Gov. Sebelius says teachers need support

BY: Jack “Miles” Ventimiglia, Editor

“Oppressive” working conditions that cause teacher turnover must change, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said at the Education Commission of the States Steering Comm-ittee meeting at the Sheraton Overland Park Hotel on Monday.

“We must take a serious look at (teacher turnover) and we must look at it as individual states and as a country,” she said.

Commission Chair Sebe-lius spoke to about 40 people from 25 states and Puerto Rico about her Great Teachers for Tomorrow initiative.

Some Kansas legislators make law based on stories, not facts, she said.

“We make 85 percent of our policy decisions on anecdotes: 'My grandmother lives next door to a guy who does three things, and he's terrific, and I think we should do these three things statewide.' And depending on the popularity of that legislator, often that becomes state law with state resources behind him,” Sebelius said. “That's not a particularly strategic way to make policy decisions.”

Good lawmakers write fact-based policies, Sebelius said, and asking teachers is the best way to learn what leads to job jumping.

“Teachers will tell you they are tired of being in a classroom where the working conditions they see are oppressive,” she said.

As a precursor to establishing policies to curtail teacher turnover, Kansas launched an online survey and all states should do the same, Sebelius said. If other states join the few that have surveyed teachers, all states could unite to discuss “best practices” to retain teachers, Sebelius said.

“We have an opportunity to hone in on what really works,” she said.

Survey results have been compiled, and will undergo analysis leading to policy making, Sebelius said. The confidential survey of Kansas teachers drew a 53 percent response rate.

A U.S. Department of Education survey showed one-third of teachers quit due to poor conditions, Sebelius said. They decried the lack of support from administrators, restrictions on how they run classrooms and few professional development opportunities.

“Pay is a factor, sure, and could we provide more salary and benefits, absolutely, but a number of other factors are more important, not the least of which is educational leadership and support,” Sebelius said.

Sebelius called the national survey results “pretty alarming.” They showed schools have a nearly 17 percent turnover rate.

“It's at a huge cost to student achievement,” Sebelius said. “Students do less well if they have inexperienced teachers in the classroom.”

Sebelius said the magnitude of teacher turnover might be understood in a corporate context.

“If they had the kind of employment statistics that education has, they would be doomed to failure, because they just couldn't maintain any type of productive atmosphere,” she said.

Sebelius said more money could be spent and brilliant organizational structures created, but getting students to learn takes more.

“Unless we have great teachers in the classrooms,” she said, “the rest of it is just window dressing.”

TEACHER OF THE YEAR

Sebelius introduced one such “great teacher,” Josh Anderson, from Olathe Northwest High School.

Anderson said he supports the No Child Left Behind Act but not “teaching the test.” The act has caused a paradox, Anderson said.

“The paradox is this: Can we simultaneously prepare students for the state assessments and prepare them for their future?” Anderson, the Kansas Teacher of the Year asked. “The amount of time that we spend preparing for state assessments sometimes means that we are not preparing them for more advanced learning.”

Instructors who teach the test have little time to let students demonstrate an understanding of the information's value.

“Basic skills represent only a fraction of what needs to occur before we can truly say a student is ready to participate in the real world,” Anderson said. “But (basic skills) are easiest to assess and therefore they get the most attention.”

Anderson said students should be taught to think. He gave the example of an engineering graduate expecting a $45,000 starting salary for the same skills that pay $7,500 in China or India; foreign graduates can move here, work for less, and please U.S. employers. He said this shows basic skills have value, but competition dictates a need to know not just how to perform a task but why.

Anderson said his students struggled on No Child tests until he added creativity to the mix. The change led to students averaging 97 percent on the Kansas reading test and 100 percent on the writing test.

“It is a function of innovation, creativity and design that allows us to simultaneously be prepared for the state assessment and be prepared for the future,” he said.