TOYs for Tots

OK, so a Texas teacher association gathered all the regional teachers of the year (TOYs) together at a posh hotel in Austin for a focus group session on how to improve education.  You can read the full report here:  http://www.atpefoundation.org/images/2011RTOYFullReport.pdf.  They developed four recommendations in the areas of accountability, professionalism, rebranding, and community.  Interesting.

I agree with much of what they said.  Everyone should be held accountable.  Professional development should be focused and be campus-based, teacher influenced, relevant and useful. Accountability for quality performance must  be systemic.  Our profession is in trouble and in need of "rebranding."  We all need to work on this together, administrators, teachers, community, legislators.

But, sadly, my sense is that they missed the big picture.  They could not see outside the walls of their classrooms.  There are comments about teaching to the test, inadequate administrator evaluations, failure to weed out the incompetents.

Where do school administrators come from?  Do you think current administrators go to incompetent, non-motivated teachers and suggest that they consider becoming a principal?  Nope.  I was a teacher of the year before I became an administrator.  I was president of my local teacher association.  I lobbied hard to increase teacher input into decision-making.  I was wrong.

Had someone asked me back then how the school finance system worked, I could not tell them.  Had they asked me how the curriculum standards were set, I could not tell them.  Had they asked me how the accountability system really worked at both the state and federal levels, I could not tell them.  Had they asked me how administrators were evaluated, I could not tell them.  Had they asked me how the local budget and tax rate were developed and set, I could not tell them.  Had they asked me how, based on all the above we were doing as a school, as a district and as a state, I could not tell them.

One of the key provisions of professionalism is to know your profession.  Not just your practice, your profession.  Not just your subject and grade level, but your profession.  I get it that teachers do not want  to attend all day, big group workshops on a topic suggested by an administrator.  I get it that they want incompetent teachers rooted out.  I get it that we are all in this together.  And, I get it that teachers, good teachers, are entrepreneurial and want to be left alone in their rooms to do their jobs without interference from administrators.

Most amazing to me is the notion that weak teachers are not weeded out.  The only reason administrators do not weed them out faster is that teacher associations have fought to legislate provisions so that it is very difficult to fire a teacher.  Can fire an administrator at the drop of a hat, but not teachers.  And, ours is the only organization going where criticism of the boss does not result in termination, it is lauded as a professional right and duty!

I return to the notion that our biggest challenge is the isolation of the profession.  Teachers rarely see other teachers teach.  The impression they have of the quality of the work done by their peers comes from lounge gossip.  I was amazed when I left the classroom and saw other teachers teach and observed what went on in classrooms.

Teachers can bond with a common enemy.  It is easy to make that enemy an administrator.  It is easy to say we are here for the kids, and let's get the incompetent administrators out of here.  (And, incompetent administrators ought to be fired, but not based on test scores!)

Woe is me.  The Texas Teachers of the Year are playing the same old tune.  Let's have some vision, folks!  Why not talk about politics since that is now driving all instructional and institutional decision making?  Why not attack standardized testing rather than teaching to the test?  Why not promote a different kind of accountability?  Why not promote a different kind of professional development beyond make-it and take-it labs.  Why not take a day and spend it observing your peers?

I expected more than TOYS for Tots.

And yes, I'm back.