As a new teacher, I was schooled on politics

As this year’s election nears, I remember the early years of being a teacher. During election season, I remember how often veteran teachers in my building would talk politics in the teachers’ lounge. I am a social studies teacher by certification and a political junkie by nature, so I always appreciate political discussions.

The discussions in the teachers’ lounge down the hall often times involved politics, especially education. It was interesting, but I tried to change the topic to economics or foreign policy. More often than not, the discussion shifted back to politics and education. I couldn’t understand why.

One day after school, a veteran teacher friend pulled me into his classroom.

“Why do you think we talk about the role of politics in education so much?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I think that politicians just talk about education and say things like ‘Good schools are important’ but they don’t really do anything else. When I close my door and teach, I’m in control of my classroom, not politicians. Their decisions have no effect on how I do my job.”

My friend looked me in the eye with an intensity I hadn’t seen before.

“When you close your door,” he responded, slowly and thoughtfully, “the politicians are already in charge. Their decisions have an effect on nearly every aspect of your job.”

Young and stubborn, I didn’t want to believe him. I shook my head in denial.

“Think about it,” he continued. “The textbooks you teach from behind that closed door were purchased from money raised by a recent levy that the voters passed.  Our school board voted to put the levy on the ballot, and they also approved the purchase of those textbooks. It’s because of the levy that you still have a job. But your job is affected by more than just those district-level political decisions.”

“The district creates the curriculum we teach our students based on the state content standards. Those standards were adopted by a vote of the elected state board of education. Let’s be honest—what we really focus on in the classroom is what is on the Ohio Graduation Test.”

“All of the achievement tests that the state forces our students take were created by legislation passed by members of the Ohio House and Senate. The Ohio House and Senate passed laws that specified everything about those tests.”

“All those tests came about because of No Child Left Behind’s passage in 2002. That law mandated all this endless testing for our students. The Ohio Legislature passed all these laws about testing because we wouldn’t be eligible for federal money that comes with NCLB. Don’t forget Ohio Senators and Representatives voted in the US Congress to send that legislation to the President for his signature.”

His voice took on a more urgent tone.

“Make no mistake about this— every aspect of your job is to some degree decided by politicians. Things like teaching credentials, the subject and content you teach, what kind of a pension State Teachers’ Retirement System will provide for you; those are all things decided by politicians. Many of them were never teachers and therefore won’t understand what we need to help our students succeed unless we tell. We need friends of education at every level of government.”

“You mean Democrats?” I asked.

“No,” he said emphatically. “There’s a misconception that teachers just vote for Democrats. That’s not true. The defining factor of whether or not a politician is a true friend of education is their stance on the issues that will affect our ability to educate our students. Their political party is irrelevant.”

“What else can we do besides vote?” I asked.

“Call or meet with the politicians that represent you and talk to them,” he said. “Even if they’re in a different political party than yours, they still need to hear from you. Write letters to the editors of newspapers and explain what our job entails. Talk to your neighbors; even other teacher friends.”

“How long have you been doing these things?” I asked.

“As long as I can remember,” he said. “I’ll keep doing it until I retire. When politicians get out of education, then this educator will get out of politics.”

By Phil Hayes, Columbus Education Association

Despite the fact that Ohio did not place in the top 20 on Forbes’ list of America’s Greenest States (we came in a dismal 39 out of 50 in 2007), or that there are no Ohio cities that made the top 50 list of greenest cities in America, according to Popular Science (2008), Ohio schools could still take the lead, since our legislators won’t, by adopting curriculum and developing policies, so that the next generation of Ohioans will have the knowledge and know-how to live green, sustainable lives.

All school districts should not only be recycling all materials, including plastic, cell phones, and ink cartridges used by the district, they could work with local waste management agencies and act as repositories for their communities as well. Student organizations could be set up to act as monitors and in some cases make money at it while completing community service hours. There are several national organizations such as Teens Turning Green, Earth Force, or Roots & Shoots that help students get organized and teach sustainable living practices.

Districts could complete energy audits and invest in green energy sources such as small solar and wind power technologies. Students could help raise the money to purchase them and study the installations and technology behind it. This would resort in smaller energy bills and hands on science experience. Ohio schools, either statewide or individually, should participate in the Wind for Schools Project sponsored by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory under the U.S Department of Energy. There are currently 11 states involved with this program. Unfortunately, Ohio is not one of them.    New schools should be built according to LEED standards sponsored by the U.S. Green Building Council, which supports purchasing natural, renewable products from local vendors, thus investing in local businesses.

