Oklahoma Senate Bill Will Rename National Board Fund

So far this legislative season, there are three bills proposed that will fundamentally change the landscape for our National Board teacher program, administered by Education Leadership Oklahoma. One, Senator Ford's SB316 will go to committee Monday.

I do not claim to be an expert in reading and translating legislative bills, but unfortunately I've had more experience in the past couple of years than I'd want. As my husband often points out, I'm much happier reading fiction. But with Common Core coming at us like a runaway freight train, it's time to do some close reading of these bills. The same close reading we'll be forced to impose on our students.

SB316 renames the National Board Certification Revolving Fund, proposing to call it the Oklahoma Teacher Performance Pay Revolving Fund. Yup. Performance Pay. Merit Pay. It does more than change the name of the fund. It modifies the purpose of the funds and redirects the payments.

Now, $15 million will be appropriated for the fund. I was intrigued with the phrase "The fund

shall be a continuing fund, not subject to fiscal year limitations..." in the original law, funds were always 'subject to availability." Good change...except

NOW, after 'bonuses' to NBCTs are paid, all leftover funds will be paid out as TLE bonuses for teachers earning 'superior' or 'highly effective' ratings on their teacher evaluation. NO language here that spells that out. The teacher evaluation process has been a frustrating, moving target all year.

Furthermore, no 'bonus' amount is spelled out for NBCTs. In the original law, it was set at $5000. Nothing here. The TLE bonuses are set at $1000 for superior and $500 for highly effective evaluations.

Concerns? Oh, yeah! NBCTs have already been evaluated by the rigorous National Board process...a highly challenging journey of deep analysis and self reflection of our teaching. We've videotaped in our classrooms, we have analyzed our practice in and out of the classroom. We have produced a multi-component portfolio of our work, and have sat for timed tests. That process is much more demanding than the state evaluation, and yet, now the fund for NBCT stipends will be renamed and shared.

There is no mention of how long NBCTs can receive the stipends, or how much the stipends will be. We will just be sharing our fund with the unproven TLE evaluation system.

I see this as a cynical grab for the money set aside for NBCTs -- money, which quite frankly, we never know will be available (that is the only part of this bill I appreciate...the availability of funds language is struck.

So, the Education Committee will hear the bill on Monday. Look at the list of members, and if your Senator is on the Committee, contact him or her and express your concerns.

We must face the fact that we have little support in the Legislature for this program.

It is an incentive pay program, promising payment IF teachers would hold up their practice to the scrutiny of the National Board Standards. But, once legislators saw a way to strip this program, a national leader, and replace it with true "merit" pay that can be controlled at the state level, we knew NBC was doomed in Oklahoma.

Oklahoma is still, even with our small population, in the top ten of states with NBCTs. 3056 NBCTs! Our leaders used to be proud of this fact, we used to provide scholarships for teachers to pursue NBC. Now, not so much.

Contact your Senator! Share your stories and evidence of student learning. Do it now!

"What Do We See? What Does it Mean?"

Those are my favorite questions to ask.I know some students are much more comfortable with focused, yes-no questions, questions with only one answer. But I'm not interested in them. I just read a blog that challenges teachers to stop asking questions to which we already know the answers. That's always been a pet peeve.

The greatest compliment a student ever gave me was an exasperated, "You don't ask questions like other teachers do...the answer depends on lots of things!" I'd asked him who would be the better leader, Brutus or Marc Antony, from Julius Caesar. He continued: "If you want a wimpy, Jimmy Carter leader, Brutus is your man." LOVE that encounter...and you can tell it occurred several years ago. I try never to ask yes-no questions and pose one that give students the right and responsibility to THINK.

I've loved my project this year with the stickies...I've loved watching students place theirs on the white board, then re-place them, then re-place them. I saw students first semester take ownership in their attitudes about reading, and in being good role models. I was eager to do the same thing this semester.

I learned that I'll need to give students a chance to do that final 'vote' and reflection earlier in the semester. I waited too long last January and lost a great opportunity to let students REALLY reflect on the entire semester. See, old teachers can learn!

