Thank You Alice Paul

By Julie Rine, Minerva Local Education Association

Anyone who has paid the slightest bit of attention to the 2016 presidential race has got to be frustrated by now. At least once a day and sometimes more, my blood pressure rises to a level that cannot be healthy.

But can you imagine the level of frustration you would feel hearing what the candidates are saying and seeing how they are conducting themselves if you didn’t have a voice in the election? Not even a hundred years ago, half of the population would not have been allowed to cast a ballot for the candidate they felt would best lead the country.

So today, less than a week away from Ohio’s primary, in spite of the frustration I feel I am thinking of Alice Paul and feeling very grateful.

Did you just Google Alice Paul? Think of a suffragist and I’m sure Susan B. Anthony came to mind, or perhaps Carrie Chapman Catt. Those women deserve recognition to be sure, but somehow, even though she was a total bad-ass, Alice Paul often gets overlooked in the history of the women’s suffrage movement.

By the early 1900s, several states had given women the right to vote. However, Alice Paul and her contemporaries were not content with the state-by-state progress. They were tired of being told to be patient. They wanted a federal amendment and they wanted it badly enough to suffer and sacrifice to get it.

One of Alice’s Paul’s first actions in her quest for suffrage was to organize a parade in Washington D.C in March of 1913, the same day President Wilson arrived for his inauguration. The women who marched in that parade were verbally harassed and physically assaulted while the police did nothing.^[1] One of the women Alice Paul worked closely with was Inez Milholland, one of this year’s National Women’s History Month honorees, who famously rode a white horse while dressed in white garb leading the parade. After Inez Milholland’s death, which came a month after she collapsed while giving a speech, she became the first woman for which a memorial was held at the U.S. Capitol. Her last public words were “Mr. President, how long must women wait for liberty?”^[2]

Those words were used on banners just a few months later when Alice Paul and other members of the National Women’s Party began their most audacious protest; they picketed the White House daily, for months on end, in all kinds of weather. They were the first group ever to picket the White House gates, an unpopular move during WWI. In an especially pointed insult, Alice Paul and other women picketers began holding a banner that read “Kaiser Wilson, Have you forgotten your sympathy with the poor Germans because they were not self-governed? 20,000,000 American women are not self-governed. Take the beam out of your own eye.”^[3]

After six months of nonviolent picketing, the women were arrested for obstructing sidewalk traffic. As women were arrested each day, others took their place on the picket line the next. The arrested women, including Alice Paul, refused to pay the court-ordered fine since they maintained they had done nothing wrong. Thrown into Occoquan Workhouse, the women were handcuffed to the bars of rat-infested cells and beaten. The food was terrible, and the sanitary conditions deplorable. Alice Paul started a hunger strike and was forcibly fed raw eggs with a tube shoved down her throat until she vomited blood. Hoping he would declare her insane, prison officials ordered the prison doctor to examine Paul, but when asked if she was insane, he commented, “Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.”^[4] Senator J. Hamilton Lewis of Illinois heard rumors of the conditions and went to Occoquan to see for himself. He was appalled, and commented that in all his years of criminal practice, he had “never seen prisoners so badly treated, either before or after conviction.”^[5] Soon the public became aware of the situation and eventually the prisoners were released. President Wilson quit telling the women to be patient and began supporting the amendment. After a close vote, Congress ratified the 19th amendment on August 18, 1920.

Alice Paul never quit fighting for women’s rights. She obtained three law degrees, believing knowledge of the law would help her in her quest for women’s rights and equality; she went on to draft the text of the Equal Rights Amendment. She died in 1977 at the age of 91.^[6] I can’t help but wonder if she were alive today what she would think about Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin, about the issues surrounding women’s reproductive healthcare, and the well-documented gender pay gap that exists in many professions.

March is Women’s History Month, and this year’s theme is Women in Public Service and Government. There are many women worthy of remembering and honoring; for me, Alice Paul stands at the top of the list. Women have been teachers throughout history, but without Alice Paul and her fellow suffragists’ willingness to endure harassment at best and near torture at worst, I would not have a voice in the government that affects my profession so acutely. Politics can be frustrating, especially for teachers who are at the mercy of elected officials whose actions often harm education and hurt students. But I can’t imagine how much more frustrating the state of education in Ohio would be if I didn’t have a voice.

