How Politicians and Unions Are Ruining Schools

A hard habit to break.

In the most recent standoff between teacher unions and the politicians who no longer love them, the American public got another story that featured the cost of education.  Major media outlets, along with Facebook, Twitter, and the blogosphere were riddled with voices from what boils down to two sides:
    A:  SCHOOLS SHOULD COST LESS
    B:  SCHOOLS SHOULD COST MORE

Sure, in Chicago, in the battle itself, the argument has been about teacher evaluation, class size, and instructional time.  But for most people outside the immediate fray, it’s all about the benjamins.

The war has damaged teaching and education-- and left a lot of school kids holding the bag.  This problem is not going away, either.  But how did we get here?  Who is really at war?  As a teacher, I have a pretty good view of the battle. Here’s the way I see the players.

“Smaller Government” Politicians

BACKSTORY: Since the “Industrialization” model of Public Education became the way of doing business, the government has been incentivized to provide as little money and resources for teachers as possible. It’s simply never been popular to pay for great public teaching in America.

MUSCLE TO FLEX: Politicians interested in election often promise to tighten up public budgets.  This is true on both sides of the political spectrum, although Republicans have built their house on it. Because teacher pay represents the single greatest piece of the education money pie, promising to pay teachers less for more has been a Conservative institution—and has won more than a few elections for the GOP.

WHY THEY’RE GREAT:  These guys won’t let you forget that public schools can be depressingly inefficient—and they’re right a lot of the time.  Those of us who work in public schools have no shortage of anecdotes of financial waste or professional mediocrity. Show me a lousy school and I’ll show you a community that isn’t holding its public school accountable.

KRYPTONITE:  Paying less for teachers has proven to do little to attract or maintain talented professionals.  Sure, bargain hunting is attractive, but saving on teacher pay has basically devalued the worth of great teachers and, ultimately, quality instruction itself.

Teacher Unions

BACKSTORY:  The battles of the 60’s-70’s yielded some big wins for teacher unions.  Teacher pay went from staggeringly low to pretty good in many places around the country.  Unions fought for better working conditions, smaller class sizes, and  professional respect.

MUSCLE TO FLEX:  A steam engine during elections, teacher unions have been the bedrock to the greatest wins of the Democratic party of the last 50 years.  If you are a liberal or progressive running for a big office, you probably won’t win without the teacher unions at your back.

WHY THEY’RE GREAT:  Strong unions are the only players to have consistently fought for the biggest incentive for great teaching:  better wages and working conditions.  When you hear about people fighting for better learning environments in public schools, its probably from the mouth of a union leader. No other entity has done more to help teachers do the work of teaching.

KRYPTONITE:  To rally the teachers into a force to be reckoned with, Unions made a sacred pact to leave no tenured colleague unprotected.  This has meant that great instructors get no more or less protection than absolutely horrible teachers.  Mr. Franey, my high school science teacher who used to swig “cough medicine” in between periods.  He was a mess—and you had at least one as bad.  Teacher quality control is in a Twilight Zone of mediocrity—and teacher unions deserve a lot of blame.

The Bottom Line?

Unlike the beatdown they got in Wisconsin a couple of years ago, teacher unions earned a bit of a win in Chicago.  But it’s a small glimmer in darkness ahead for school unions, however, and the window for union survival will not stay open forever.

But this ain’t about Chicago or Wisconsin.  The real cost of this argument has roots that go much further down into our culture.  The greater problem is that Americans have little faith in the greatness of American public education.  We don’t value quality education.  We don’t value great teachers.  This lack of confidence drags on almost every aspect of our culture.

It is unlikely that politicians will fix public education.  With economy as it is, running a campaign on MORE money for schools will lose many more races than it wins—even for staunch Democrats.

Unions must retool in order to stay involved in the conversation.  If they can figure out how to cut the weight of protecting lousy teachers, they might be able to unravel this knot.  It’s proven to be a hard habit to break.

Until then, unions will continue to lose the war, even if they win a battle like Chicago.  

Sunny Chicago

Honestly, I want to write about the Chicago Strike.

I have some great things to say, too.  Stuff about how important it is that we don't neglect our nation's great union history.  But I have other, seemingly opposing thoughts about how teacher unions suck, caught defending bad teachers--and how bad that is for schools.

I want to tell you about it.  But all I want to do is tell you about this great drink I invented tonight.

So.

I'll talk about unions and Chicago and the future of education and how-to-fix-it-all-because-I-know-what-we-need-to-do-as-a-nation... later this week.

Now, a cocktail recipe.  And, if you truly love America in your heart (and aren't a recovering alcoholic), you will love it.  Enjoy.

Kentucky Sunshine

1 and half shots of bourbon (I'm using Redemption Rye Bourbon.  It's good.)
1 shot of limoncello
1/4 wedge of lemon, squeezed and dropped in
top with champagne

Fill a midsize glass with ice.  Go with clear glass:  you want to let that sunshine in.  Add ingredients in order.  Drink.  Smile.  Shop online.  Text your mom/friends/sexy stranger you met in bar.  Whatever suits you.

