Teacher Tenure

     So many opinions, so little intelligence.  Not IQ intelligence - life experience intelligence.  I could not go to JPL and build a space shuttle. I could fake the funk; it is a gift. Just would not want to be astronauts on that shuttle. 
     My friend Chris, a teacher, school principal, and a man of great intelligence - both IQ and life experience. His remarks on this topic were - as usual, spot on.
     It is not removing a safety net for poor teachers.  That is not what blowing up tenure will do - it is taking away what our grandparents, parents, soldiers, leaders, activists - it is taking away what they fought for.
     WalMart is a mega billion dollar business.  Offering no protection, health benefits, or competitive salaries.  An employee who speaks of unionization is quickly dismissed. Men, women and children working in dress factories right here in downtown LA.  Working in deplorable conditions because they are not documented - no laws protect them. Buy your expensive Nike shoes; put aside your conscious when you think someone made them for $.10/hour.  How much did you pay for them?
      Teaching is not an easy gig.  Yes, I know teachers who are artists, actors, writers - teaching affords them the opportunity to earn a living while pursuing their dreams.  Isn't that why we all work.  Someone once told me;
     "Lisa, you come to work, earn your money so you can enjoy all the time when you are not at work.  They call it work for a reason."
     This person also told me;
     "No matter how much you work, how much you give of your soul - they are never going to erect a statue of you in the front yard."
     I was meant to teach.  It is not what I do it is who I am. In that I am blessed.  Not every day was a picnic - but everyday I did have the opportunity to make a difference.  Perhaps a difference not noticeable in that day, week, month, or year -
     About nine or so years ago I was picking Emily up from school when I heard a deep male voice calling my name;
     "Lisa, Lisa, is that you?"
     I knew it was a former Tobinworld student because at Tobinworld we were called by our first names.  At LAUSD it was last names only.  Hesitantly, (some students at Tobinworld were on a thin sheet of ice.)
     I turned to see a face I recognized.  Shamefully, I am so bad with names - I could not give a name to this face.  There he stood.  A young man now with five o'clock shadow, strong arms - baby fat gone from his cheeks.
     "It's me, William."
     Oh shit man, William.  He was a success story.  Earned his way back to public school.  Graduated, married, worked as an after school tutor at Emily's school. 
     We hugged. William - William would have walked through a brick wall if I had asked him to.  In fact, figuratively, I did.  I asked him to let go of his neighborhood, leave behind what others said he couldn't do - embrace what he could do - and fly.  So maybe he flew over that brick wall. 
     William had a daughter.  Her name was Lisa.
     "I named her after you.  I told my wife, Lisa was a teacher I had at Tobinworld when my head was all messed up and she helped me see I had a choice."
      Choking back tears, I told William.
     "All I did buddy was show you a door, you did the work.  You built a life you wanted."
     "You believed in me when no one else ever had. No grown up had ever said I could be anything but a banger, addict, or welfare taker.  You said I could be whatever I wanted."
     In truth, not something you should tell a twelve year old who comes from East LA. No dad, Mom in and out - once in while you just know, or feel - or as I still believe - you look into their eyes.
     This is a wonderful explanation of a teachers' opportunity.  Not one president of IBM may have - CEO or CFO's or other such folks - whose jobs are just as important; They just don't have relationships in manner teachers have with students.
      Yes, accountability matters. Every five years teachers have to complete 150 professional development hours then apply for rectification.  Every five years for as long as you teach.  My bachelors took 4.5 years. My Masters 2 years.  And all of those hours of professional development.
     Invariably, a school district will buy into the next great curriculum.  This means every few years teachers spend copious amounts of time sitting in classrooms, being students, as some company rep reads a teacher's manual to us.  Teachers are not always good students.
      Any idea how much I spent as a teacher, every year on supplies? Let's say in a five year average - keeping records for tax purposes; $2,000.  Tax laws have changed.  Now a teacher can claim $250.00 max.
     Back to tenure.  I have encountered teachers who should be no where near children.  Teachers who sat at a desk, read a newspaper, did crosswords, passed out worksheets - And I have worked with teachers that arrived every morning filled with ideas, plans, projects - boiling over waiting for the day to start so they could dive into their plans.
      This is true in any profession.  If teachers can be fired because student scores are too low, or an administrator has a hate on for them, or a parent does not like them - what does that do for all the other students.  Does the classroom door revolve; lets try out this one, no this one, no this one.  One thing I can say about good teaching you have to be consistent and structured!
     In truth, no one is thinking about effects of changing teachers willy nilly will have on students.  Test scores are numbers.  Children are not numbers.  Personalities clash, doesn't mean teacher is rotten. 
     The core of our country is based on democracy, innocent until proven guilty, independence, spirit.  Any person who dreams of being an artists brings that passion into a classroom where art is no longer taught.  Art is important.  So, if he doesn't get through the entire 20 minute lesson on the sound of letter "M"  BFD! What if he inspires a child to dream of being an artist?
      As Chris said, if a teacher is so afraid to express their personality, passions, and free thinking ideas - we generate children who can answer questions, but not ask questions. This is scary! It is only through critical thinking, challenging and questioning from which great ideas can emerge. If we frighten teachers with "get higher test scores or hit the highway" we frighten students.  Are our children not under enough pressure? Growing up in today's world is no picnic - Good Lord let them be kids and play dodge ball! Let them know it is OK to fail, teach them resiliency - so when they get out into this world; they can find their way beyond the two blocks around their house.  They can ask questions.  Seek truths.  Think for themselves. 
     It does not matter if train A left at two and train B left at four - It does matter if our children know they can take train C and go wherever they want!