EDUCATION: Then and Now

I want to begin writing a series about our education system by comparing and contrasting the education system I began with in the 1980s to the one I finished with in 2014. Not all the changes that have taken place are for the good.

Then: In my first year of teaching, I taught six periods with seven different preparations. How is this possible? Well, as a first year teacher you just didn't complain so when the principal gave me both the yearbook class and the newspaper class the same period, I ended up teaching seven different courses. The others were sixth grade reading, sixth grade social studies, seventh grade reading, seventh grade World History, and eighth grade reading. My weekends were spent with an average of 16 to 20 hours of lesson planning and by the time I added up all my non contracted time I put into the job, I earned about five dollars an hour.

Now: I finished my career at the far end of the pay scale and was paid close to $90,000.00 a year to essentially keep control of classes that averaged over 40 freshmen, most of who were reading well below grade level and who already had made up their mind they were not going to attend college. Reading assignments were pointless because students looked at text books as punishment so class was set up with a lecture and group discussion curriculum coupled with weekly essays. I had not been observed in almost six years and in the three previous years at the school I finished at, I never once had an administrator come check on my class.

Then: By my second year at Clifton Middle School, I had proven myself as a skilled teacher and was rewarded with a full schedule of five periods of sixth grade social studies. I had a total of 99 students which meant I was not swamped with papers to grade and had plenty of classroom space for small group activities. There was also no pressure to teach to a state or federal test so a colleague and I taught a three week unit on manners and etiquette which culminated in a large feast with boys and girls dressed in their “Sunday Best” and parents coming by to admire the job we did.

Now: Since the course I taught was not required as part of graduation or had nothing to do with any state tests, no one seemed to care what I taught. As a result, I had the freedom to present any topic of my interest to my classes and could focus on current hot button issues. I also was not part of any department so when we had collaboration time, there was no one for me to work with. I was essentially a guy the district was waiting on to retire and yet no one in the administration wanted to see what I could do as a teacher until my final year when a new assistant principal began to observe my classes. When she told me she had no idea what high level discussions I held and how involved my students were, I informed her it was because she was the only administrator in six years to come see me teach.

Then: In my second year, when a student told his father I called him a name I had never heard of before, the parent came to school and wanted to beat me up. When a colleague of mine intervened, he wanted to beat him up as well. When the parent left, we reported the matter to the principal who in turn asked the parent to meet with us the next day. She sat and listened to the man tell his story and did nothing as he got angrier. When he finished, she informed him she checked on his background and learned he had threatened teachers at three previous schools. She then informed him she had the backing of the school board and superintendent to tell him if he ever set foot on our campus again, he would be arrested. The next day, the boy's mother came down and checked him out of the school and moved on somewhere else.

Now: Today, a similar meeting would be held but I would be advised to bring a rep from my union to take careful notes. After the meeting, the parent would be told a decision would be forth coming. Within ten days of the meeting, I would receive the principal's notes from the meeting and a letter placed in my file instructing me not to make comments to students that are hurtful. By doing so, I created a situation that could have been dangerous to myself and a colleague. I would be reminded I could respond to the write up to which I would point out I never made the comment to begin with. When the dust finally settles, I would have a letter in my personnel file stating I made a hurtful and unprofessional remark that I never made and will have received no administrative support.

Then: I moved to a high school in northern California and taught in the English department. I taught in a real “hick” town where kids were into rodeo, hunting, and farming. While they were not the brightest kids in the world, they sure were polite. On the few occasions when I received a new student from the courts who was moved up from southern California and who was disrespectful to me, male students would approach me after class and apologize for the student's behavior and then assure me they would make sure it wouldn't happen again. The student usually came to class the next day with a black eye or two.

Now: If a student mouths off to you, administrators will ask you what you did to provoke the kid. They also want to know if you logged their behavior into the computer,called the parent, created some kind of intervention before writing up a referral for discipline from the office. Rather than suspending students for their unacceptable behavior, the state would prefer we keep them in the classroom so they can learn irregardless of the harm they do to the learning process of good kids. The inmates run the asylum and the administrators want nothing to do with teachers problems.

