Will it never end or is this just beginning of a national nightmare for teachers and school systems? It seems like the Republican governors and state legislatures in this country can’t wait to outdo each other in destroying the American educational system, all in the name of getting state budgets under control. This is currently going on in Florida, but it could be the template for what is happening in the rest of the country. Republicans seem determined to gut education and school funding under the guise of balancing the budget. Nationally, the Repugs have been pushing to co-opt or eliminate the Dept. of Education for years and if they take control of the White House, you will see this cabinet position soon disappear. Margaret Spelling, “W’s” Secretary of Education, not so subtly blames teachers and their unions for children’s failure to learn. Her words in an article entitled: 5 Lessons From No Child Left Behind, admonishes us to “Watch for special-interest agendas that stall the focus on closing the achievement gap.” She implies that “class-size ratios, modernization of school facilities, and how much money is being spent" is a distraction from learning and that somehow these issues have little to do with a “focus on student achievement.” I‘m trying to figure out if Ms. Spelling has ever spent any actual time in a classroom teaching to come up with these conclusions. Peripheral issues affect teacher morale and effectiveness as much as in any other profession. I think we need to change the old adage of "Those who can't do, teach", to "Those who can't even teach become Secretaries of Education".
The Bushes, father and sons, have all meddled in a field of which they have little to no understanding, having been raised, one and all with silver spoons in their mouths (or silver foot in Dubya's case). Bush the elder wanted to be known as "The Education President", but never produced anything of note in that arena. Geo. W tried to destroy the Dept. of Education from the inside. Here in Florida, tea party darling and newly-elected Governor Rick Scott, with the help of a Republican legislature, is preparing to destroy the educational system as we know it—a project which was started statewide by ex-Gov. Jeb Bush, with his initiation of the bogus FCAT, an alleged standardized testing program for public schools, and then furthered on a federal level by dimbulb brother Dumbya with his “No Child Left Behind-Sandbox & MonkeyBar Project”.
The current plan is to decimate the educational system on 3 fronts, and to put those pesky demanding teachers in their place at the same time:
1. So-called “merit pay”, which will pit teachers against each other, competing for those “bonuses “and turning from a teamwork apparatus to an individual one whose components are all striving for the same almighty dollar. In the long run, students are the ones who suffer, as usual. These bonuses are not peanuts, ranging from $10,000 to $20,000. There will be some serious competition for the same limited dollars. With the Gov. cutting $3 million from the education budget, I'd like to know where this bonus money is going to come from? Once this system is in place, there will be no going back. I predict that these monetary rewards will be few and far between, because there will never be enough money in the budget to fund this moronic idea. The U.S. Department of Education has put a great deal of effort into prodding school districts and states to try merit-pay systems as part of its Race to the Top competition, although teachers' unions have often objected on the grounds that they don't have fair and reliable ways to measure performance. In most school districts, teacher pay is based on years of experience and educational attainment levels. The merit pay concept promotes the idea that most teachers are lazy, only work part-time, half a year and are not worth the money they are currently being paid. And that the few really good and dedicated educators will rise to the top like cream on a bottle of milk and be duly rewarded. The truth is that most teacher are pretty darn good and after a few years of being slighted and stiffed, will either stop teaching as effectively or leave the profession. But maybe that is what Repugs want.
2. Elimination of teacher unions, collective bargaining and teacher tenure so that the pols in power can get rid of everyone who disagrees with their politics and policies. Expect them to get more Draconian now that the Repugs have taken over. (Teachers, a side note here for you: Check that “moral turpitude” clause in your contracts—the party of less government will be getting into your business and bedroom, and goddess help you if you need to have an abortion-they will probably show the ultrasound you will be required to get and pay for around the teachers’ lounge-very 1984! Doubleplusgood, Big Brother!).
