What Is Not Good to Write About?

Here in the 21st century there is so much research on all topics that there seems little that folks don’t know about. It seems things close to home that are happening right down the street sometimes go unnoticed, maybe even undetected.
I thought this article would look at school calendars, days in school, maybe even year-round school. After reading much research and opinion on those topics it became difficult to really form an idea of what was real, what was opinion and what was folly.
I do know from experience and administration of programs that the trillions of dollars spent on many federal catch-up and intervention projects have turned out to be just that – projects.
Few will argue that today more than ever our educational programs for all ages are one of the foundation blocks for our future. But, can we continue to “experiment” with the latest and the best and throw away the basics? When I started as a teacher 50 years ago, it was understood that education was like a pendulum. It swings to the left and it swings to the right. (Politics play a huge role in this.)
As one reviews federal and state monies for education the swing is noticeable. Open Classrooms, The Right to Read, No Child Left Behind, self-contained classrooms, elementary departmentalized subject pass-around classes, pre-school programs, infant day care in schools, school age child care, full day kindergarten, computer in the classrooms, home schooling, charter schools, Advanced Placement and a host of other programs and subjects to meet special and unique needs.
In the middle of all this is the TEACHER. You might have thought it was the child. Nothing happens for the child without the teacher! All of these projects (programs) I mentioned don’t happen without the teacher.
Oh, starting in 1968 the money was there. We threw money at educational problems like water on a fire. How did we ever expect the dedicated teacher to keep up, retool, and change strategies? Oh, go to summer school to keep your job or get a masters’ degree or go to evening seminars, many times in preparation for the introduction and teaching of a new program. Others made the decisions, but the teacher was expected to implement them.
But, in the middle with the teacher should be the PARENT! It has been my experience that many parents aren’t there because of their too painful memories of their classroom life. Be it as it may, if a tradition of poor schooling is not changed by the parent, much of the time the teacher is powerless to change such an attitude.
As in most things in life, attitude is what makes it or breaks it. Look at school success and you find teacher and parent working together. That’s when things happen for the child.
To help parents “keep up” with what’s happening in school many school districts now send up-to-the minute marks and commentary to parents over the Internet. My grandkids have permission to see the day’s grades on particular tests or projects on the web before their parents get home. Isn’t it great the kids are interested? It’s their job. No reason for parents or students to be “shocked” on report card day.
Now the painful part: Where I started teaching there were no teacher unions outside of the big cities. The faculty was at the “mercy” of the school board.
Earlier, a woman teacher had to be single. No married, pregnant teacher could be in the classroom. And please don’t embarrass the community in any way.
When my starting salary was in the newspaper, a single woman teacher who worked summer playground with me said, “Do you know that I have been teaching six years and I’m being paid what your starting salary is?” I was embarrassed and understood eight years later when collective bargaining for all public school employees was passed by the Legislature.
I was a member of the NEA (National Education Association) and the AFT (American Federation of Teachers). I served on collective bargaining teams. I tell this because it needs to be shared as to how we all, teachers and taxpayers, got to where we are today. It seemed that for many years the public wanted to pay as little as the teacher could bear. Now it seems that taxpayers have paid as much as they can bear and they are asking to share the burden.
I’m not sure that when the public sees $2-million of teacher union dues being spent on political advertising that it doesn’t strengthen resolve to demand partial payment of benefits. Here is where all the understanding, the dedication, the giving attitude of so many good teachers in education takes a hit.
If we really have an educational challenge in New Jersey, it is to call for a general educational convention for all the players: educators, taxpayers, students, parents, legislators and union representatives, because it doesn’t look like it’s going to get any better on its own.
(ED. NOTE: Bauer writes from Stone Harbor. He is a retired public school teacher and guidance counselor. He was a teacher in the first year of the U.S. Headstart program, director of Early Childhood Education, regional director for Teacher In-service Education, regional director for Educational Long Range Planning, all for the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Additionally, he is a former Stone Harbor councilman.)