Don’t take lightly the privilege you have next Tuesday and next November. When you vote, no matter which candidate gets your support, save a thought for Alice Paul, a woman to whom all American women owe a great debt of gratitude.

^[1] “American Women: MARCHING FOR THE VOTE …” 2015. 5 Mar. 2016 <https://memory.loc.gov/ammem/awhhtml/aw01e/aw01e.html>

^[2] “2016 Theme and 2016 Honorees | National Women’s …” 2016. 5 Mar. 2016 <http://www.nwhp.org/womens-history-month/2016-theme/>

^[3] “Alice Paul: Champion of Woman Suffrage | National …” 2014. 5 Mar. 2016 <http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2012/05/alice-paul-champion-of-woman-suffrage.html>

^[4] “Alice Paul – Herstory Network.” 2010. 5 Mar. 2016 <http://www.herstorynetwork.com/herstory-lessons/alice-paul/>

^[5] “Jailed for Freedom by Doris Stevens – Free Ebook.” 2008. 5 Mar. 2016 <http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3604>

^[6] “Alice Paul: Champion of Woman Suffrage | National …” 2014. 5 Mar. 2016 <http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2012/05/alice-paul-champion-of-woman-suffrage.html>

By Julie Rine, Minerva Local Education Association

The F was not unexpected. My principal had prepared us, telling us that the district report cards were coming out, and that the grades were not good. He went on to say that he and our superintendent were not worried about those failing grades, that they knew we were working hard every day, adjusting our lesson plans to reflect the new tests and more rigorous standards, and doing so much more for our kids than just preparing them for a test. He warned us that when we look at the data, we should take it for what it is, a “snapshot of a flawed testing system.”

So I knew it was coming. I had braced myself for it.

But it still felt like a punch in the gut when I saw the F. How could I (and my colleagues) be working so hard and yet fail so miserably, in every single category?

The value added formula, which generates the district’s grades, is complex. Allegedly it takes a student’s scores on a test, and projects what his score should be on a test the next year. If he doesn’t hit that projected mark, I have failed as a teacher.

I may not understand the intricacies of the formula, but I do know what is not factored in to the formula. Some of my kids can’t wait to come to school on Monday because they haven’t had enough food to eat over the weekend. Some kids bounce from one relative’s house to the next, with no true permanent “home.” Some are struggling to deal with their parents’ divorce, and some are experiencing their first broken heart. Some feel unsafe and unaccepted, even at school, and some have to walk on eggshells at home when family situations are volatile. Some feel that they have no chance at success, since standardized tests have never been kind to them. Some have to work every night after school to help provide income for their families, and some watch younger siblings while their parents work a second job. None of this is factored into what scores kids should earn, even though these and many other factors have a major impact on how kids learn.

Ohio’s teachers do not simply prepare kids for tests, but we act as mentors, counselors, and cheerleaders for our students who are dealing with less than ideal circumstances in their lives; none of that can be measured by a test.

We are doing everything we are asked to do and more, all while trying to prepare kids for an ever-changing assessment.

The State replaced the Ohio Achievement tests with a much harder test that was formatted differently. The new test was designed to be taken electronically, so kids not only had to demonstrate content knowledge, but computer navigation savvy. Reading from a computer screen rather than a piece of paper is a quite different task, and many teachers don’t have access to a computer for every student to practice this skill on a regular basis. In a recent Canton Repository article, Stark County Superintendent Joe Chaddock noted that the overall progress score this year shows drastically lower scores than in previous years because the test changed. He commented, “It’s like if you’re going through driver’s training and you practice in a car, and then you show up and you have to take (the test) on a tractor.”^[1]

Not only that, but countless hours of learning were lost due to teachers training for the new tests, and when we were in the classroom, an inordinate amount of time was lost practicing for and taking the test.

Next year, again, the value added scores will be based on two different tests. Due to the public outcry over the many issues with the PARCC test, the state decided to switch to yet another test for English and math.

It was also decided that there would not be any negative consequences for schools based on those PARCC test scores, yet the report cards were still released. Why? What is the point of giving the public the idea that schools are failing when in reality they are not?

What impact will releasing the report cards have on the passage of levies? I would imagine that if a community has the impression that the school system is failing, many people would be less likely to vote yes for a levy, and since many districts depend on levies, this only hurts the district and makes it harder to maintain its ability to provide a quality education. This is due to a failure on the State’s part; the State has not yet fixed the school funding system, even though it was ruled unconstitutional nearly 20 years ago.