This semester I have more students -- and 155 votes on the board. Once we had most of the votes set, I asked students those two questions: "What do you see? What does it mean?" Students who'd been in my class before were much more comfortable with my vague questions, and they got right to work. When newbies figured out there was NO right answer, they reflected too.

A summary of their insights:

Sixteen, mostly returning students, said the seven people who hate books hadn't found the right book yet. I loved that, because I do believe that's the key. Jim Trelease, author of  Read-Aloud Handbook, called these books our 'homerun books,' and far too many teens have NOT found theirs yet. At least one student saw it as a responsibility of us all to find good books to read and share. Several students talked about the fact haters probably didn't even know the kind of books they might enjoy. Again, this is in line with what I know about the class...

They talked about choice. "If more people could choose what they read, then they would probably read more." And "There are a lot of people who need a good book" And "Some students don't know there are a lot of good books, you just have to find one that appeals to you."

While I look at this chart and zero right in on the 'HATE' column, feeling already like a failure, students put it into perspective for me. "Starting out, we have over 50 people who love to read. That's brilliant." And "The charts two largest categories are LOVE and love." And "Twenty-six students LOVE to read and only seven HATE it." I know I have at least one challenge: "The most important thing [about the chart] is where my sticky note it. It's on the HATE column." One student put it this way: "Lots of people...are experience readers and can help influence others who don't like it." I am so excited to see comments like this...it shows my students understand we're building a reading community.

We made our reflections a couple of weeks after we placed our stickies, and several students talked about the fact that their attitude has already improved! Woohoo!

"Even after two weeks, I've grown to listen to those different authors I've never heard of or read before and now I want to read them."

"I think that over time people will enjoy reading more in this class. I know I already have."

"I feel like I already like reading more than I did when I first came here."

"I put, on the first day...a sticky... on 'don't like' to read. Now that I read every day, if I put on a sticky note, it would be on 'OK if I choose.' I used to hate reading but now I really enjoy it."

One of the things I love the most about these kinds of questions is I'll get the truth!

"The cynic in me wonders how many people actually LOVE reading."

"Maybe some people just wanted to please the teacher. Maybe some students said they hate it to be funny or make trouble."

"Some people may be trying to suck up a little."

The response that still has me reflecting is this: "...reading isn't a priority in our lives." How can we change that? I know my class, during the semester we're together, makes reading a priority, but what can we do as a school and a society to make certain every young person makes reading a priority?

Happy Teacher Dance -- Senior Discovers Books!

One of the exciting and frustrating things about teaching all semester classes is January and February. Saying goodbye to one group of students, introducing yourself to a new group; writing and administering and grading finals while planning first-week activities; finding the time to put the first semester into perspective while focusing on the new semester...it's daunting, and I've never done it completely successfully.

This year is no different. I tried something new this year, and I was eager to see what it meant. We constructed an attitude chart three times during the semester -- the first few days, at midterm and the last day. I goofed, because there wasn't enough time for students to reflect on the new data during the final exam. I'll do better this semester, and then the lesson will be lost. So, at the beginning of the semester, my kids told me what they thought of reading:

We reflected on the data, and what it meant. I was interested especially in one boy who proudly slapped his sticky under "HATE" and let me know, with words and body language and unwillingness to choose a book, that he was a hater. We had a great relationship, and he was never a behavior problem. He just let me know he wasn't going to be a pushover...but then, neither am I. I offered my 'tried-and-true' books: Chris Crutcher, Gary Paulsen, Paul Volponi, Walter Dean Myers...he rejected them all. I finally gave him a stack of 7 books and told him he would choose one of them as his first book, and then we'd go on from there. He did...he read...he wrote. He didn't love the book, but he prepared a book share over it. He complied. That's not enough if my goal is to help him change his mind about reading.

A friend suggested Ellen Hopkins' series starting with Crank. A bold move, one I wouldn't have predicted would be successful. But the friend knew something I didn't. This student has family who struggles with addiction, just as Kristina does in Crank, struggles. His Logs became insightful meditations on what he was learning about his own family dynamics by reading this book. He appreciated all the white space on the pages of poetry as a dedicated non-reader, but he GOT the story. This was his home-run book. And lucky for me there were two sequels!

