Where Other States Go, Let Maine Not Go

 

 

I follow education issues in most states across the nation. I do this because inevitably some politician or business person or lobbyist will offer that Maine needs some education idea that is or has been tried in other states. For example, earlier in my blog I have written that some policy and other initiatives that exist in New York has been or is being considered for Maine. The idea of regional administrative units that Governor LePage wanted and used as a bargaining chip in last year's budget is one of those examples. Wouldn't it be nice if we asked about the success (or failure) before we in Maine agreed to this.

 

 

The charter schools in New York have been in the news lately. It seems that the charter schools have had a high rate of teacher turnover and are having difficulty hiring enough certified teachers. The charter school solution to this has been to propose reducing the existing standards teachers have to meet in order to teach in a charter school. Even though New York charters have some very relaxed teacher standards currently. For example, their charter schools can hire uncertified teachers. One of their biggest source of uncertified teachers is to hire people from Teach For America. (New college graduates who are just beginning their working careers and want to 'make a difference'. Sorry, but the use of inexperienced college graduates is just a way to take advantage of them - they will work for peanuts; and it does a disservice to the students they teach who very often have high need for superior teaching and support services.)  Another source of uncertified personnel is tenured or tenure-track college faculty. (In New York one of the ways to begin a charter school is to gain approval through the State University of New York Charter Commission which oversees the charters they approve. Pretty nice deal.) And lastly, charter schools in New York can hire uncertified 'individuals who possess exceptional business, professional, artistic, athletic, or military experience."  It appears that even these exemptions aren't enough to keep 'teachers' who will accept low pay and questionable working conditions for any prolonged period of time. One of the tenets of good business practice is to invest in your employees - pay them good wages and benefits, treat them like professionals, and show them they are valuable to accomplishing the mission of the school. Well, the mission of many charter schools is primarily the bottom line - to produce a profit - not necessarily do what is necessary to promote the success of ALL students.

 

 

So, what was the response to the State University of New York Charter Commission's proposal to further lower standards for charter school teachers?  The Chair of New York Board of Regents, Betsy Rosa, opposed the proposal.  New York Education Commissioner, Maryellen Ella, opposed the proposal. Who else do we need to oppose the proposal before we understand that the way charter schools staff their schools is unacceptable? Using cheap, inexperienced labor to educate students does a disservice to the students and undervalues the professionalism needed in education today. I hope Maine citizens and politicians are watching.