The new school year begins.
Our opening day always includes a greeting from our union president. The following is Erin Breen’s welcome to a gathering of over 700 employees in Park Ridge District 64, a K-8 school district in the north-west suburbs of Chicago. Erin is president of the Park Ridge Education Association and a first grade teacher.
As I sat down to write this speech, I thought about all the newness and change that is occurring in our District,as well as in the state and our country with regard to teachers and schools. You know, change is a really hard thing because we, as educators, know that change is good and necessary. But for the most part, we like how we do things; we have figured out what works, or we are just getting used to something, and then it gets changed AGAIN!
As we approach this upcoming school year with a new superintendent, new principals, new staff members, a soon-to-be elected new Board member, some new improvements to buildings, a new plan (of the strategic sort), RTI implementations, new curriculum (writing and reading at the elementary levels and reading in the content area in the middle schools), new staff development, and new laws, mandates, and initiatives, I think to myself, ”That’s a lot of newness and change that creates many levels of anxiety along with the unknown factor.” What’s going to happen? I for one, have control issues – I admit it. If I don’t know what’s going to happen or don’t have control of it, it makes me a bit nervous!
This reminds me of a story I would like to share with you that brought the realization to me that the perception and often misconception of what exactly we as teachers do, is determined by partial or miscommunicated information. I mean, most people who are not in the field of education would say that we work hard, that they could never do our job, but boy are we so lucky to work 9 months of the year and get the salary we do!
I traveled for 6 weeks this summer, literally driving across the country, through 18 states. I visited family and friends, attended my college reunion, saw many sights in our great country, and honored loved ones who are no longer with me. One night during a family dinner, my favorite uncle who lives in Colorado changed our casual dinner conversation of great restaurants to eat at in Chicago to “ Hey, Erin! They are finally initiating this practice in the school systems in Colorado where you teachers are paid and evaluated based on your students’ performance in school. It’s about time that you have the same consequences that the rest of us get – if you don’t do your job, you lose it or you don’t get paid. I knew exactly what he was talking about – Race to the Top (pay for performance. The new federal initiative to incorporate teacher salary and evaluation based upon student test scores). After an attempt to explain tenure, evaluation, and how the initiative’s purpose was not well received by teachers – we teach children; we don’t produce or sell a product, I was reminded that this model is how it works in the “real world”. So, I said, “Are you saying I don’t work in the real world?” He emphatically answered “Absolutely not! 100% NO! You have no idea what happens in the real world!”
Disappointed with my own family member’s understanding of not just what I do, but of who I am and what I believe in, I became aware of many other situations where either the media ( I’m sure you read the Tribune at some point this summer) or misinformed people tell only part of our story.
As we start this new school year, consider where you are with your perception and participation with all of this newness. We are in it together. We are all on an even playing field with regard to having to be a part of all of these changes. Whether you are in your beginning years of teaching, have been in the profession for many years, or are nearing the end of your career, we can all acknowledge that even though we may be uncomfortable with change, can’t believe that we are starting yet another initiative (where did the ones go that we never finished or were put on the back burner yet again), or are thinking “here we go again”! , we are ultimately doing this for the children. Every professional decision we make (whether it be in the classroom or on a committee) impacts the children! That’s about as “real world” as it gets!
Have a great year! I look forward to working with you!