At midterm, I cleaned the back white board of all stickies and gave students new ones. I am clear to them that I don't want to see them place their sticky because I want to make sure they feel comfortable being honest. My guy, tho, needed me to know some progress was being made. He asked if he could add a new category: "mraw", meaning he didn't HATE reading anymore, but was kind of indifferent. He knew it was progress, and I took it gleefully as progress.

We all kept reading. Students prepared elaborate book-sellers projects and talked to classmates about  their books. He volunteered for the first day, and talked about Crank. His presentation was confident and sure. He was at ease and honest about his interest. I encouraged him to write to Hopkins about what the book has meant...still working on that.

On the last day of the semester, during the final exam, I had students, for a third time, create our attitude charts, again anonymously. Again my student made sure I would know immediately where his sticky was. First the class chart. Notice...no HATE!!

 Woohoo! One of my missions accomplished. I still have one student who doesn't like reading, but even that student could have moved from "HATE" or "hate" -- I'd like to think so. Together we worked on reading and finding books. Students DID grow as readers and thinkers, and they could see their own growth.

You can't see my guy's sticky from this shot, but it's under 'like' now...He found his book. He found his author. He's learned to write about his books authentically. He knows how to talk about books that matter to him. He is now a reader!

And his last message to me about the impact of the class was there, on the board, under 'like':

In case you can't read: " I like it (reading) as long as it's Ellen Hopkins. Awesome, addictive author." Now, technically, this would put him in the 'OK if I choose' category for his new attitude, but I'm doing the 'happy teacher dance' thinking of the miracle I was allowed to witness last semester....Wonder which student will provide me with my last miracles in the classroom?

A Reading Life, 2012

I often say I have the best job in the world: they pay me to read! Reading for Pleasure is designed so we all read...most of the hour. I don't hold student conferences during class for a couple of reasons: I want students to see me reading and responding to my books. I want them to see me reading the books they recommend, and I want distractions in the classroom to be minimal. My room is designed for an occupancy of 24, and my smallest class this semester is 29! There's no room for a quiet conference without bothering someone.

So, I read when students read. I can remember reading Mem Fox for the first time and finding this quote. It is deep in my heart as I read with my students."We need, as teachers, to be seen reading and loving reading in front of children. We need to be seen laughing over books, being unable to put books down, sobbing over sob stories, gasping over horror stories, and sighing over love stories—anything, in fact, that helps our students to realize that there is some reward, that there are many rewards to be had from the act of reading."

I make it my business to laugh over books...we call that 'snorking', and crying. I lose track of time and need to be pulled from my books at times. I gasp out loud. I respond to my books. And often my books are those students have pushed onto me...insisting I read. They watch me slyly. Once, as I finished the end of Twelve, by Nick McDonnell, I was crying. I put the book down on my desk, and a girl in the front row quietly crept out of her desk, tip-toed to my desk, picked up the corner of the book and sat back down, with her new treasure. My tears and snorks and gasps sell books as much as my book talks. I know that.

I read with my students. I record all my books, with reviews, on goodreads.com. Some students are goodreads friends, but I tweet all my reviews using our hash tag:#northr4p. For the past two years I committed to the goodreads challenge. Last year, I challenged myself to read 160 books, the number I had read the year before. Kids kept me honest, as did goodreads. I reached my goal, and surpassed it! BTW -- cool goodreads graphic courtesy of my friend and fellow blogger, Jason Stephenson! Thanks for teaching me something new today.

I began 2012 finishing The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle. It was a recommendation, and a loan from a student, so I had to get it back to her at the end of Winter Break. I ended the year with Perfect Escape by Jennifer Brown. She is a favorite of my girls, and we'd read her first two. I brought it back to class after THIS Break, and it's already in the hands of a student.

