Teachers, teachers unions etc are always thumping the "fund education more" drum, I want to know where the outrage is when all of these extra over paid administrative positions are created is. Is there any? Are these BS admin positions really worth that much more than a teaching position?
One thing I always questioned at work is how we can keep hiring "support" and admin people but say we can't hire engineers and technicians that actually do the core work and I always get a dirty look for saying it.
Oh, teachers bitch but only among themselves. You can't say anything publicly because you risk being fired (union/association protection to the contrary).
As far as changes go, hmmm....I'll take a crack at that, gladly!
Nationally:
1. If you're going to have a Department of Education, the person in charge should have at least 20 years of classroom experience. Every person in a policy-making position should have at least 10 years of classroom experience.
2. Any law that is passed by Congress that requires a school to do something, should have the necessary funding attached. If we (our USA Govt) don't have the money, we shouldn't have the law.
3. Any politician using the words, "it's for the children", should immediately be stripped of office or forbidden from holding office in the first place. (WE all know that's a big lie & told only to get votes.)
4. Any proposed legislation must first go through a vetting process with comments from "boots on the ground" teaching staff (not Principals, Administrators, Professors or Consultants).
5. Eliminating childhood poverty should have a higher priority than foreign aid.
6. Corporations have no say in education issues.
State:
1. The State Department of Education should be headed by someone with Education degrees and at least 18 years of classroom experience, and have left their last job in good standing. Corporate Superintendent Certificate programs should be an immediate disqualifier (motivations would be immediately suspect).
2. Any employee of the State Department of Education should have at least 10 years of classroom experience* and have left their last job in good standing.
3. Salaries should be equivalent to local teacher salaries.
(*excludes Secretarial, Janitorial staff; although really, those Secretaries know more than they get credit for!)
Locally:
1. Reduce class sizes -- Elementary, no more than 20, Middle & High, no more than 30. And that number is based upon warm bodies physically in the room, not some mathematical formula that counts in people like the guidance counselors, librarian, nurse, reading specialist, etc. as a "teacher" in that formula. The way they do it now, they "claim" that class size might be 30 but you're looking at classrooms with 40+ kids on the High school level because they use that wacky formula and folks don't know how to schedule kids (and I can say that because I HAVE scheduled kids!).
2. District Administration should be no more than 5 - 8% of the total employee pool (higher number for smaller districts). You just don't need that many chiefs. ALL persons hired as a District Administrator should have a minimum of 15 years in the classroom unless they're an attorney or a CPA (5 years for the technology folk -- they need to know how the stuff is used in the classroom so what they do with the technology pushes doesn't totally eff things up.) Serving as Association/union personnel should immediately disqualify someone from working in the District Office where they served.
3. District Administration must be rotated back into the classroom every 3 years for a year. (this was Glitch's idea I think and I totally agree!!)
4. Any Curriculum initiative may only be undertaken after said curriculum has been totally reviewed, investigated, assessed, & validated by independent knowledeable sources. Before being adopted, it must be reviewed by teachers and parents. Once adopted, it must be utilized at least 8 to 10 years in order to justify the expense. TRAINING for teachers in said curriculum must be provided for at least one solid year before teachers are expected to teach it. All materials to be used for teaching the curriculum must be complete and available for teacher use during said training.
5. All students must have food to eat, clothes to wear, a place to live, and access to mental health & social services if needed. None of these shall be the responsibility of the school system, although the school system would assist any local social service entities with referrals as needed.
6. Teachers should set aside one day per month where they will be available to chat with parents about their child's progress (either in person, by phone, by email, or any other mutually agreed-upon method). Teachers will be paid for this time.
7. All parents must show their face at least once during the school year (does not matter for what).
8. All parties involved (teachers, parents, administrators, etc.) must respond to any communication within 2 business days.
9. All supplies needed to run a school shall be provided by the District (paper, toilet paper, paper towels, crayons, art paper, computers, books, etc., etc.).
10. All school boards should be elected and must contain at least one of each of the following: a parent of students attending the public schools; a retired teacher, a new teacher (2-5 years experience), a student from each level, a local small business person; a local representative of a large business/corporation; a local University/Community College professor, a local member of the clergy (makes no difference which religion); a local retired person; 3 other people from the local community. Terms should be 4 years, max of 3 terms.
11. All budget information should be easily accessible by the public before, during, and after the budget process. Citizen input must be solicited. Local area should decide whether or not school board can levy taxes to support programs.
12. No public money should be allocated to charter schools. If the public schools aren't good enough, parents can either pay for an alternative or get in there & help fix the public schools.
13. Teachers should either be paid a salary that indicates the work that they do or be placed on an hourly rate with overtime to cover all of the extra time devoted to the job outside the normal school day.
14. Teachers who are not good should be peer-reviewed (like doctors & lawyers); offered assistance to improve for one year & then "encouraged" to find another career area if improvement is not possible.
15. Children who are not acting appropriately in the classroom or school should be accompanied by a parent until the behavior improves (see number 5 for additional assistance).
16. Children should have one major "achievement" test per year that covers multiple subjects, not exceeding 60 minutes in length. Results should be available to the local school and the parent. Period. Aggregate scores without names/identifiers may be submitted to state if required. Practice tests for the test are forbidden. Informal teacher assessments may be used as needed to determine the strengths & weaknesses in knowledge for each child for the purpose of teaching only.
17. All schools should have an up-to-date library with at least one qualified Librarian, and an appropriate number of library books for the students with budget money to up-date as needed.
18. All schools should offer programs in PE, Music, Art, Trades (in high school) at the very least. Other areas should be added based upon community/student needs/wants.
I could go on but it's late....
like we really get a vote on how the money is spent? Of course the budgets need to be realigned. The priorities of what goes where is really off kilter. De-fund the after school sports programs, if mommy and daddy are raising super stars they can pay the bill. Reduce BOE staff and salaries (executive director of, director of ), who approves these things anyway? Reduce the number of take home vehicles. $90K+ for a JROTC instructor?