Middle and high school teachers could request that all assignments be done through cloud computing, reducing paper and printer ink waste and developing 21st century skills. Districts should change their font styles when printing to Century Gothic. It requires less ink, saves money and less cartridges end up in landfills polluting our waterways. School field trips should be provided to our solid waste sites to fully understand what we are doing to our land in Ohio. This is being done in other states.

Perhaps, the most important thing our schools can do is to teach our students to be active in petitioning local and state governments to do more to save our environment, reduce our landfill waste, adopt green building codes and offer incentives, like bottle bills, that would entice the public to become active participants in greening up Ohio. Students should be required to attend city and township council meetings to ask our representatives the tough question, “Why aren’t you doing more?” and then be ready to respond and debate with pertinent information to inform their legislators and the public. I’m tired of being a follower of other states. I want Ohio to be a leader. Our school districts and students can make that happen.

by Susan Ridgeway, Streetsboro Education Association

Districts, classroom teachers, and families have been forced to cut back on spending year round. What does that look like during the “Back-To-School” shopping season?

For districts, the next school year actually begins before school lets out for the summer. Budgets must be determined and supplies must be ordered.  For many schools, it is a hard lesson in “Wants vs. Needs.” In our district, an activity called “Build the Budget” helps determine where district money will be spent.  Staff members from all departments – administrators, teachers, cooks, secretaries, aides, custodians, and bus drivers – are asked to help make decisions that will impact the district’s ability to maintain, improve, or change education.  The group gathers together to assess the needs of the district (i.e. staffing, curriculum, tech, supplies, roofs, buses, etc). When we return to the classroom this fall, we will see which of our wishes have been granted.  Will we have new computers, SmartBoards in every classroom, updated textbooks, new carpet, clocks that work, or smaller class sizes?

For classroom teachers, the excitement of back-to-school shopping is still there, but the focus has changed. When I began teaching fifteen years ago, I remember my principal showing me a closet full of supplies that I could help myself to at anytime.  To a young teacher with a limited budget, it was exciting to have an endless supply of markers, pencils, glue sticks, highlighters, sentence strips, and chart paper.  All of these wonderful supplies were available to me for free, which left my personal budget wide-open for the fun stuff! I then hit Holcomb’s for decorations to make my classroom a colorful and brilliant place for learning. Now I must reuse the same decorations and make many of my own on the computer or with scrap booking supplies.

This year I will likely find all of my “free” supplies in my mailbox…a few pens, a highlighter, a pack of Post-it® notes, and a box of paperclips.  My personal back-to-school shopping spree will be strategically planned around the “Back-to-School” sales that begin in August.  I will scour the Sunday ads so I can purchase items on sale for a penny or a dollar. I will stock-up on pencils, erasers, glue sticks, folders, notebooks, and index cards. These are the items that students will need on a daily basis and usually run out of early in the year. These items may not be as fun to buy and don’t add color and excitement to my room, but they are necessary for day-to-day operations. I will hit some stores every single day for the length of the sale. I might even have my children or friends stand in line to pay for some of these amazing deals.

For many families, Back-to-School season is one of the most financially stressful times of the year.  While my own children are only in elementary school, I find I spend a little more every year. New clothes, shoes, haircuts, lunch bags, backpacks, and all the individual supplies, as well as a contribution to the classroom supply of tissues, paper towels, hand sanitizer, and Ziploc® baggies certainly adds up.  As a teacher who knows the frustration of dwindling supplies and the line “I don’t have a pencil,” I often find myself dipping into my own stockpile as my children’s teachers request donations throughout the year. While I do not usually spend money on Scholastic book orders and other fundraisers, I am always willing to send in donations that will help keep their classrooms running.

As a parent and a teacher, it is a challenge to get through August and the pressures and temptations of Back-to-School shopping. A combination of financial responsibility, common sense, and some creative shopping will help me keep the reality of my “wants” and “needs” in check.  Just like our district, I must build a budget that ensures my children, my students, and I will have what we really need for a successful school year.

by Melanie Krause, Dover Education Association