There are more recent failures, too. The State has not only continued to support ineffective charter schools which pull money from public schools, but it has engaged in a cover-up to make the failing charter schools look better, and in spectacular fashion; the recently revised report submitted to the federal government to try to release a $71 million grant reveals that Ohio actually has “nearly 10 times as many failing charter schools as previously claimed”^[2]. Ohio’s school choice director David Hansen resigned because of his part in the cover-up.

Former state school superintendent Richard Ross engaged in a secret plan to take over the Youngstown schools and put in charge a CEO (no education experience necessary) appointed by the Ohio Department of Education, the same people who brought to you the charter school scandal. Mr. Ross initially denied his involvement, but resigned after emails indicated that he was very much a part of crafting the Youngstown Plan.^[3]

It’s hard for me not to feel the sting of the F, but I know my colleagues and I are not deserving of that grade. Someone certainly deserves an F for the state of affairs in education in Ohio, but it’s not the teachers or the school systems. It’s Ohio’s policymakers and state education leaders, and it’s time they took some responsibility their actions.

^[1] “Stark school officials: State report cards are too flawed – The …” 2016. 25 Feb. 2016 <http://www.cantonrep.com/article/20160223/NEWS/160229759>

^[2] “State revises number of failing charter schools to get federal …” 2016. 26 Feb. 2016 <http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/02/04/charter-school-federal-grant.html>

^[3] “EXCLUSIVE: Emails & Documents Show Kasich, Ross Led …” 2016. 26 Feb. 2016 <http://plunderbund.com/2015/12/20/exclusive-emails-documents-show-kasich-ross-led-plan-to-takeover-youngstown/>

By Scott DiMauro, OEA Vice President

 As educators, we are deeply committed to the success of every student, including those who struggle to make it to school every day. That is why OEA welcomes the introduction of House Bill 410 (HB 410) and its focus on student truancy in Ohio’s schools. It offers positive alternatives to the legal system in the effort to reduce truancy.

Discipline polices that provide fairness and appropriateness are crucial. The 2008 report, Are Zero Tolerance Policies Effective in the School?, commissioned by the American Psychological Association Zero Tolerance Task Force, states that pre-determined consequences do not deter student misbehavior or promote learning. The report concluded that zero tolerance policies often lead to higher dropout rates and an increase in poor behavior.

At our Representative Assembly in December 2013, OEA members overwhelmingly adopted a legislative policy on school discipline that opposes policies that apply pre-determined consequences without consideration of the associated circumstances for issues that do not involve the safety of others. The policy outlines our opposition to discriminatory enforcement of such policies and we are pleased to see that HB 410 prohibits suspensions and expulsions as penalties solely because of unexcused absences under a school district’s zero tolerance policy.

These punishments are counter-productive and do not provide the interventions necessary to address why a student is absent from school, which this bill does address. HB 410 includes a requirement for the State Board of Education to develop a model policy regarding preventative strategies and alternatives for students who are excessively absent, while still keeping legal intervention the last step in attempting to curb student absences.

HB 410 requires public schools to establish an absence intervention team for every habitually truant student. Within 30 days, the team must create an intervention plan to reduce further absences. We know that students are absent for a wide variety of reasons and we agree that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to the problem of student absences. Many school districts across the state have implemented early intervention programs to identify the barriers to student attendance. These efforts are making a difference.

HB 410 also requires schools to submit information to the Ohio Department of Education about students who are absent for 38 or more hours in one month, 65 or more hours in a school year or who are classified as habitual truants when absence intervention plans have been implemented. OEA believes such data is vitally important to the discussion of ways to combat truancy.

However, OEA is concerned about the capacity of a school district to carry out the bill’s requirements. In urban and larger school districts, where truancy rates are higher, there will most likely be a resource crunch to meet the provisions outlined in the bill. According to the Ohio Legislative Services Commissions Fiscal Note, in the 2013-2014 school year, there were approximately 21,900 incidents of student truancy that resulted in some form of discipline. Teacher input on the intervention team is essential, so providing adequate staffing and the needed time and financial resources to ensure successful implementation must be addressed.

