I took the last couple of
weeks "off" from writing to work on report cards, attend many
different meetings and to experience the roller coaster that the end of a
school year is for students, staff and families. From the perspective of
someone outside of a classroom it's easy to assume that the end of a school
year is filled with anticipation and joy, but in our schools the emotions run
the gamut from eager expectation to fear and anxiety.
This isn't anything new.
When I look back over my years of teaching I can remember many examples that
demonstrate the range of emotions that ending a school year brings. I remember
getting paged over the intercom to come to the front of the school where two of
my most challenging students were in tears, needing support and compassion just
to get on the bus to start their summer vacation. A vacation filled with hunger
and uncertainty that would culminate in a transition away from the school that
had been their home for years to an unfamiliar middle school. I can also
remember any number of students literally bouncing out the door ready for a
summer of fun and adventure.
For public educators the
end of a school year is always challenging for a variety of reasons. We balance
the needs of our current students with the necessary preparation for the
upcoming school year. We are forced to split our focus between evaluating our
students' progress, reflecting on our own efforts over the past year, wrapping
up the school year, and all the preparations needed for the next year like
class placement, curriculum development and other planning. Added into the mix
are uncertainties like changing positions or roles, switching classrooms or
schools, and the potential for being laid off or otherwise having our jobs
impacted by budgetary concerns. A final layer is all of the external pressures
that we currently face in a climate that is increasingly anti-public education.
While much of what
educators experience at this time of year is more personal in nature, the
public part of our jobs is certainly something that every citizen should be
concerned about. That is the dual nature of what public educators do. We
operate on a very personal level with our students and families, yet what we do
has a greater impact and implications for our entire society. We know that an
engaged and educated population is the key to a successful democratic society.
We also know that people who are educated and who have options or outlets for
their skills are more positive and productive citizens. Public schools and the people who work in them
are deeply embedded in our communities and are the cornerstone of our society.
This is one of the reasons
why morale is so low among public educators. We are seeing the profession that
we value so highly degraded and undermined by political and economic leaders
who seem to have no concern for anything beyond a narrow range of interests
that center around money and power. The past few years have seen an
acceleration of the efforts to drastically alter the basic foundations that our
society rests on. This is occurring on all levels and influences our
functioning in all areas. Because public educators are so deeply involved in
their students, families and communities we feel these effects and are impacted
in ways that affect our morale. When our students or their families experience
trauma, so do we. When our communities suffer, so do we. The stresses that
impact our students also have an effect on public educators.
Educators do so much more
than simply teach the basic skills that students need to have to be
academically successful. We provide emotional support. We provide supplies,
food and clothing. We provide a bridge between a bureaucratic world that is
impersonal and difficult to navigate and work to give students and families
access to needed information and resources. We are often the faces that people
connect with a greater system that should support and enhance the lives of our
fellow citizens, but too often falls short for many people. Our concerns are
many and far reaching.
Protecting Public Education- There are some who would say that this is simple
self-interest for public educators. After all, without public schools we would
all be out of a job, right? But the reality is that public educators are highly
educated, highly skilled professionals who choose to work in our public
schools. It is a calling for us, and one that we don't take lightly. That is
why the current attacks are so troubling to all of us who support public education.
THE PROTESTS Sun Prairie Monday June 8, 4-6 PM (they need
volunteers) Green Bay Monday June 8, 7:20 AM -
8:00 AM Appleton
Monday June 8 11:45 AM - 1 P
bluecheddar.net
The administrators, who predominantly hailed from
high-income suburban schools, gathered to urge lawmakers to amend the budget
changes for K-12 schools approved by a powerful committee.
jsonline.com|By Erin Richards
Legislators are taking a whack at the credibility of the
system.
washingtonpost.com
The irony is that those
who say that public educators are self interested and greedy are often the ones
who are profiting from the "reforms" being implemented. Public educators
make a decent living, but nothing compared to those who run the corporations
making the educational "products" that are sold to our schools, or
forced into our classrooms.
. “EDUCATION REFORM” TRANSLATE THIS: IT’S NOT ABOUT LEARNING
OR LEARNERS! “Education Reform” is in effect, false advertising and deceptive
packaging, “brought to you by” sponsors...
lucidwitness.com
Two major randomized studies have been conducted to estimate
the effects of early childhood education. They both find huge benefits.
washingtonpost.com
Don’t look now, but there’s something creepy coming toward
you, and it wants to take over your public school system. Sure, it’s
connected—through all-important...
progressive.org
The attacks on public
education have spread beyond our K-12 system and will have a significant impact
on our university system as well. The impacts of these so called
"reforms" go beyond just education and cause drastic results
socially, politically and economically as well.
The University
of Wisconsin has
weathered years of budget cuts, but many faculty members believe the
elimination of tenure would be a tipping point. The...
m.channel3000.com
Yes, I'm being a bit hyperbolic but not by much. When I read
the so-called UW 'reforms' that passed the Joint Finance Committee the other
day, that's what...
onmilwaukee.com
Promoting equity and opportunity for all- Critics of public schools will point to the wide
achievement and opportunity gaps that exist in our schools. While these gaps
are real, they are mirrors of what currently exists in our society. This
doesn't excuse them, nor does it mean that nothing can be done. Rather, these
gaps are a call to action for many educators who are working to try and address
them in positive ways. This is occurring in a variety of ways. . .
Changing our discipline
systems and the cultures of our classrooms and schools and working to support
our students who have additional needs beyond "simple" educational
ones.
