February 14, 2023, Board Meeting — My Thoughts
We held a regular board meeting on February 14th. You can view the meeting here (on YouTube). As always, I encourage you to watch the meeting if you can.
Suspending Teacher Certificates
Last week the board voted 4-2 to seek the suspension of 6 teachers’ certificates. This means that these teachers will not be able to teach in any public school in this state for a year. Please read this for some context and background or watch this video for a walkthrough the relevant statutes. I think everyone should watch the board’s discussion of this issue at around the 1:45:00 mark in the video.
“The Right Way”
Despite some attempts to suggest otherwise, the reality is that the district does not allow a teacher to simply resign. There was some discussion that teachers can resign if they go about it “the right way.” Here’s what that really means: if a teacher can produce documentation showing that they have moved to some distant location, they will be released from their contract. Or, if the teacher provides medical information and requests a leave of absence, the district will consider the leave of absence request but not a resignation request. But there is no way for a teacher to simply resign their position without the district seeking the suspension of their license.
Miracle Workers to Martyrs
The discussion that surrounded this issue was, to me at least, appalling. Before I get there, I want to touch on something that was said later but which I believe helps explain why people feel it’s okay to speak about teachers in ways that many see as condescending, or worse. Later in the meeting one board member referred to the “miracles” that teachers create. I am certain that this member genuinely meant this as a compliment. Teachers hear this a lot. I want to offer a different perspective. One that helps explain how this is received by some teachers and how it can contribute to the toxic expectations of our teachers.
Teachers are not miracle workers and they aren’t magicians. They are professionals who have specialized knowledge and training to do their job. Like many other jobs, to be successful, they need support from a ton of different folks inside and outside of their building. Seeing teachers as miracle workers will create expectations that are unrealistic and even damaging. Indeed, the road from miracle worker to martyr is a short one. There is a danger that we will expect teachers to sacrifice themselves in a way that is not healthy, not sustainable, and not fair. And then when teachers say it’s too much, we think they are somehow failing students which justifies the punishment we hand down. I think that’s in part the dynamic that played out at the board meeting.
“They Weren’t Putting the Student First”
It is an understatement to say that it was frustrating to watch folks who have never taught a day in their lives treat teachers so disrespectfully. And it was disappointing that some members—and the superintendent—sat quietly by without sticking up for our teachers. Their silence was deafening.
Here is what one member said:
“I know the public stated that Richland One usually don’t use their funding correctly, so I believe some of these teachers could have received payments and didn’t show up in the classroom and at this time they asked to leave to go to other schools, like a private school”
And then later, she concluded with this: “They weren’t putting the student first.”
First of all, it became clear that this commissioner had not taken the time to actually read the materials we were provided on each of these teachers. The explanations from the teachers about their decisions to resign were heart-wrenching and demonstrated how difficult a decision it was. Moreover, these teachers provided notice to the school and the district. The suggestion that they simply stopped showing up for work one day and then got paid for days they didn’t work was as offensive as it was untrue.
But the statement that the teachers “weren’t putting the student first” was really saying the quiet part out loud. Indeed, it has become the norm for public officials with zero experience in a public school to bash our teachers and suggest that when they don’t sacrifice their families, their health, their everything, they are not putting students first. That needs to stop. I can promise you that it is not the way to keep the teachers we have or to recruit more teachers. What I have heard from teachers since last week’s meeting is anger, frustration, and a sense that we just don’t get it—and a concern that we never will.
We will not be able to suspend our way out of this teacher shortage—a shortage we exacerbated by our actions last week. Moreover, by focusing on what we see as the failings of the teachers we ignore the issues that are driving more teachers out of our district than any district in the state. If we want teachers to stay, then it is up to us to create the environment that sets them up for success.
If we think that what we did last week will help address our teacher shortage, we will be disappointed when we see next year’s vacancies.
School Bond
The board voted 4-2 to approve taking on $24 million in debt by way of a one-year bond. While the school district does not set the millage, this bond will result in a tax increase as was discussed at the meeting.
I have two concerns with how we went about this.
First, in December we reallocated $31 million from the general fund to fund the early childhood center the district is building. I think it would have made more sense to use those funds for the work the district wants to do with this bond money. According to the district, this work is critical capital improvements and I think we should prioritize that work. Then, we could have separately addressed the issue of taking on bond debt to pay for the early childhood center.
Second, the administration was not able to provide us with a list of projects that this $24 million would fund. Indeed, I and other board members raised this issue at committee meetings the prior week. I do not have a problem with the idea that we have expensive projects that have to be completed to maintain and renovate our buildings. But I think that we should be able to explain to the public how we’re going to use money when we are raising their taxes. And there was no reason we couldn’t have delayed the vote a couple of weeks since the bond cannot be purchased yet anyway.