In Celebration of the New 2023/24 Academic Year!

A Retired Teacher's Perspective

Paula Baack

Author, Education and Communications Consultant, Vocal Coach

What is America’s greatest asset? TEACHERS! The frail heartbeat of disillusioned American educators, fraught with poor pay, violence in the schools and burnout from ideological pressures, must be injected with a transfusion of hope. Understanding the points of views of communities, school boards, administrators, teachers, parents and students is paramount to revitalizing our educational system. Who better to elevate the conversation for positive change than a 46 year veteran teacher.

I am a Teacher. That is to say I was a teacher until summarily dismissed, fired, forced to retire on April 25, 2017. I am not sure which term fits my demise best. Over the past six+ years, I wrote about my four decades of experiences and published a book (Rescue the Teacher, Save the Child!). Currently I blog and podcast sharing my research and views on America’s educational downfall. Seasoned educators are leaving their districts in droves due to a hostile work environment, overall disrespect and meager pay. Can America raise up her teachers to the esteemed profession of yesteryear? I firmly believe it is possible if the following groups, in a united force, initiate positive change this academic school year.

Communities:

Make every effort to vet school board contenders to insure their educational values are based on integrity and not political influence or ideological sway. Make sure you read and understand their election platform. What, if any, is their actual relationship to education?

Support your local schools as a volunteer. Attend school board meetings to become better informed. Know what is being taught, who is doing the teaching and how students are assessed. There is no place for “my kids are grown so I no longer care about the local school system”. That statement is only valid if you no longer pay taxes!

School Board Members:

Please demonstrate the same pre-election exuberance after you are elected. Are you resolved to insure teachers freedom from vitriol criticism and frivolous complaint? How do you avoid becoming, even if inadvertently, a rubber stamp for ineffectual or bullying administrators?

Transparency is the golden ticket to success. Encourage your parents and community to be in-person, active voices. Their input is vital to knowing your audience and in turn, understanding the expectations of your constituents.

Administrators:

Two valuable tools disappeared in the last 20 years: mentorship and due process of staff. The art of constructive criticism has been lost to abrasive and unfiltered verbal and email attacks. Children are NOT victims, teachers are NOT monsters and the parents, who constantly criticize, are NOT always right. Eradicating abusive student behavior and actively shielding teachers from unwarranted condemnation will make our schools better, safer and more effective.

Administrators must provide judicious faculty assessments, make unbiased decisions and share thoughtful guidance. If you are attempting to discuss academia behind closed doors with no teacher or parent involvement, you must ask the question: Are ideologies driving academics or is there a real-world approach to subject matter, void of politics?

Teachers:

If you are new to the profession, muster your courage and stay the course. Life exists after a poor assessment, admonishment from an administrator or parent complaint. Do not allow naysayers to destroy your passion for teaching. Our children need dedicated teachers with strong ethics now more than any other time in the history of our country.

Are you a seasoned teacher? If you have journeyed thus far without being bullied by parents or admin, count your blessings. An extraordinary administrator mentored and shielded you! If your teaching journey has encountered major obstacles filled with blind-sided criticism, you are not alone. Remember it’s never about the adults. You are a teacher because of the kids!

Address all you come in contact with measured, filtered speech. Correspond as if your communication will appear at a school board meeting because it probably will.

The media and their amoral counterparts may have convinced you to intervene as students make life decisions concerning their sexuality. Unless you are certified as a medical doctor or an accredited psychologist , you are not qualified to assess or even address the sexual passage of your students. Just teach the subject matter and leave your politics and personal opinions at home. Please.

Parents:

For the love of all humanity, step away from your computer! Writing incensed emails to your child’s teacher, hitting SEND and believing you are entitled to rancorous opinions is the most demoralizing act perpetrated on teachers. If you find it awkward to speak to the teacher face to face, re-evaluate the validity of your complaint. Your children are entitled to a quality education. They are not guaranteed high grades, a lead in the play or varsity standing in their sport.

Allow your child to fail! Even if the perceived failure resulted from unfair selection or grading, supporting children in overcoming disappointment is so important to their development. Scottie Pippen, winner of four NBA championship rings and two Olympic gold medals, received no athletic scholarship from any university. He originally made his small college basketball team as the equipment manager. Thankfully no parent, teacher or administrator felt pressured to change the sequence of events directing his young life.

Students:

No teacher exists, including the ones you dismiss as inept, who isn’t weighed down by the day to day rigors of insuring your success. You need to avail yourself to sweat equity in all your classes. Instead of complaining about instructors, challenge yourself to positively impact their daily routine.

Stand up for your vulnerable peers. Demonstrate, through actions, your school is a safe place. You may need to do something drastic and unexpected to protect the wellbeing of those around you. Become a fierce warrior-defender of kids unable to advocate for themselves. You hold the power to make a difference.

Let’s make sure “putting kids first” is not just a clever slogan on a school district website. Our children are the future of this country should not be a phrase scoffed at for its simplicity. In order to save the child, we must first rescue the teacher. We all wear the same team jersey! If students, parents, teachers and administrators advocate for positive change NOW in American public schools, our educational system will once again take its place as the best in the world.

Through my decades of teaching, I experienced a parent threatening my life, false accusations from empowered students and their parents, and finally the act of being fired after dedicating over four decades of my life to teaching. The one thing which got me through all of it was my faith. Faith that God had an incredible purpose for me when He called me to teach. Faith that no matter the challenge, through prayer I could weather any storm. Faith to stay the course because watching my students achieve made my heart the happiest ever.