My Tact was Trumped by Love: Why I'm Disturbed by the Teach For America Withdrawal!
This blog entry is a personal account of how I feel regarding the School Board decision of Teach for America. As such, please excuse the first-person references. This is a personal issue. Many years ago, as a young university administrator, I fashioned myself a pro-feminist male. I was considerate of the concept of male privilege and worked hard to shed the nonessential constructs pushed upon me by a “paternalistic” society. I used the word “partner” when introducing a buddy’s wife, would only take women to lunch on first dates, and even fantasized about taking my wife’s name when married.
One day I left my home and headed to a local feminist meeting about male aggression. Listening quietly for longer than any man has ever really listened to a woman, I decided to ask a question. The warm smiles I’d received from people who knew and trusted me suddenly turned to snarls. It was like having that dream about kissing a beautiful girl when she suddenly turns into a grotesque vicious alien. They didn’t want me to talk. It was their turn. They wanted to balance the scale, and it didn’t matter what I had to say. Hurt, I curled up inside myself with new understanding.
The Board of Education meeting last night brought on a similar situation. The long season of Republican Primary debates influenced my regard for tact versus issue. As we listened to Ms. Connie Jackson of CCAE say that Teach For America teachers should not be used to address the achievement gap in South Cobb because they are “uneducated,” I went into a Romney coma. She was unabashed in discounting this effort to help the children for fear of its effect on the morale and professional security of teachers. When I came out of my shock, I stepped to the podium and addressed the viewing audience Newt Gingrich-style. Feeling that her organization’s stance and her professional lobbying would hurt the confidence of the parents who believed in the Teach For America proposal championed by Post 3 (S. Cobb) Board member David Morgan, I perked up. And when I imagined a parent at home watching, lowering her head at the scene with dismay, I went into my “I love my Momma mode” and said, “people like Ms. Jackson are paid to support teachers at any cost!” I didn’t want the parents who were pro-TFA to lose hope. After-all, who would fight for them?
I used Ms. Jackson's name. It was not as I would have done it had the stakes not been so high. It certainly wasn’t anything she, as a person, deserved. I’ve spoken with her professionally and she’s a likable person. I hope someday she’ll call me her friend. I pray that we will work together on legislation to help remove the chains from good teachers who deserve control of their classroom and rewarding paychecks for excellent results.
“Gosh,” I was saying to myself, “I hope people have been reading my blog to see that I am not a mean-spirited guy.” I am a quiet Southern boy raised to defend and protect the honor of women. Problem was, as I’ve heard the opposition to the TFA proposal, the only woman I could think of was a South Cobb grandmother distressed and frustrated because she didn’t know how to help the child she’s raising alone. I thought about my how my own mother cried she as she attempted to give me to my Dad so I could have a better education and life. These are the invisible lives of American children so foreign to so many educational policy makers. Tough sides get chosen for the sake of a child. In that instance, I chose the side of the children and I pray the teachers and Ms. Jackson will understand. Like the women who’d heard enough from men, I wanted to balance the scale.
Superintendent Hinojosa, after bringing the proposal to the board, motioned to table/withdraw the proposal. The balance of professional lobbying outweighed parent interest and student achievement last night. Parents, I pray you won’t give up.
Who is paid to advocate for the disadvantaged children? Without exception?
Hey advocate! If you are out there, and we know you are, please come and get our children out of trouble!! Our personal level of alarm for the care of children is not becoming of Southern gentleness.
The NEA, locally the CCAE will understandably side with teachers. That is their mission. So now that we know what we are up against, all the more we should demand that the Board of Education represent and fight for the needs of children. Join your PTA. Write your board representative and copy the others. Speak out on Patch. There are many on the side of our cause, but you are representing yourself. If not you, then who?
janis stevenson
8:34 am on Sunday, January 29, 2012
well said Leo. we will keep up the fight. and thanks for speaking up and speaking your mind!
Larry King
3:47 pm on Sunday, January 29, 2012
Leo, I like your viewpoint. Sad that education for children in South Cobb is alwways a political issue and not one of fairness and quality education.
As long as the school board and others feel and respond to pressues from segments that don't have the interests and well being of the children in South Cobb at heart and don't get enough reasoned appeals from advocates and parents, good ideas an initiatives will continue to die for lack of a pluraity.
connie
3:03 pm on Monday, February 6, 2012
Leo, I had decided to let the matter die but I am compelled to speak to the issue. First, I don't represent only teachers, I support all people that work for the school district. My members are bus drivers, lunchroom workers, custodians, parapros, and teachers. Yes, I do advocate for them, but I advocate first for PUBLIC EDUCATION and CHILDREN. Our motto is "Great Public Schools for Every Child". I always consider children and their needs when I advocate. I am a teacher and advocate, but I am a mother first and foremost. I would never do anything that I thought was bad for children. My objections to Teach for America stem from not just the effects on teachers, but also what our children deserve. They deserve dedicated, certified, highly qualified teachers who have committed to a career in education. As a South Cobb special education teacher myself, I believe that the best thing for our children is a not Teach for America. If you want to see what committed, qualified, supported teachers can do, look at Griffin Middle School. We, the entire staff, committed to making a difference and we did! This is the power of Educators, not what I believe are well-meaning TFA candidates. As for what you are up against, this is not a winner situation. We should all be focused on the children but we don't need to hurt the teachers to do that. We should all be working together to address the needs of our children and make the educational system work for them. Partnership not Partisanship!
