Why don’t schools with the biggest challenges have access to the biggest talent?
Rethink Learning Now asks:
Why don’t schools with the biggest challenges have access to the biggest talent?
Answer My answer:
Because as educational systems we allow individual teacher preferences and/or union seniority systems to trump what’s best for kids.
If the Number 1 school influence on students’ success is the quality of their teachers, the fact that we often (usually?) give our most disadvantaged students our least-qualified instructors is an indictment of all of us.
Many districts across the country are laying off teachers right now. This would seem an especially critical time to ensure that the kids who need the best teachers get them. Instead, prepare for another summer round of the ‘dance of the lemons’ (or ‘pass the trash’). Shame on us.
[hat tip to Carolyn Foote for the video]