OEA also believes that efforts must be made by school districts and student intervention teams to encourage parents to be part of the effort to boost attendance in school. Parents and guardians play an important role in a child’s education. Researchers cite family involvement as a key component in addressing school truancy as well as fostering higher educational aspirations for students. So there is no delay in carrying out these important interventions, OEA recommends that the legislation provide options when parents are not available or responsive.

It is clear that habitual truancy is a significant barrier to academic achievement. Combating this problem requires early intervention. Research published by the National Center for Children in Poverty in 2008 showed that chronic absence in the lower grade levels led to lower academic performance for students regardless of gender, ethnicity or socioeconomic status. Other studies have found that students who are habitually absent in the lower grades have a difficult time attaining reading proficiency and are more likely to be absent in future years. OEA looks forward to working with stakeholders to develop effective solutions to the truancy problem so that students are in school and learning every day.

By Pamela Antos, Hilliard Education Association

Thanks to the passage of College Credit Plus legislation, more Ohio high school students are taking college courses for dual credit. I am a Hilliard City Schools teacher who has been teaching dual credit courses for the past three years, and I have noticed several benefits for students.

In Hilliard, students from all three of our high schools attend our Innovative Learning Center for two periods per day, where they take several Columbus State Community College general education courses. In the past three years, approximately 250 students have completed at least one year of dual credit CSCC courses in Hilliard.

It is absolutely true that these courses are not ideal for every high school student, so good advice from guidance counselors is essential. Our goal in Hilliard is for every student to find the right fit for their personalized goals. For some students, that may be AP coursework. For some, it may be regular high school coursework. But for some, it is undoubtedly our dual credit program.

Some people wonder whether high school students are ready for the mature content in college courses, but anyone who has truly talked with teens knows that they are already thinking about mature, controversial topics. What better place to have those conversations than in a classroom, where they can be guided by a skilled instructor to have such conversations appropriately, respectfully, and intellectually? We have noticed that when we create the right classroom culture, our students rise to the challenge.

Others have wondered whether collegiate general education courses lose their significance when offered in the high school setting. The answer is no. Just last week, I noticed that one of the philosophy instructors stayed after class for 30 minutes to continue a conversation with two students who were so intrigued by the class discussion that they simply felt compelled to continue it. The professor gently questioned students’ views, guiding them to think critically and consider other approaches while also acknowledging her understanding of their perspectives. This is surely the most pure, ideal goal of a college-level general education course, and these students are indeed gaining a “true” college experience, albeit while in high school.

Taking dual credit courses during high school helps even those students who still attend four full years of college. Just a few weeks ago, I ran into the mother of one of our former students, who excitedly told me that because her son completed a year in our program, he now has time to spend a semester studying abroad and will still graduate in four years, something that’s typically tough to do as a special education major.

I could add many more positive stories, not to mention the deep conversations we’ve had with college faculty that have led to greater communication between both worlds. Clearly, College Credit Plus is about much more than just saving families money on college tuition — which is certainly a significant benefit as well — and while there may be challenges yet to solve, it’s an education innovation worth the work.

This is the second of a two-part series examining the College Credit Plus program.

By Julie Rine, Minerva Local Education Association

When I left school for summer break last June, I had 20 kids enrolled in my Honors English III class. When I came back in the fall, that class was down to seven students. SEVEN. What happened to demolish my class? College Credit Plus (CCP). Thirteen of those students who had applied for and been accepted to a college were taking a college composition course instead of my class. The AP Literature teacher in my school has a class of FOUR students this year. She also has only one section of College Prep senior English, when in the past we have had up to three full sections of that class.

The allure of free college is hard to compete with, especially for school districts that have a large number of students living in poverty. Remember that families do not pay for the CCP classes, the school district does. In fact, my small local district paid over $30,000 this year to colleges— with no additional funding from the state — and we anticipate paying more next year as the program gains popularity.

Free college credits are not the only attraction of CCP. If a student’s high school class has a required AIR test, and that student chooses to forego that class to take a CCP course in that subject area instead, he does not have to take the AIR test. The college grade equates to an AIR score. This is another factor that will pull kids away from our public schools to CCP.

It may sound fantastic to have a class of only seven students. I will admit it makes grading papers a lot faster. But it is much harder to get a good discussion going with only seven students and cooperative learning is challenging with that small number as well, and that undermines the education of students who cannot or choose not to participate in CCP.