Look, I understand that you probably don't have limoncello.  Or champagne.  Listen to me:  that's crazy.  Go to a liquor store and get a bottle of each.  Get the cheap stuff.  Spend $8 on the champagne, maybe $15 on the limoncello.  Plug the champagne bottle with a dense wad of paper towels and it will keep for weeks.  Trust me-- when you blend drinks, it's not about high quality mixers.  It's all about the interaction.

Just like with people.

Man, I wish I could make everyone in Chicago-- the teachers, the politicians, the parents, Rahm-- a Kentucky Sunshine.  Well, not the kids.

They wouldn't appreciate it.

Hero Exposes Truth!

Do What You Gotta Do

I can barely read the predictable Lance Armstrong stories.

Basically, everyone is saying:

We are all disappointed.  Sure, none of us is actually surprised that he could’ve dominated so much without doping but it’s still a big bummer.  We’re crushed that it’s actually true.  The guy beat cancer, for crying out loud!  We all got these yellow bracelets.  You have one in a drawer or tacked to a corkboard.  You proudly wore it to a birthday or funeral.  How could Lance have let us down?  We all believed in him!

And, reading these things is depressing because we’re all so damn used to Heroes Letting Us Down.  It’s the same damn story over and over, complete with our collective crestfallen shock and dismay.

Look, heroic people are flawed.  They aren’t perfect and we all know it.  Flaws in heroes actually make them human.  Flaws are complicated, wonderful, and terrible-- an irrefutable fact of existence.  They connect us.

However, Lance Armstrong’s flaw—the need to cheat to win—isn’t actually a flaw.  It’s a cherished value. Lance giving up on fighting the charges of him doping did not expose a “problem” or “mistake” or “failure” on his part—at least, not as a heroic competitor.

That’s because everyone knows: in our culture, you need to cheat to win. 

Don’t crunch up your nose.  You believe it.  I believe it.

Politicians and sales people need to lie to us.  

Bankers need to cook the books.  

Business owners need to do stuff under the table.  

I can relate.  When I drive, I sometimes get in the turning lane and then jump over to the straight ahead lane.  It's freakin' faster, man.  Is it different?  By degrees, yes--but not by anything else.

Success through the back door, a wink, breaking a rule, stretching a truth, getting away with something—it’s what we call "getting ahead."  

The only thing that Lance Armstrong did wrong is that he got caught. And that’s the truth that none of us really wants to talk about.

Photo:  AP

The Great Ones

It’s the Teachers, Stupid

Think about the greatest teacher you ever had. 

There’s nothing quite like a truly Great Teacher.  If you were lucky to have one, you know exactly what I’m talking about.  

The Great Ones were cool, man.  They seemed to have effortless mastery of the content.  They knew how to manage the class; they made jokes sometimes but always at the perfect time.  They were occasionally terrifying, but you killed yourself for their approval.  They might have looked horrible—no fashion sense, homely, downright ugly or bizarre—but you didn’t care.  At times they may have pissed you off, at times they may have made you cry:  but they changed you.

Like great athletes, mechanics, doctors, or pilots, they acted in the moment, made split-second decisions, and had access to great instinct and skill.  

And they made you want to be a better version of yourself.

Greatness Is Invisible To the System

You ever notice how little official "love" the Great Teachers got at your school?  The Great Teachers were often off on their own, doing their own thing, while other Good Teachers (and sometimes Lousy Teachers) were carried around on shoulders, having parties thrown in their honor, t-shirts made about them and crap like that.

In fact, Great Teachers were often scary or annoying to other teachers and staff.  Some of the kids didn't get them or even hated them.

I always turn into Holden Caufield when I talk about this stuff.  Celebrations of teachers often just feel like a Festival of Phonies.

It’s kind of gross.  Our educational system, of course, does practically nothing to attract, develop, or sustain Great Teachers.  Great Teachers exist IN SPITE of the constantly changing weather of education: the movements, the swings, the trends, and the political fray.  This is because Great Teachers are not managed, supervised, or led into being Great.  

         How does a Great Teacher "happen?" 
         There are only three ways-- and none of them are 
         addressed by our school systems.  
        Great Teachers are...

            1.  BORN great-- all the talents are there
            2.  MAKE THEMSELVES great on their own

            3.  are coached or mentored by an 
                 OTHER Great Teacher

            

That’s the problem.  Even though almost everyone in any school knows who the Great Teachers are in it, school managers have no “official” way of identifying them.  Administrators, generally not great teachers themselves, lack the skills or tools to even recognize Great Teachers.  They look at test scores, student behavior, and parent feedback—none of which consistently identifies Greatness in teaching.  

Squandering Resources

We don't spend any time actually talking about Great Teachers.  Like so many other teachers, I have sat through hundreds of hours of "professional development" that are not only insulting, they're ridiculously devoid of anything that can help me get better at my job.  Mind-numbing, soul-crushing, pencil-stabbing-your eye stuff.  And when I look at the few Great Teachers on my faculty (everyone always knows who the Greats are), I can't believe how ignored they are.  It's a sad and deplorable waste of time and resources. 

Our goal is to raise test scores?  Are you serious?  What are you smoking?  We don’t need better tests and test scores, better tutoring systems or education models, happier parents, happier students, better computers…

We need Great Teachers.  It's the whole thing, man.