Leo Smith
8:04 pm on Monday, February 6, 2012
I pray you will continue to work with parent advocacy closely Connie. I think we parents need more help. I will contact you for help or to see if I can help where there are needs you are aware of.
The Educators as well as THE PARENTS, TEACHERS, and STUDENTS are making progress at Griffin like so many other schools I won't list here. We mustn't lose sight of the forest because of trees in front of us. Reform is about systems or subsystems, not cases in point. Progress requires evaluation, reflection, and innovation. I do think you agree that there are some tough issues we must address. More in next post...
connie
5:45 pm on Monday, February 6, 2012
Also, if you noticed, I was sitting with the PTA people because we are working together to make a difference in South Cobb, not placing the blame somewhere it doesn't belong or throwing up barriers to working together for change. I consider myself an advocate for children, public education, and educators, in that order. Please do not call me a professional lobbyist, I am a special education teacher in south cobb who decided to step out of my classroom because I felt that public education was under attack, along with educators. I still make the same salary that I did in the classroom, not the large lobbyist salary and expense account. I still introduce myself as a teacher because that is what I am. We need to find real answers to address the achievement gap and the only way that will happen is if we do it together. We MUST end the us against them mentality and bring teachers and parents together to really make a difference. That is the real way to end th eachievement gap, not Teach for America or any other quick fix.
Leo Smith
8:07 pm on Monday, February 6, 2012
continued from above... What we must be careful of is defending a system that while giving any professional impunity (as Janis points out in one of her examples) averages the performance standard of the most towards the few. Industries have been devastated by rigid stances of "don't evaluate me, or mess with my standards." This position is what alienates hard working, struggling parents from the middle class job circumstances some teachers enjoy. This kind of single mindedness, as exampled here does not benefit the fact that "teachers are wonderful." Even when you talk about what students deserve "dedicated, certified, highly qualified" for example, we are not acknowledging that what they really deserve is an EXCELLENT EDUCATION matched to their aptitude and hopes. Again, here we are trying to discuss what is good for students, and you are turning the discussion into "what's bad for teachers." Also, please note that in my admissions consulting with Choate, Andover, Exeter, Deerfield, and many many excellent, high demand private schools, where some tuition is 30-40k per year, there are many "uncertified" teachers. Certification doesn't guarantee quality. There are no guarantees. Not even taxes!! :-) Let's move on to hearing from your alternatives on how to decrease the achievement gap. Perhaps you can lay out some best practices for all to learn from. Again, are teachers being scapegoated by some other system element controlling teachers from being effective????
janis stevenson
6:27 pm on Monday, February 6, 2012
connie - as a parent and a pta member, i dont understand your anger toward teach for america. it is coming through loud and clear in this blog. the parents in south cobb that i know are involved with their kids and their schools and the ptas and are in favor of teach for america. TfA has been shown to make a difference. it is a program that might just move the achievement gap off center in south cobb. we have talked about the achievement gap for years and years and nothing has been done. tfa is real and may be able to produce some real results - if for no other reason than it's something different. why wouldnt parents, students, teachers and administration alike welcome a nice little kick in the pants?
janis stevenson
6:28 pm on Monday, February 6, 2012
parents are not putting down all the teachers but there are some bad ones and I've sat in classrooms with at least one. I was luckily able to get my child transferred to another class. this teacher was brand new, had absolutely no classroom management skills and when I discussed my observations with the principal, I was told "she hasnt really come along as I had hoped." what was done about the teacher? nothing. she still teaches at the school and i suspect unless there was some radical management training, the children in her class still do whatever they want including not stand for the pledge because she herself is too busy applying makeup to do so herself. teachers like this exist. as you know, when there is no money to pay for mentoring or continuing education classes or salaries, the teachers get stuck. and administration's hands are tied. firing a teacher is time consuming and then, when it's done sometimes years later, the principal gets stuck with another teacher from a the group of jobless teachers who may have just gotten fired for the same reason the teacher they are replacing did. this all makes no sense to parents. so, maybe you need to give the parents and students a chance! let teach for america in. what is the worst case scenario? tfa widens the achievement gap even more? i am fully confident that wont happen.