To keep kids in our high schools and to have some sort of control over CCP, the solution seems to be for high school teachers to get certified to teach a CCP class. Currently, this means getting a master’s degree or 18 credits in the content area. I have taught high school English for twenty years, I have a Bachelor’s degree in English Education (which included 51 credits in English), a Master’s degree in Teaching, and I write professionally, yet according to CCP guidelines, I am not qualified to teach a basic college composition or Intro to Fiction class. I chose to get my master’s degree in teaching because I knew I wanted to continue my career in the classroom. I was not convinced then, nor am I now, that a few more classes in Shakespeare or Poetry will make me a better English teacher.

In any case, taking more classes to get CCP certified requires time and money, something that is just not an option for many teachers. One suggestion has been for school districts to pay more money to a middle or high school teacher who gets certified to teach CCP classes. How well do you think that would go over with elementary teachers, who would not have the same opportunity?

I might teach English, but even I can do this math; when kids leave our campus to take CCP classes, we don’t need as many teachers. What this means is that our schools are essentially being forced to pay for a program that endangers teachers’ jobs. And teachers aren’t the only staff members negatively affected by CCP. The program creates an insane amount of work for school district treasurers, who must deal with tuition and book charges, and guidance counselors.

In my school, we have one guidance counselor, and she estimates that CCP has added hundreds of hours to her workload. In addition to scheduling high school classes and helping students with emotional problems, she must now enroll CCP students in classes, monitor their grades, and track their hours/credits. Each college has a different contact person, and in our area, there are several colleges our students attend as part of the CCP program. In fact, at one college alone, she has four contacts depending on her question or concern. She sums it up by saying, “CCP has been the biggest burden of my job as a counselor thus far.”

Just as the state doesn’t provide funding to the schools to help pay for the program, it provides no funding to hire extra staff to oversee the many intricate parts of the program. It is true that if a student fails a CCP course or withdraws after a certain deadline, the school can require reimbursement from the family, but this is a tricky process and one not likely to be pleasant. Furthermore, the school district cannot require reimbursement from a student who is identified as being “economically disadvantaged”. Of course, those are the kids and families who are most drawn to the free college credits.

Fifteen percent of my high school’s population is taking at least one CCP class, and next year that percentage will be even higher. CCP is gaining in popularity despite the many problems it presents for both students and schools. Some changes should be made to improve the program, such as requiring consistent entry requirements among colleges (including teacher recommendations) and making it easier for an experienced teacher to be certified to teach CCP, but in the meantime, I will advocate for my colleagues and my students by voicing my concerns. Until improvements to the program are made, the problems of College Credit Plus clearly outweigh the perks, for both Ohio’s students and teachers.

This is the first of a two-part series examining the College Credit Plus program.

By Julie Rine, Minerva Local Education Association

Ohio’s College Credit Plus program (CCP) is most likely well intended. CCP allows kids in grades 7-12 access to free dual-credit courses (college classes for which they earn high school and college credits). I’m a single mom, so I can certainly understand the fear that strikes a parent’s heart at the thought of paying for college tuition. However, I’m also a teacher, and from what I’ve seen, I’m just not sure the perks of College Credit Plus outweigh the myriad of potential problems.

First of all, not many students are academically able to skip two or more years of instruction. That is essentially what a junior in high school is doing by taking college classes his junior and senior year instead of high school classes. He skips over two years of content, instruction, guidance, and practice of skills. One of my honors sophomores from last year is now taking English at a local college. After a few weeks of class, he told me with a shade of panic and surprise in his voice, that college classes are “really, really hard”. This does not surprise me; he was an excellent student, but I spent last year preparing his class to be high school juniors, not college freshmen. It should be noted that even though high school teachers have a very good idea of which students could be successful doing college level work, by law we cannot tell a student he can’t participate in CCP.

Keep in mind that if a student does not do well in a CCP course, that low grade begins his college GPA. A ‘C’ earned by a high school student taking a college class will be a 2.0 GPA waiting for him when begins college full-time. Of course, the grade could be much worse, and the student might realize CCP is not his best option after the first semester. But it’s not easy to return to high school mid-year. A high school is not allowed to tell a student he can’t come back, but what do we do with a junior who has missed half a year of American Lit, chemistry, or pre-calc? These are not easy classes to “catch up” in. However, a small school like mine simply doesn’t have many other options for placing a returning CCP student.

