Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

April 25, 2017

During Teacher Appreciation Week we celebrate teachers - the members of the greatest profession. We all know that teachers are not in the classroom to get praise, but to make a difference. Teachers are superheroes. No ordinary person can infuse the love of learning into 20 or more diverse students without having super powers. It takes an extraordinary person to work with limited resources, imperfect working conditions and little pay to shape the future the way teachers do. Teachers have the power to make imaginations soar, see potential where no one else does, open minds and change hearts. A teacher’s influence extends far beyond the walls of a classroom; far beyond the present into the future.
Teachers deserve appreciation, gratitude, and respect, not just during Teacher Appreciation Week, but every day. Teachers give so much and ask for little. What do teachers ask for?
Teachers ask for the tools and resources needed to ensure student success. Tallahassee has sent a message that they do not want Florida’s teachers, students or public schools to succeed. Teachers ask the district to maintain small class sizes, provide quality and ongoing professional development, and give them adequate supplies and materials.
Teachers ask for autonomy. They want to be allowed to select enriching curriculum, develop motivational lessons and involve students in creative, project-based learning activities. They want to bring joy back into the classroom. They want policymakers to stop treating their students as test scores and data entries.
Teachers ask for a salary that reflects their hard work. They want to make teaching not just their profession, but their career. OCPS teacher salaries remain below all of Florida’s other large school districts and are even lower in comparison with teacher salaries in other states.
Teachers ask for respect. While they believe in accountability, the current evaluation system is demeaning, punitive and subjective. It is too often used as a tool for administrators to get rid of teachers who are not a “good fit”. Teachers ask for discipline rules to be applied to ensure a safety for every student and teacher. Teachers want to be treated as valued employees, not replaceable labor units.
Teachers ask for time to prepare and to do their job. This year CTA called on teachers to document how many unpaid hours they had to work each week to complete mandated tasks. Teachers who participated, spent an average of 20.34 unpaid hours beyond the 37.5-hour workweek just to do their job. Teachers ask for an additional planning period, and additional days devoted solely to professional development. They ask for administrators to stop stealing their planning time for forced professional learning community, data collection meetings, and professional development.
Finally, teachers ask for a voice in decisions that affect their profession. Teachers want a seat at the table. They want their collective voice heard and respected from the school house, to the school board, to the state house. They want to shape new initiatives instead of having them forced upon them, knowing they will fail and be replaced by another doomed-to-fail plan that was cooked up by those who have never taught and have no expertise. They ask to be treated as the experts that they are.
Teachers deserve no less. Teachers are super heroes!

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