Also, the picture below does a pretty good job of summarizing where we are at with negotiations right now.
Meanwhile, guys like this are being left in control, as opposed to teachers who are trained and, as someone who went through the system, are damn good at their job.
Now, before this gets to where it's going to get to, let me just say that when this started, I really wanted to be on the side of the teachers. Really, I did. As a fellow teacher, and a biased blogger, I feel that teachers are generally very under appreciated in society today. People in the US like to complain about the quality of teachers, lack of difficulty to enter the profession and our low test scores compared to other industrialized nations, but no one wants to realize why that is the case. If you look at other countries that have top-notch education systems such as South Korea and Finland, you will find fundamental differences in the way that education is viewed. In these countries, teachers are valued along the same lines as doctors, and are paid like it, too. Teachers that go to Finland leave saying that the degree of respect and trust that are given to teachers is nothing like what they see in the US (source). Parents in these countries understand the value of school, from its academic to its moral purpose (source) and do not see it simply as a place where kids go while you're at work.
However, like doctors in this country, it is not easy to become a teacher in countries like South Korea and Finland. Before this gets any more off topic, the bottom line is that for education to change for the better in the United States, we need better teachers and we also need society to do a better job of giving teachers the benefit of the doubt. So, in short: respect teachers, pay them like you respect them, and then you'll see better applicants enter the field.
This is ultimately why I wanted to side with the Strongsville teachers. "Let's give them some respect!" I said. "Higher wages need to be our first step!" I said. "This is going to leave an incredibly positive impact on education for years to come," I said.
But then this happened.
This, too.
And this.
And this.
Teachers posted signs like the one below in the neighborhoods of substitute teachers who had come in to Strongsville City Schools during the strike.
Teacher behavior during the strike has even spurred on political cartoons like the one shown below.
Come onnnnnnnnn, you guys!
This was such a big moment! We were going to make such a big change with how education is viewed in society! All you had to do was shut up and let the public speak!!
Watch the first three minutes of the video, Strongsville teachers. Listen to the parent. She WANTED to trust you. She tried to trust you.
You blew it.
So now, I can't trust the teachers. I also can't trust the board, who has refused to make any sort of concessions in their proposal to get the teachers back in the classroom. However, this post isn't about the Board.
This is about the teachers of Strongsville, Ohio, who blew it. You blew it. YOU. BLEW. IT.
The subs are openly under-qualified for the subjects they are teaching. The board has always had a bad rep in Strongsville. Everything was looking up for the teachers. But then, as opposed to taking the high road and likely getting what they wanted in the end, Strongsville's teachers decided to go against the moral lessons they teach (explicitly or subliminally) every day that bullying is bad, we should be good to each other and that in times of adversity, violence in not the answer in any form.
To be fair, this does not represent every teacher in Strongsville. Actually, those teachers who are bullying the substitutes are in the vast minority compared to the teachers who are doing what the need to do by being quiet and letting the process play itself out.
Unfortunately, this is not what the public will remember. The public will remember the teachers who bullied the subs by cursing and yelling in their faces (literally) as subs came into the city to try to work.
I will too. I will remember these teachers more than the majority of teachers who were doing the right thing, and that really is a shame.
To the teachers who bullied and acted more immature than the students and continue to do so throughout this process: how can you legitimize yourself as an educator, or even as a person? How can you go to bed at night feeling that the decisions you've made that day are for the benefit of society? Namely, how does yelling and cursing at a human being who is trying to go in and teach children make you a good person? Sure, the subs aren't doing as good of a job as you probably think you could. But they're trying. That should, and does count for something. How can you expect children in your classroom to behave with class, maturity and respect for each other when you cannot model those things yourself? This next statement is coming from an educator and more importantly, a human being: you should be ashamed of yourself.
The whole situation is disgusting. While I never claimed that Strongsville was my favorite place in the world, I had a certain amount of respect for the place, and for the teachers that had given me an opportunity to go out into the world and pursue whatever career path that I'd like.
It has been incredibly disheartening to see many of these same people who I looked up to throughout the course of my youth turn around do exactly the things that they told me not to do. Hypocrisy at its finest.
However, if there is a metaphoric diamond in the rough of all this, it is the students of Strongsville. I have read multiple articles like this one which detail the students' refusal to stoop to their teachers' level and continue to work hard in the face of all this.
The Strongsville teachers strike had an opportunity to become a huge win not only for the teachers of Strongsville, but for teachers everywhere. Instead, the events that have occurred in Strongsville in the past month and a half (and however longer they might continue to occur) will leave scars on the community for years or maybe even decades to come. It also puts a huge dent into the fight many teachers are facing here in the US for the respect and dignity that is necessary for higher levels of educational quality.
It is hard to imagine a scenario in which the teachers and BOE come out of this with any sort of respect from the community -- parents and children alike. The teachers in Strongsville have turned a golden opportunity into one of shame, and for that they cannot be forgiven.
Sincerely,
Brad DeFauw
Class of 2008
Brad, well said and I could not agree more.
ReplyDeleteI too believe teachers are worth much more than their weight in gold. Many are under appreciated and do much more than what we really know. Many purchase their own school supplies. Many stay after school do work with students. Grading papers at home is also part of the school day.
Not to mention that their not only teach our children, but also watch over them for the time spent at school. For any parent that does not understand this, they are foolish. If you hire a babysitter, how much do you pay said babysitter per hour. Multiply that by 6, then multiply that by anywhere from 12-20 children. That's a pretty big amount...and that is just 1 day.
However, my view of the Strongsville teachers has changed. At my sons elementary school, teachers are acting as I would have hoped all Strongsville teachers would have acted from day 1, like decent individuals. There has been no blocking parents from dropping their kids off, no screaming at cars/subs/faculty. Unlike at my daughters middle school.
It would not surprise me that once this strike is settled, parents would demand the firing of many teachers that were caught out-of-line on camera or though other known means. I find it disgusting to know high school teachers were texting students to be rowdy and unruly at school. How is it that teachers know students phone numbers to text them?
In closing, as I did not want to reply with a blog of my own, but got caught up in my rant, I will say this to the BOE. My son or daughter will never be in a class with a teacher caught on camera acting inappropriately. They will never be in a class with a teacher that was arrested during the strike. They will never be in a class with a teacher witnessed by my wife or myself deliberately blocking a parent from dropping their child off for school.
There are good teachers out on the picket lines. We will see what happens in a couple more weeks when their health insurance runs out. I believe that happens May 1.
Tim