Another student I know of aced her CCP French I and II classes at a local branch of a college, but could not handle French III or French II at the college she later transferred to. She ended up retaking French I at that school and earned a C. One of the concerns with College Credit Plus is the lack of consistency among schools. Scott DiMauro, OEA’s Vice President noted that,

“There are lots of questions about whether this program is really serving the needs of the students it purports to help, and one of the questions we raise in particular is whether we are setting students up for failure in the long run if we lower the bar on what actually constitutes college-level work.”

Furthermore, a student may not be ready emotionally or socially for college. A teenager who has to be reminded to do his homework, meet deadlines, study for tests, and pay attention in class may not be the best candidate for CCP. And I am horrified to think about a young, impressionable high school student hearing the conversations that happen in college classrooms before class starts. Not only that, but once class starts, the course material might be too mature for some teenagers. However, college professors are not going to alter their curriculum, which was created with students 18 and older in mind, simply because a high school student is taking the class.

Having the opportunity to take college courses while still in high school is stressful even for the best students. My honors sophomores feel as if they have to decide what they want to do with the rest of their lives right now so they take the “right” classes next year. Why can’t we just let them be kids? Perhaps the great musician/philosopher John Mellencamp said it best: “Hold on to 16 as long as you can/ Changes come around real soon/ Make us women and men”.

Let’s say that a student is academically, socially, and emotionally ready for college, can handle the material, stays on track, and finishes college with a degree earlier than usual, thanks to CCP. We now have a 20 or 21 year old (or younger!) with no job experience competing for jobs with 24 or 25 year olds with no job experience. Who would you hire? By pushing our kids to earn college credits while in high school, we may be setting them up for a challenging job hunt in an already tight job market. Of course the retirement age isn’t lowered for people who finish college early; we are also setting our kids up to have to work for more years than ever before.

My retired teacher friend Dianne said, “High school is where you learn to think and where your teachers prepare you to succeed in college. Short cutting that, it would seem to me, is not in the best interest of the kid.” That says it all. As an advocate for my students, I simply cannot support College Credit Plus in its current form.

By Dan Greenberg, Sylvania Education Association

There were many firsts at the recent OEA Representative Assembly:

• The first time a Representative Assembly was held at the Ohio State Fairgrounds
• The first time the assembly hall smelled a little like horses and other farm animals
• The first time that the RA concluded with a Commission on Student Success, to allow OEA members to discuss their ideas about the key components of high-quality public education

For me, the most important firsts came during the Legislative Committee’s Report, when two legislative items about “opt out” were proposed by delegates from the floor of the RA. Brittany Alexander and Mary Kennedy, two education advocates from Hilliard Schools, articulately explained why it is critical for OEA to take a stand on this issue, and delegates responded. The most spirited parts of the discussion were not about whether or not OEA should take a stand, but what was the clearest, most appropriate way to word the items.

This is a tricky subject.

Many teachers and parents support the “opt out” movement as a way to deal with the over-testing of students and the inappropriate use of test scores to rate teachers. However, it is difficult for the OEA to take a stand, advocating opt out, knowing that there are negative consequences for teachers and schools when students opt out. True, there are some safe harbor provisions in law right now, but those expire, and we can’t be sure what will happen when they do.

With the possibility of negative consequences in mind, delegates to previous representative assemblies have been reluctant to take a stance on opt out. There was a New Business Item passed last year, which directed OEA to lobby the state legislature to require the ODE to notify parents of their rights to refuse the tests, and the fact that the tests are not required for graduation. This was a good step, but New Business Items expire after a year, and the scope was somewhat limited.

This year, delegates took a different path. They proposed amendments to our Legislative Policies. Legislative policy does not expire after a year. The policies are also written in a manner that spells out what OEA supports and opposes.

The two items that were adopted regarding “opt out” were:

“OEA opposes sanctions and/or penalties against students, education professionals, schools and districts when parents exercise their rights to opt their children out of standardized testing.”

And …

“OEA supports protecting the rights of parents who choose to opt their children out of standardized testing and supports informing parents of the potential consequences under current law.”