3. Implementing of school vouchers so that ill-trained, bored, stay-at-home moms and whack-job religious zealots can indoctrinate the impressionable little tots and at the same time collect per-pupil monies from the state to do it—BONUS!!! Makes ya just want to have as many of those new little Christians as possible. What a boondoggle for the fertile and greedy. Oh, and the religious, too—oft times the same thing. This is definitely a sure way to please your own current Personal Divine Super-Duper Supreme Being; indoctrination and big bucks. But let’s hope the Allah worshipers don’t get wind of this. After all, this is a Christian Nation and we don’t want any state funds paying for any damn Muslim/terrorist Madrasahs like the president attended in Kenya or wherever he was born. The state will fork over almost $7K per child per year. Woo Hoo! There’s gold in them thar ejikashunul hills. “Let have 10 more kids Ma!” Of course the Gov. is planning cut the per-pupil amount by $700 a student, so that reduces the bottom line somewhat, but still, say 5 kids at $6,200 per child for a couple hours work per day? Who needs trained teachers?
The next move will be to ignore the will of the people with the Florida State Legislature by doing an end run around the class-size amendment. In 2002, Florida citizens approved an amendment to the Florida Constitution that set limits on the number of students in “core classes” (such as Math, English, Science, etc.) in the state's public schools. Beginning with the 2010-2011 school years, the maximum number of students in each core class would be: 18 students in prekindergarten through grade 3; 22 students in grades 4 through 8; and 25 students in grades 9 through 12. Now, in 2011, the Florida legislature is in session and already a bill has been proposed to increase these numbers by 3-5 students for “core classes”. It also would redefine “core classes” to sharply reduce the number of courses covered by the limits. "Pack em Deep and Teach em Cheap" is apparently our new educational motto here in The Sunshine State.
Where does this resentment of teachers and education come from? One would think that we would really want to live up to the (erroneous) belief that we have the “best educational system in the world”. Statistical data determines that this arrogantly held belief is blatantly untrue. I guess it is easy to blame teachers for this educational deficit. According to the three-yearly Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) report, which compares the knowledge and skills of 15-year-olds in 70 countries around the world, the United States ranked14th out of 34 OECD countries for reading skills, 17th for science and a below-average 25th for mathematics. I agree with the statement by many school critics that “indiscriminately throwing money at the problem is not going to solve it”, but I think we need to pay these professionals who are educating our children what they are really worth instead of promoting resentment by “merit pay” and the attitude that teaching is at best a part-time job and at worst "glorified babysitting". Let's make this job desirable. By promoting higher wages, we can increase competition and thereby attract the best and the brightest who might otherwise go to work in the private sector. Who is going to evaluate what makes a teacher successful and reward them monetarily for it? Surely not our legislators. And, if parents want to be so involved in their children’s education, instead of home-schooling, why not just team up with a trained educator who spends 30 or more hours a week with little Bobby or to make sure students are living up to our expectations and their potential? Any politician or parent who thinks that collective bargaining for teachers is a bad thing, should be tied to a chair and made to watch Norma Rae and Stand and Deliver until the concepts are seared into their brains.
I’ll admit that not every teacher I've experienced in the classroom was great. I can think of a few who weren't very effective. But everybody has had at least one or two of those during their school days, and we will stillen downright morons wasting their time an ours. Everyone has had them. If they are tenured, then it usually is a problem with administrative policy enforcement-lazy principals and superintendents who just can't be bothered to make sure that schools are hiring and keeping qualified staff. Most of my teachers were more than adequate, a few left an indelible imprint on me and a couple were downright inspiring. Make the tenure system work by giving both new and seasoned teachers fair and honest evaluations and the guidance to improve when they fall short. Anything less is a disservice to students and to our educational system in general. It is also an insult to those effective educators who insist and inspire excellence from their students. Why would anyone want to work in the Rodney Dangerfield of professions? Teachers deserve our respect and support. If Gov. Scott and the Republican dominated Florida legislature thinks that education is expensive, they don’t understand the cost of ignorance. In a recent discussion regarding the Florida legislature voting to end teacher tenure, someone asked, “Haven't any of these people in power ever had good teachers who have influenced their lives??? Where have they been?" To which I flippantly answered “Throwing spitballs and pulling pigtails”. With every day bringing a new attacks on our educational system and teachers, and new disappointments and destructive legislation from lawmakers here and across the nation, I am not so sure I was that far from the truth.
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