Entry # 3: Strike issues divide us, when
we desperately need to work together
September 10 -- Schools are open in Philadelphia, but we don't know how
long they'll stay that way. Teachers returned to their schools after a long
union meeting on Tuesday morning and students started classes on Thursday.
A strike vote was reauthorized, but a strike was not called. The union must
give 48-hours notice before any job action, and no notice has been given
yet. However, last night on the news, I heard that no new negotiations are
scheduled for this weekend. This morning's paper claims that talks will
resume today. I wonder.
On Monday afternoon the second contract extension will run out, and it's
up to a judge to decide whether to extend again. If there's no extension,
it seems there will almost definitely be a strike.
At this point we are all operating as if school has begun and will continue
without interruption. It has been wonderful to watch the dedication of teachers
as they raced to set up their classrooms and programs despite the tension
and uncertainty which they were, and are, facing.
While everyone is performing like troopers now, I wonder how long this state
of limbo can continue. Stress affects peoples' health and it certainly affects
our energy levels. I find myself exhausted after I plan for schedules and
school visits that I know may not happen.
The children are watching and waiting, too. A friend told me that students
in her eighth grade advisory asked her if she was going to go on strike.
She told the students that she went home every night praying that it wouldn't
happen, but that she was a person with bills to pay, just like their families.
She told the children she'd walk if a strike were called.
"The treacherous valley of blame"
Do the students' families realize how painful this is for the teachers?
Does the union do a good job building public support? Unfortunately, I think
the answer to both questions is no.
The press and our elected officials, some of whom we helped elect, paint
the teachers as people who work under some difficult conditions, BUT, only
for a very short day and year. They point to the test scores and call for
better results. They talk about the budget deficit and say their hands are
tied, while they call for new stadiums and tax breaks for businesses with
their next breath.
Teachers talk about the conditions under which they work. They talk about
buildings in need of repair, insufficient supplies, oversized classes and
students who bring lots of problems to school. As soon as teachers start
complaining about the problems the students bring from home, they enter
the treacherous valley of blame.
There is no clear cut roadmap through this terrain, but there is plenty
of blame to go around. Once teachers and parents start blaming each other
for the bigger problems our kids face, it's almost certain that we're going
to lose ground.
The ground I'm talking about is the higher ground, the place where families
and schools work together to support our children. The place where teachers
welcome other teachers into their classrooms and share their thinking. It
seems like common sense that we should all be working together, but the
understanding and respect we need to support such a joint approach is very
uncommon.
The "wrong-headedness" of merit pay
Now the District is calling for merit pay with the right to pay more to
teachers who are recognized as experts. I believe this demand is wrongheaded
on a number of levels.
As a teacher who has been recognized for her accomplishments, I have felt
the distancing that often accompanies such recognition. Everyone needs to
be told that they are appreciated, and I was grateful when I was acknowledged,
but I didn't appreciate feeling singled out.
None of us operates in isolation. I could not have completed the projects
for which I was praised without the support I received from my principals,
the colleagues in my school and at the District level, business partners,
office staff, students and their families. Am I just being humble? I don't
think so.
I am a hard worker. I arrived early and often attended sessions after school
hours. Was I unique? Unless you think I attended meetings with me, myself
and I, the answer is no.
If you separate people like me off and set us up as "experts,"
and pay us more, then you set us apart, when the thing our kids need most
is for us to be together, working as a team.
Trust cannot be mandated from on high. Teacher leaders grow as part of a
trusting, risk-taking process, not from swooping in like some high-priced
hired guns. Ouch! Is that how my new role will be seen?
Another thing that worries me about merit pay is, who decides that which
is meritorious? Do principals decide alone? How many people can be meritorious
within one school, one Cluster, the District? Don't we want everyone to
rise to the occasion?
This system seems ripe for abuse and destined to further divide teachers
from their colleagues. Once you're given more money, how long does it last?
How many times can you maintain your meritorious rating? When will someone
else at your school get a chance to "win" the top spot?
In today's paper, "top teachers" voiced their opinions about merit
pay and only one of the five endorsed the idea, and he called for an incentive-based
pilot, not a full-scale program.
In my new position, I have agreed to leave my classroom. In order to have
the time to collaborate with other teachers on a full time basis, I have
given up my own students. As a facilitator/coach, I will work twelve months,
not ten and I will work a longer day. I will be paid more, but I'm not competing
with other teachers at my school.
Work better? Yes. But not longer
I think teachers need to work better, but most can't work much longer. If
longer hours are called for, then compensate the teachers accordingly. A
little respect goes a long way.
Working longer means more time away from their own families. Teachers have
kids and those kids attend childcare or they have sitters. Added time means
higher costs. No price tag can be applied to the time that would have been
spent parenting.
I sometimes think our elected officials would like to return to a time when
the teachers had to be single, and were supervised day and night by the
"town fathers"! You can't reconcile this kind of employee control
with the recruitment of well prepared, innovative, critically thinking teachers.
On staffing issues, I can see the need for more site-based control. When
a team is required, there needs to be some meeting of the minds to make
it effective. Strong schools have strong teams. Changes in this policy should
be approached with extreme caution and sensitivity. I would support a pilot
or experimental approach in the short run.
We don't know what works best and neither does the District. We need some
trials before imposing a District wide model on 15,000 teachers. Nobody
has the answer ,least of all the State, but together we could probably design
one. I would like to see some outside partners like university people involved
in the process, as well as some rank and file teachers and parents.
One thing I do know -- these negotiations are hanging over our collective
heads like the Sword of Damocles. It's time for the leaders to get on with
it, so we can begin the really hard work of building partnerships, teacher
to teacher, teachers to students, and whole school to families.
Our children are counting on us, we cannot afford to limp along, constantly
worrying about when the sword will fall.
[Editor's note: Deb will serve as co-moderator of the
new MiddleWeb listserve, which will begin early this fall.]
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