As a parent, a teacher and an OEA member, I am happy to see these items adopted. Even though the state changes test names and the schedule for giving tests, the tests still are an unwelcome component of our classrooms. I have no doubt that parents across the state will opt their children out of tests this spring, and it’s imperative that OEA support these parents.   Taking a stance reinforces the fact that OEA is an organization that does not exist merely to negotiate teacher contracts. It’s an organization working to strengthen schools and advocate for children.

I am hopeful that, guided by these new Legislative Policies, OEA’s efforts to work with legislators will produce laws that support the rights of parents to opt their children out of standardized tests.

I am hopeful, as well, that these Legislative Policy “firsts,” will not be the last time OEA and Representative Assembly delegates take actions to combat the high stakes testing epidemic that plagues our schools.

By Julie Rine, Minerva Local Education Association

As the holiday break nears, I find myself wishing that everything was as easy to give a teacher as a plate filled with homemade cookies wrapped in Saran Wrap or a World’s Best Teacher mug filled with candy canes. Those gifts are always appreciated and any gesture of gratitude is welcomed. Having said that, if I had a direct line to the North Pole, here is the list I would give Santa for what every teacher deserves this year.

1. A never-ending supply of hand sanitizer, pencils, crayons, glue sticks, paper, tissues, and books: basically any material needed in our classrooms that always runs low and that we usually replenish using our own money.
2. Technology that helps rather than hinders, a server that never goes down, a fast internet connection that works all the time, and tech aides that are always available and happy to help.
3. Colleagues who collaborate with you, who share their best plans and laugh at the flops, who keep a positive attitude, who will cover your class while you dash to the bathroom, and who know when your level of frustration crosses over the line between needing a hug and needing a beer.
4. Administration who are supportive of all aspects of your teaching, who never hold meetings when an email would suffice, who respect your efforts and your time and your talents, and who understand the very basic fact that treating employees with value and respect will make for a positive workplace and a productive staff.
5. A school board who never looks at teachers as the enemy, who is responsible with the district’s finances and who gets creative during negotiations to do everything in its power to meet the needs of the staff both financially and otherwise.
6. Legislators who consider teachers professionals, who trust our judgment and our skills and our motives, who believe that we know what is best when it comes to educational practice. A government that will quit changing policies and practices every other year and making us jump through hoops that take away time from our students, and politicians who are driven by improving the lives of our students rather than by making more money for themselves.
7. Parents who communicate with us just the right amount, who don’t hover over their kids and question our every move, but who work with us as partners in helping their children develop and learn lessons, even if some are learned the hard way.
8. No more high-stakes testing for kids or teachers, no more changing required tests every year, no more days out of the classroom to learn what’s on the tests or how to administer the tests, and no more kids crying, sleeping, sighing, or otherwise shutting down during tests that do little to measure their true knowledge or growth.
9. Students who have plenty to eat and who come to school every day, who have a stable home life with at least one adult who encourages and praises them but holds them accountable for their actions, who have a thirst for knowledge, who see the importance of our lessons, who follow directions the first time, who believe in themselves, who put forth a full effort, and who treat us and each other with respect.
10. Family and friends who are quiet when you need to work at home and who drag you away from the pile of papers and plans when you need to stop working and start living.
11. A medical kit in your classroom that becomes dusty from non-use, a run-hide-fight plan that becomes obsolete, a day when we don’t have to think about what could be used as weapons in our classroom and where we could hide children, because a classroom should have learning tools, not weapons, and children who flourish rather than cower.
12. A society filled with people who believe we should be richly supported and compensated for the very important work we do, and who never, EVER say “It must be nice to have summers off.”
13. A full day (okay, a week, since this is a fantasy list, after all) without hearing any of the following right in the middle of a lesson: “Can I go to the bathroom?”, “Can I get a drink?”, “Is this going to be on the test?”, “I was absent yesterday, did I miss anything?”, “What page are we on?”, “Can I borrow a pencil?”, “How do we do this again?”, or “How many points is this worth?”
14. Shoes that are stylish yet comfortable, room temperatures to accommodate your hot flashes and cold spells, 75% off sales when you need school clothes, weekly full-body massages, money in the budget to attend professional conferences that renew your passion and reinvigorate your practice, sick days when your lesson plans are already sub-compatible, snow days when you most need a day off, routine when you need comfort and change when you need refreshed.
15. And because none of the above is likely to happen, most of all I wish for patience, energy, and love, in unparalleled amounts and in constant supply. Without these, this job is nearly impossible to do well, and most of us would sacrifice all the actual gifts we will receive this season if we could make the lives of our students such that their dreams become a reality.

