November 11, 2019
A teacher's aid explains what's wrong with public education.
From the article:
During my school’s professional development sessions, where expert guidance is supposed to improve our instructional practice, my principal had us write positive words on Post-its and then share them with other groups. It amounted to walking around my school’s cafeteria for 45 minutes reading "respect†and "warmth†scribbled in red pen.
A few days later, my district brought in a speaker to pitch "culturally responsive†pedagogy to the entire district. While his speech was emphatic, most staff searched their phones with the brightness dimmed while a group of football coaches sat behind me silently mocking the speaker. Assuming each teacher makes about $25 an hour and my district has just shy of 1,500 teachers, that three-hour speech cost nearly $115k.
Other costs compound this systemic waste. For my ineffectual support role, I get a district computer that costs several hundred dollars, with insurance added to it. There’s the time spent managing my pay and benefits, an administrator handling my observations and feedback, and a supervisor for everyone in my position across the district. While these final costs are minor in comparison to a district’s total budget, they’re not inconsequential. In a rough calculation, Brookings estimates that U.S. schools spend almost $1.4 billion a year on teacher observations. Little costs add up.
Read the article; it's well worth your time.
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at
10:58 AM
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