Then: When it was time to negotiate a new contract and look at an increase on the district's salary scale, our superintendent would tell the teachers how much there was for a pay raise and then hand over the district's books. She would tell us to feel free and bring in someone to look them over and if they could find more money elsewhere, we could have it. The entire process was open, took little time,

and did not result in any mistrust. As for health care, it cost teachers nothing and covered us and our families 100 percent.

Now: When I retired, our contract for the just completed school year was still not settled. Negotiations on a pay raise were going no where and the district was unwilling to open their books to our people. Furthermore, if my wife and I wanted to keep our previous health insurance, we were going to have to pay an additional $2,000.00 for the coming school year. The district's offer of a four percent pay raise coupled with an increased cost in health benefits and our state retirement system taking out more money would result in a pay cut at a time our schools are swimming in new money. Needless to say, there is now talk of a possible strike.

Then: ZAP the CAP was the phrase of the day. The Cap was the name for the state test of which there was little emphasis placed on. There was no accountability for test scores so no one stressed out about it. Instead, we focused on the development of the whole child rather than looking at each one as a possible test result. While academic progress was a goal for all, just as much emphasis was placed on social progress. Students were viewed as future members of society and we took seriously developing the behaviors needed to succeed as much as the academic skills required for a successful life.

Now: Common Core has replaced No Child Left Behind which has replaced one new wheel after another. Teachers have such huge workloads in terms of the number of students they teach and all the measurable standards tested that there is little to no time available for developing the social expectations of our society. While our test scores have been increasing, so have the number and levels of school violence. Students are feeling more labeled and isolated than ever as we forget we are teaching young people and not test takers.

Then: Students could be assigned detention to serve after school for failing to follow class rules. Students who failed to serve would then be referred to the assistant principal and either additional detention time would be assigned or a suspension from school would be given to repeat offenders. Parent complaints fell on deaf ears as they were told the detentions could be served before school or during lunch if after school was inconvenient. For the worst behaved, corporal punishment was still in use. I can remember seeing Mr. Barrick, my first principal, picking a up a student I placed on his bench by his belt and carrying him into his office for a few swats on the rear. At the high school I moved to, our assistant principal was a man who was six foot seven and who enjoyed chopping wood as a form of relaxation. Believe me, students were not about to test his skills with a paddle. The school district down the road from where I lived in 1984 had students lined up in long single file lines on Saturday mornings cleaning the local high school campus. They began at eight in the morning and if they finished before noon, they moved across the street to clean the local park and golf course.

Now: Detention is just not held after school because it is too inconvenient for parents. However, Saturday school is made available for students who have absences from school. To entice them to make up these absences so the school can receive more ADA funding, students are bribed with pizza, soda, movies, and anything else fun they can think of. Nothing is done to make up for their lost instructional time.

Then: Summer school was offered to all students. Kid could take academic classes to get ahead on their credits so they could take more electives during the school year or they could take elective courses that might not normally be offered during the school year. Athletes could also take classes in the sports they competed in. Teachers loved the extra money they could earn for working a half day and usually still had a month of free time during the summer when summer school ended.

Now: Summer school is not offered because we no longer have the money for it. Students who struggle in Math or Language Arts often do not get to take any electives during the school year and have to double up on the courses they struggle with. As a result, schools have had to decrease or drop classes like music, art, and theater which only makes school more of a drag for kids. If you are a kid who lives in an impoverished community, without summer school, you have too much free time and nothing to do with it. This is a recipe for getting into trouble.

While it is important to improve the education we offer our youth today, it can not be accomplished at the expense of ignoring the social expectations of our society. What good does it do if all our students graduate with more academic skills than ever but are ill equipped to conduct themselves in a manner acceptable by their elders? More and more employers complain about the lack of social skills young employees have and prefer to hire retired people in their place. And we can not forget, it doesn't do anyone any good if our youth graduate from high school with outstanding academic skills but can not afford to attend college. Besides, college is not for everyone and it is time our public schools rethink their emphasis on a college prep curriculum.

And thought the past is behind us, there is much of it worth preserving. Public education needs to be as much about developing well mannered people with a solid work ethic, an understanding of what society expects of them, and steering our youth in the direction that is best for their future as it does about understanding measurable data for state and federal exams. Until we do this, we will continue to miss the mark and be continually reinventing the wheel.