A Teacher's Truth…

“The teachers’ contract seemed like a great way to ensure that teachers would be treated fairly, but how did this help to reform education Grandma?”

     “Teachers were able to remain in teaching for a longer period of time.  Therefore, teachers would have more time to hone their craft and as a result of this, there would be more experienced teachers and stability in the schools’ workforce.  There were teachers who retired after working for thirty years with a pension.  Thirty years is a long time to stay in a profession.  Furthermore, the union fought hard to make the teaching profession more professional.”

     “Why would the union need to make teachers more professional?”

     “Well, to raise the level of credibility on the teachers’ part while securing respect for the teaching profession.   As I told you before, there were doubts about teachers’ ability as competent teachers so the union did what it could to dispel such thoughts regarding teachers.  In its effort to gain as much leverage as possible, the union did not stop at the local levels; it grew on a national level because it was believed that teachers would benefit from its legislative and political work.  This approach, the union felt, would help it to influence policies that affected education.”

     “Grandma, the teachers are getting what they need, the school boards and superintendents have local power.  The community members in each district supposedly had access to their schools because they were to be seen as having an equal voice in the governing of their district.  Why didn’t education improve for the children in the public school system?”

     “That is a very good question that, unfortunately, does not have a simple answer.  When we talked earlier, we figured out the three-step process that helped to improve our educational system. Daven, what is it again?”

     She caught me off-guard, but I was on it in a second and answered, “The three-step process includes stabilizing, action, and the reforms helping to restructure public schools. Grandma… how many times are you going to ask me about the three-step process?  Believe me, I know what it is,” I insisted almost seeming annoyed.

     “I’m just making sure you are paying attention, Daven.”  She winked at me and continued. “Now even with this three-step process, funding was necessary in order to successfully turn our schools around.  So imagine no funding…”

     “… no learning.”  We both looked at each other and shared a brief moment between us.

     “No, Daven, that’s not what I meant to say.”

     “Oops… I’m sorry.”

     “Don’t worry about it.  Try to imagine limited funding for public schools that were already in a state of chaos.  In addition, funding for public schools was not equitably distributed throughout our country.  Even within a particular district, there was disparity in the allocation of money to certain public schools.  Interestingly in the 1970s, it was documented that there was a strong opinion supporting the belief that putting more money into our educational system was pointless because our system was in dire need of purging.”