TEACHING
I was in 11th grade the first time I had the opportunity to teach. Fremont Public Schools had just started the short-lived TAG program. These were special summer classes for students labeled talented and gifted. A certified teacher (Mr. Schlapfer) and I were told to expand the horizons of these students in the area of math and science. To be able to guide these youths was one of my most pleasurable experiences in my life – they were truly exceptional.
I continued to assist others by tutoring, especially in the area of math. One of the most memorable tutoring moments came as I had just finished explaining a calculus equation. I concluded with “Now isn’t that obvious?” Her response was priceless: “If it was obvious, I would not need you!”
For more than twenty years, while I was building my law practice, I have been an adjunct teacher for Metropolitan Community College. I have had the privilege and enjoyment of teaching a wide range of subjects (Business Law, Legal Evidence, Introduction to Law, Criminology and more) to classes large and small. I still teach one class a quarter for the enjoyment and renewal it gives to me.
My sisters who are professional teachers sometimes express annoyance when I say I teach for fun. It is a profession not recreation, I am told. But let us be real, if my sisters did not love and get fulfillment from teaching, they wouldn’t still be teaching – it certainly is not the money.
I look to my sisters as examples of what a real teacher is. They, as do all great teachers, put in endless extra hours, and even their own money to the cause. My oldest sister, Ruth, has been a physical educator for more than 30 years. Kathy is not far behind, teaching 3rd grade at Grant School for decades in Fremont. Leann, now teaching in Norfolk, has the charge of teaching special education students, a job I cannot even imagine how difficult it would be. This is commitment; these are teachers.
Teachers have been challenged for quite some time and now—with the “no child left behind” law—are being micromanaged by federal government. This unfunded federal mandate is just the last in a long line of interference in the classroom.
Don’t mistake me in concluding that for tax dollars spent, the community should not expect performance from our public schools. But let me assure you, as an employer and instructor, that students, who only know how to memorize for a test, are ill equipped for the working world. It is infinitely more useful to teach a student how to think, reason, and adapt.
I have long advocated that as much as possible, dollars need to flow to the classroom. The issue of teacher pay should be one of fairness and respect. We must do better if we want to retain quality teachers to whom we entrust our children’s safety and future. I point out we pay our teachers less than if we paid them to just baby-sit our children. No disrespect to day care providers, but we are expecting more from out teachers.
We have been cutting music, arts and physical education instructors, claiming these special classes are unnecessary. Every time I see another news story on childhood obesity, or hear my sister speak of the growing health problems with young children, it becomes obvious that these are not luxuries. In addition, as these cuts occur, the planning time for the general classroom instructors shrinks, making them less effective.
Class size continues to be an issue that needs to be addressed. There are numerous studies on the optimal size for a classroom, depending on age and needs of the children. The teacher has been asked to expand their role to nurse, police officer and even surrogate parent. Yet we determine the class size by the number of desks we can cram into the room.
There are new and exciting ideas that could improve our education system. We should continue to look to better ways to teach, first asking educators for their expertise. We need to tap the deep reservoir of experience and knowledge of these professionals and the current research to determine the proper course.
I am a strong supporter of special programs such as TAG that I participated in. The public schools must identify and challenge these gifted children if we truly want to advance math, science and the arts.
One cannot discuss public education without addressing the antiquated and unfair tax system that is used to support the schools. A system of unreasonably high property taxes, supplemented by the annual begging of the Legislature for ad hoc gifts, is not stable or workable. Whatever path is selected, it needs to be long-term, stable and fair.