About $802,000, or the majority of the new funds, would put
at least a part-time staff member at every elementary school to handle student
behavior issues and...
host.madison.com|By Molly Beck |
Wisconsin State Journal
An advocacy group for students in the criminal justice
system calls for an end to the practice.
host.madison.com|By Pat Schneider
Schools are taking a more proactive role in caring for
students' mental health in counseling availability, sleep, tech and play.
ww2.kqed.org
Speaking out against
excessive, biased and punitive standardized testing.
Is the call for more testing just another way to maintain
the status quo?
alternet.org
Why are civil rights groups fighting so hard for annual
accountability testing when there is no evidence that it helps poor and
minority students?
blogs.edweek.org
Advocating for curriculum
that is nurturing, developmentally appropriate, engaging, and educationally
sound.
Research reveals negative effects of academic preschools and
kindergartens.
psychologytoday.com
Academic teaching in kindergarten backfires.
nytimes.com|By David Kohn
June 3, 2015 - Career-Tracking in the Classroom, Pt 1: Some
of the Most Important Public Testimony Almost No One Has Ever Heard
resoundingbooks.org
Speaking out against
voucher and charter school schemes that are profit, not student based. Re-segregation
of our schools based on racial, ethnic, economic or other criteria does little
to build a unified nation or to create an educated citizenry.
Fraud, financial mismanagement, lousy results: Reports
highlight awful charter schools and people are catching on
salon.com|By Jeff Bryant
Charter fans brag about their successes. They tell the
starfish story. They will occasionally own that their successes are, in fact,
about selecting out the...
www.progressive.org
Protecting democratic values and institutions- Once again, our nation's leaders have consistently
touted education as the key to a successful democracy. In order to understand
and appreciate the freedoms and opportunities available to us as American
citizens we need to understand the implications of the proposed reforms and
policy changes. One key to maintaining the integrity of our democracy is to
have systems and institutions that support the rights and privileges of the
general citizenry. Organizations like unions are key elements to these systems.
Without them the voice of the many is drowned by the influence, wealth and
power of the few.
RACINE
— Racine Unified School District Superintendent Lolli Haws sought to reshape
the tone of an ongoing debate over her intention to change aspects of...
journaltimes.com|By AARON KNAPP
aaron.knapp@journaltimes.com
Gov. Walker and leaders in Wisconsin’s
Republican-held Legislature are pushing the University of Wisconsin
system to give a board largely picked by the governor...
nytimes.com|By MONICA DAVEY
Educators need to be able
to teach, and the current attacks on public education have forced us to be
political activists beyond what should be required. Our livelihoods and our
profession is being subjected to a variety of assaults that leave us drained,
fearful and challenge our ability to focus on what we truly care most about,
our students. How can we exercise our professional expertise and fulfill our
calling as educators when those in the public eye want to subject us to
takeovers and remove our ability to control the environment that we work in,
and that our students learn in.
What new and veteran teachers working in a challenging
environment face today.
washingtonpost.com
For Immediate Release Contact: Paul Sickel 414-520-1752
Wisconsin Coalition for Retirement Security.
myemail.constantcontact.com
A sweeping proposal giving control of the lowest-performing
schools in Milwaukee to a commissioner who could
fire all the teachers and administrators might also apply to other large,
racially diverse school districts in Wisconsin,...
http://www.channel3000.com|By Channel
3000
Those holding the reins of
power don't even respect our profession enough to honor the education and
licensing policies that have a long history in our state. Instead they want to
quantify our efforts and ignore our expertise and experience.
MADISON, Wis.
(AP) -- Wisconsin
may be the first state in the country to certify teachers who don't have
bachelor's degrees under a provision put in the state...
Legislative action slides teacher licensing standards toward
the bottom | Wisconsin Department...
MADISON — Major changes to teacher licensing voted into
the 2015-17 state budget, without a...
dpi.wi.gov
thepoliticalenvironment.blogspot.com
Using student test scores as an indicator of quality
teaching is a flawed and misleading practice.
alternet.org
Educating our students (and fellow citizens)- In the end, public education exists to do just what it says, educate the
public. For public educators this means more than just teaching students for
180 days. It means that we are actively engaged in our communities and working
to address issues of social justice and to address the needs of our
communities. It also means that we recognize that we are part of a larger
community and must recognize and respect the voices of all those we work with.
Education is a pathway that works in multiple directions, we must do all we can
to work, learn and act together. The end result is a collective whole that is
much stronger than the sum of the parts.
The coalition is inviting the entire community to
collaborate. We should do so.
host.madison.com|By Cap Times
editorial
A silent protest is planned for Thursday, June 4 from 2:30
PM to 4:30 PM at the Spooner
High School. Students,
staff, and families are protesting what they
bluecheddar.net
The Good, The Bad and
The Ugly. . .
The Good . . . Incredible news. As we work to change
our discipline policies at the most personal of levels, it is important to
remember that on a societal level, harsh and often arbitrary punishments rarely
are effective.
Nebraska became the first conservative state
in 40 years to ban the death penalty after legislators voted to override the
governor’s veto.
nytimes.com|By JULIE BOSMAN
The Bad . . . The connections between people in
power are difficult to unravel, but have a significant impact on what
information we get about them. On another note, here is another example of just
how "self-made" and independent people need connections and support
to advance their careers. Does Walker
receive "press welfare" because of this? We don't know, but having
your spouse work for a nationally recognized columnist can't hurt.
Washington Post conservative columnist George Will has a
special connection to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who may seek the Republican
presidential...
washingtonexaminer.com
The Ugly . . . Some things just shouldn't be
"market-driven."
State Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, wants to apply
market forces to state parks.
lacrossetribune.com
No comments:
Post a Comment