
On one side of this powder keg issue are administrators, building and district level. The pressure is on them to produce results at their individual schools and in their districts. Pressure comes from communities, boards of education, and the state and federal governments. I cannot imagine the level of stress our administrators cope with daily. Because of federally mandated testing, I'm sure their frustration levels are running high. Our principals are 'at-will' employees, meaning, regardless of their education and abilities, they can be fired at any time. They have no protection from lawsuits or from our school district. Because of the pressure they are under, they must pass that pressure onto us. I understand that. But just as this type of stress is hurting them-as effective leaders-it also strains the professional working relationship we should have, making it difficult for teachers to want to go to school.
On the other side of the powder keg is those trying to destroy public education. I'm not paranoid; I've been reading and researching public education 'reform,' and I honestly believe the root of the problem lies within political groups (both Democratic and Republican) destroying a foundational element of our country: public education. It appears in groups with harmless sounding names such as Bloomberg, Independence Institute, Leadership Program, Great Schools, APlus... Politicians bandy about buzz words like: "21st century skills," "data-based,""school-choice," "charter," and "student engagement." They talk about how teachers are failing our students, how schools are failing. Chances are good most of the reformers haven't stepped foot in a public school in years, if ever. Reformers want to eliminate collective bargaining between teachers and their districts and issue 'contracts' that will allow school boards to choose any type of payroll scheme. Remember, teaching is a profession and requires years of education. A veteran teacher, like myself, with a master's degree can make as little as $38,000 a year, depending on his contract.
Because a powder keg is round, there is of course another issue: compensation. Americans value their children, but they simply don't want to pay for them. For example, daycare costs are astronomical. Yet daycare employees make a pittance for all the work they do. Teachers are paid a nominal salary and yet are made to feel guilty for wanting more--enough to make a decent living and pay all their bills. Again, teaching is a profession, requiring a great deal of education. Moreover, those who work with children-from newborns through high school-emotionally invest in their students. They become second parents, or in some cases, parents to those children with whom they work. Teachers spend money on their 'kids,' making sure they have food, Kleenex, school supplies, clothes so those kids can be successful. Yet, when teachers ask for more pay, they are vilified for this request. However, an actor wants a million dollars an episode for their sitcom, no one bats an eye.
One last thought about our powder keg; run all the veteran teachers off, bring in inexperienced teachers with little training (Teach for America?), and what will happen? How will our schools turn around and be able to compete on a global scale? I'm certainly not the teacher I was when I first walked into a classroom. I'm better. I'm exemplary. I think I can reach more students because I have grown and matured. I've practiced. When, not if, our little educational powder keg explodes, what will come? Will we move to private education? Who will educate everyone? What are the consequences of destroying our public schools?
Teaching is a profession requiring years of education and post graduate education. Moreover, teachers are expected to stay current with educational trends, integrate technology into their classrooms, and focus on 21st century skills our students will eventually need. No one has adequately identified these 21st century skills for me, but as a teacher, I'm supposed to KNOW.
On one side of this powder keg issue are administrators, building and district level. The pressure is on them to produce results at their individual schools and in their districts. Pressure comes from communities, boards of education, and the state and federal governments. I cannot imagine the level of stress our administrators cope with daily. Because of federally mandated testing, I'm sure their frustration levels are running high. Our principals are 'at-will' employees, meaning, regardless of their education and abilities, they can be fired at any time. They have no protection from lawsuits or from our school district. Because of the pressure they are under, they must pass that pressure onto us. I understand that. But just as this type of stress is hurting them-as effective leaders-it also strains the professional working relationship we should have, making it difficult for teachers to want to go to school.
On the other side of the powder keg is those trying to destroy public education. I'm not paranoid; I've been reading and researching public education 'reform,' and I honestly believe the root of the problem lies within political groups (both Democratic and Republican) destroying a foundational element of our country: public education. It appears in groups with harmless sounding names such as Bloomberg, Independence Institute, Leadership Program, Great Schools, APlus... Politicians bandy about buzz words like: "21st century skills," "data-based,""school-choice," "charter," and "student engagement." They talk about how teachers are failing our students, how schools are failing. Chances are good most of the reformers haven't stepped foot in a public school in years, if ever. Reformers want to eliminate collective bargaining between teachers and their districts and issue 'contracts' that will allow school boards to choose any type of payroll scheme. Remember, teaching is a profession and requires years of education. A veteran teacher, like myself, with a master's degree can make as little as $38,000 a year, depending on his contract.
Because a powder keg is round, there is of course another issue: compensation. Americans value their children, but they simply don't want to pay for them. For example, daycare costs are astronomical. Yet daycare employees make a pittance for all the work they do. Teachers are paid a nominal salary and yet are made to feel guilty for wanting more--enough to make a decent living and pay all their bills. Again, teaching is a profession, requiring a great deal of education. Moreover, those who work with children-from newborns through high school-emotionally invest in their students. They become second parents, or in some cases, parents to those children with whom they work. Teachers spend money on their 'kids,' making sure they have food, Kleenex, school supplies, clothes so those kids can be successful. Yet, when teachers ask for more pay, they are vilified for this request. However, an actor wants a million dollars an episode for their sitcom, no one bats an eye.
One last thought about our powder keg; run all the veteran teachers off, bring in inexperienced teachers with little training (Teach for America?), and what will happen? How will our schools turn around and be able to compete on a global scale? I'm certainly not the teacher I was when I first walked into a classroom. I'm better. I'm exemplary. I think I can reach more students because I have grown and matured. I've practiced. When, not if, our little educational powder keg explodes, what will come? Will we move to private education? Who will educate everyone? What are the consequences of destroying our public schools?
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