Enjoy your break. You’ve earned it.

By Julie Rine, Minerva Local Education Association

Last week was a hard week. A really, really hard week. I caught kids cheating on a vocabulary quiz. Interim reports were due and many of my juniors have Fs in my class. An assignment was due that roughly 20% of my students did not turn in. Another class turned in essays with so many mistakes in areas we had gone over in-depth, I thought they might be doing it on purpose as a joke. All twenty of the pencils I make available for kids to borrow (bright pink with “Justin Bieber is my BAE” imprinted on them, to discourage “accidentally” taking one out of my room) went missing. All twenty, gone. Overnight.

I felt disrespected and as if nothing I said or did or planned or prayed made one bit of difference to any of my students.

I told myself that I needed to care less. That this is just a job, and I can’t allow the minor setbacks to affect me so deeply. I am not John Keating from Dead Poets Society, much as I would like to be; I am a real-world teacher of real kids, and what happens in my classroom is not what happens on a Hollywood-classroom movie set.

I found myself thinking about advice I was given my first year of teaching from a veteran educator. He found me in my classroom after school one day crying. We were only a month into the school year, and over half of the students in my reading class had Fs. I felt like a fraud, like I was a failure myself, incapable of teaching anything to anyone effectively. I can’t remember his name, but I can still picture him standing in my doorway, a graying beard on his face and a smoker’s rasp in his voice, as he said, “Honey, listen. It’s a war. And you are a nurse on the battlefield. There are bodies everywhere, and some of them are too far gone to help. You can’t save everyone; you have to step over some to get to the ones you can save. Step over those kids and concentrate on the ones you can really help.”

I nodded at him, but inside, I was horrified. The 23 year-old me was sure that I could save them all; I just had to figure out how. Their grades in my class were in my control. After all, I was the teacher.

The definitely-older and hopefully-wiser me now knows that there is not much I truly control in my classroom. I can plan lessons and write assessments, and more often, revise plans and assessments. I can try to inspire my students, try to help them see the value of education, the relevance of what I teach, and yes, even the importance of preparing for those awful state tests. But just as I make choices and decisions both as I plan and on the fly, my students make choices.

And sometimes they choose to cheat. Sometimes they choose not to turn in assignments, or not to study for a test. Sometimes they choose to wait until the last minute to work on an essay. And apparently, sometimes they choose to take 20 hot pink Justin Bieber pencils.

This doesn’t make them bad kids. It makes them typical teenagers who sometimes make bad choices.

But I’m not ready to step over any kids just yet. If they are lying on the battlefield and deemed by some to be “too far gone”, at some point they were injured. Something happened to put them in that position, and most likely, lots of people in their lives have stepped over them. I can’t be just one more person to walk away from them in favor of easier cases. I’m experienced enough to know that I can’t save all of them, but that doesn’t mean I can’t try. Some of my students have solid home lives with lots of support, yet they make occasional bad decisions. Some of my students have a lot of history and a lot of pain to overcome, and they bring those burdens to school with them. They all deserve my attention and my best efforts. Maybe I can’t reach them all on the same day. Today I might give my attention to the girl crying in the bathroom, but tomorrow, I will be back for the kid who needs help writing a thesis statement. The triage of teaching isn’t about who we give up on and who we still treat; it’s about choosing our battles, but never giving up the fight. It’s about doing our best to help all of our kids, no matter how many other people have stepped over them, no matter how much they’re hurting, and no matter what choices they make that in turn make our jobs harder.

There’s a lot I can’t control at school, and that gets frustrating. I get angry. I get disappointed. I get tired. But that all comes from caring, and when I stop caring, it’s time to get out. I take things too personally sometimes, and I forget that the 100+ people I spend every day with are still growing and learning, and becoming an adult is not an easy process. In fact, I’m pretty sure I haven’t entirely mastered it myself. I may not always like my students’ choices, but I’ll stay in the battlefield. Thanksgiving is coming, and I will use that long weekend to count my blessings, among them those crazy kids who drive me nuts. I will restock my arsenal of physical and emotional supplies, and next week, I’ll be ready to fight again.