But When Will They

Solve The Problem?

By Terry J. Ward

It's interesting that the thought of recertification of teachers has caused such a furor within the State of New York during the past few weeks. The question that begs to be asked is not whether or not teachers in New York State should be recertified, but why has this issue come into being?

For quite some time now, "teacher bashing," as criticism of teachers has disdainfully been called, has been on the rise. Many teachers are incensed by the thought that anyone could possibly question the motives and actions of those to which we have entrusted the fates of our children. They have tried to quell the voices of those to whom members of this noble profession have shown a very ugly face indeed. Anyone who dares to find fault with teachers is made out to be some sort of backward Neanderthal, incapable of understanding the finer nuances of guiding the minds of our young. Apparently those voices have not been quieted as thoroughly as the teachers' unions have hoped. The voices of those who have grave misgivings about the state of education in New York have been heard in Albany. But what exactly is it that they have heard?

The problem is not one of educational capability. By the very nature of the profession, a teacher, on who has all the finest attributes of the profession, will seek the knowledge to stay current in the field without being forced into it by state regulations. A person who is truly called to teach will, by their very nature, be drawn to information about their profession. Workshops on teaching techniques, learning styles, and all the various minutiae of the day to day changes are generally already covered within the school districts.

So, why the pressure to "improve" the state of teaching within New York? One word. Tenure. Tenure has a strangle hold over any real improvement in our educational system. The teachers that are being "bashed" by outraged parents in our state are not the competent, professional, dedicated people who serve our children as if they were their own. They are after the ones who should not be teachers, the ones who by one means or another have gotten jobs and held onto them until they have reached the golden, nirvana state of tenure, a place where they virtually cannot be touched. They are after the ones who have virtually no understanding of children, the ones smart enough to get a college degree, but who couldn't explain their way out of a paper bag. They're after the ones who see teaching as their own personal fulfillment of a lifelong power trip. Of course, this doesn't end with teachers. There are a lot of undesirables within the administrative branch of the profession, too.

It isn't that I don't understand a viable purpose for tenure. Teaching is very much a profession where public opinion can count a great deal for job security - that is, without tenure. I'm not sure that abolishing tenure is really the entire answer to the problem. I do think that a different ideology is definitely in order.

Now would be a good time for New York State teachers to face the excessive hubris which has become the hallmark of their profession and admit that there are a few, well, maybe more than a few, bad apples in the barrel. Then they need to get rid of them. Unions and tenure may keep the jobs of New York State teachers, but until this group begins to regulate itself and get rid of those who do not deserve to be called teachers, they will never receive the respect which they seem to think is their hallowed right. Nor will the problems which we see in the classrooms disappear. For education to work, its primary component, the teachers, need to be of the highest quality, and that does not specifically mean those with the most hours spent sitting in a classroom stacking up recertification credits.

Recertification is a lovely bureaucratic idea. But as with many bureaucratic repair jobs, it does not really strike at the heart of the problem. What will the answer be when recertification does not still the heartily justified voices of those who are getting shafted by the system? My bet is that it still won't have anything to do with getting rid of the dead wood.