Friday News Roundup…

Welcome to A Better Path to Learning’s first “Friday News Roundup,” where we review the news that impacts your access to better learning.

Teacher Job Satisfaction Hits an All-Time Low (EdWeek)

According to the Merrimack College Teacher Survey released this week, only 12% of the more than 1,300 teachers surveyed said they were “very satisfied” with their jobs, down from 39% in 2012. More than half of the teachers said they likely wouldn’t advise their younger self to pursue a career in teaching.

What we know from system failure is that often the first failure noticed is within important components of the existing system. In this case, the system component failing might be the well-being and confidence of the classroom teacher.

Is it time to create a new type of learning leader and say good-bye to the teacher? Is it time to introduce learning coaches to lead our new learning system? Learning coaches who have general knowledge of reading, writing, and problem-solving skills? Other learning coaches who specialize in learning pathways like calculus, physics, or the performing arts?

Why It’s So Hard for Schools to Spend All That COVID Relief Money (EdWeek)

It seems like school districts are having a hard time spending the COVID relief money sent to them by our federal government. Recent headlines, from CNN and ProPublica to local and regional outlets, have blared that schools are “sitting on” and “wasting” billions of dollars in federal pandemic relief funds.

This isn’t a new story for our traditional school districts. When I worked in a large urban school district, we always had difficulty spending extra money like disaster relief funds given after hurricanes.

The reason we struggled spending “new money” was because the school bureaucracy we worked in did not do well connecting “new thinking” with “new money.” Our school bureaucracy was built to spend the general budget approved annually, exactly the way it was functionally described and allocated. Any deviation to that set dollar amount sent my traditional district spiraling down the proverbial rabbit hole, arguing about political priorities and job futures instead of thinking differently about what was in the best interest of our young learners.

Poll: Talk of Race, Sex in Schools Divides Americans (EdWeek)

Another sign of system failure might be when certain topics serve as roadblocks to what should be the main system priority. In this case, it seems discussion of race and sex in schools is preventing the current system from spending more time working on developing essential skills in reading, writing, and problem-solving.

According to a new poll conducted by the University of Chicago, about 4 in 10 Republicans say teachers in local public schools discuss issues related to race and sexuality too much, while only about 1 in 10 say too little. Among Democrats, those numbers are reversed.

My teacher friends tell me they spend very little time discussing race and sex in schools. The seem to be busier teaching state-approved curriculums packed with factoids thought important enough to know to prepare for the holier than thou final state assessment.

Is our current public school system so old and battered that it has lost its ability to keep “the main thing the main thing?” And for those of you who might have forgotten what the “main thing” should be in our public system, reading, writing, problem-solving, and character development would be a good start.

Middle School Science Teachers Often Have Shaky Scientific Knowledge (USA Today)

Again, this isn’t really breaking news inside our public school system. When I was a middle school principal, I was lucky to find and hire teachers with science degrees to teach in our classrooms. Too many were qualified to teach with only 12 credit hours in science from their certifying institute of higher education.

Still today, data shows many of the 69,000 U.S. middle-school science teachers have no scientific background. Almost a quarter have neither a science degree nor full certification to teach science, according to a 2017-18 survey by the U.S. Department of Education. At school where at least 75% of students are eligible for free or reduced-priced lunch, 32% of middle school science teachers have neither a science degree nor certification to teach science.

Is this still another example of a failing system? Could we find better science teachers if we went beyond school district human resources departments and began connecting our young learners with real scientists out in the real world. Today, if I was still a middle school principal, why would I hold myself to hiring five “teachers” without science expertise when I could connect my young learners with thousands of science experts available by one click on the laptop?

Texas School District Adopts 4-day Week for Students (USA Today)

The Jasper Independent School District announced this week they would join a growing number of school districts across the country moving to a 4-day instructional week for the 2022-23 academic year. The district shared on Facebook that Jasper will still satisfy the 75,600 minutes required for students during a school year in Texas.

Does anyone find it funny that although Jasper wants to change how they are defining their “learning time,” they are still held to a state of Texas law requiring 75,600 minutes (and I’m guessing not a minute less!) of “class” time?

How we use our learning time seems to be part of the struggle as we migrate toward a new learning system.

Students Begin Walk Outs Over Education Laws, Bills (Des Moines Register)

And finally, student walk outs are happening this week in my state of Iowa. Student leaders of existing equity groups recently formed Iowa WTF and are coordinating school walkouts to protest legislation that threatens the integrity of their educations.

Specifically, they are trying to show solidarity with Iowa teachers, transgender students, and others who Iowa WTF say are under attack by Governor Kim Reynolds and other state policymakers. The goal, Iowa WTF says, is to mobilize “students throughout our state in order to fight against discriminatory legislation through social and political activism, uncomfortable conversations, and amplifying the voice of youth.”

Traditional schools have never done a good job with supporting young learner “social and political activism, uncomfortable conversations, [or] amplifying the voice of youth.” Is it time to form a new system where these “learner voice” issues are promoted to a higher level of intellectual discourse than our present public school system supports? It seems our young people are crying out for a better system of learning. I don’t think they care one bit whether that learning happens within the present system or not.

Have a great weekend! Talk Monday. SVB