Goodreads lets you rearrange your lists, and I organized my reads for 2012 by recommendations. I wanted to see what my top books were for the year. I ended up giving 43 books five stars. Fifteen Young Adult (YAL) books, Nine adult novels, four picture books -- mostly read to Kati, my five-year-old granddaughter. Hey, they count! Four nonfiction books earned five stars, as did seven professional books and four classics. 

I want to share the 'best of the best' -- the ones that will stay with me, haunt me, taunt me to reread them. Each has rewarded me. I was going to limit myself to ONE recommendation from each category, and of course I broke my own promise immediately...so. My top two (or so) from each category.

YAL -- What an amazing field this is now. When I was young, there were very few books with young protagonists...I only remember Nancy Drew and Cherry Ames (student nurse). My mother despaired my reading either...but I just wasn't emotionally ready for the adult fiction and classics she preferred.

My first two picks in YAL are two books that won't even be published until later this year. 

Period 8, by Chris Crutcher, has all the elements of a Crutcher novel: strong, smart, athletic boy who gets in big trouble by telling the truth. A recent addition to his fiction is strong, independent girls. And this one has a great female protagonist. Two new twists -- a teacher's point of view and a sociopath in their school. Several of us have torn through this. And, yes, scroll down on Crutcher's page...that's me, getting my books signed!

Game by Barry Lyga, is part of a new trend: serial killers and psychological thrillers. This is a sequel to I Hunt Killers. I was introduced to the series by one of my avid readers, and I'm sorry to say I used the bribe of reading Game after I had to extract some late work. The waiting lists for both of these books are insane, and we have a long wait for the third. We follow Lyga on Twitter, and he's already teasing us about the next book.

But, YAL published recently? Available for all readers? The Fault in our Stars, by John Green is magnificent. I read it twice, once with my North students, and again with my OU students studying YAL. We had deep conversations about this book in the classroom, and finally decided it was a grenade. The issues of cancer, and death and dying, are ones students suffer from...and we don't know how that book would be received as a class assignment. But we all agree Gus and Hazel have one of the world's best love stories.

October Mourning was a shock to me. It's a novel in verse, but instead of being a romance, it tells the story of the horrific kidnapping and murder of Matthew Shephard. Leslea Newman, the author, was slated to speak to a Gay Rights group, including Shephard, just days after he was murdered. Each poem is in the voice of someone close to the crime, and each is written in a unique form. Possibilities as an English teacher were tacking as I was weeping reading this book.

I read lots of adult novels, but not many seemed to be 'fives'. The one I know will stay with me is J.K. Rowling's Casual Vacancy. I've tried to share it with other friends, and they have not been touched as much as I have been. I absolutely believe Rowling wrote this in revenge for all the snobby people who made judgments about her when she was living on welfare. There was a page in the book where characters are looking down their noses at people on welfare, and I could hear the discussion this summer about the 47%. Rowling gives a face to poverty. Several. No, the characters are not likable. No, not many of them are redeemed. But, this book knocked my socks off. It's no Harry Potter, but I didn't mind at all.

Nonfiction? My husband can't understand my love of fiction...I can count on one hand the number of novels he's read in our 45+ years together. I don't usually read nonfiction, but two impressed me this year. What I did love ended up being nonfiction narrative. I have stories in my DNA!

In the Garden of the Beasts by Erik Larson, is about America's ambassador to Germany just before and during WWII. No one in the Roosevelt administration believed trouble was brewing and they gave the post of ambassador to an unexpected supporter who tried to contribute, but found himself at odds with people in his own diplomatic corps. Larson weaves history into compelling, accessible narration.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Slook had been recommended for years, and for years I'd steadfastly ignored those recommendations. When I finally found my copy again, I was dumbfounded by the ironies of this tale of a poor black mother whose cancer cells are somehow still alive, and still offering scientists the ability to do all kinds of research. Her children, tho? They can't afford health care insurance, and were unaware of the fact that a part of their mother was still alive. Slook spent her own money and years to research and write this story. Compelling storytelling.

My walking buddy and I read a classic every summer...this year it was The Sun Also Rises. But, we went on a Paris orgy...reading A Moveable Feast, both the fictionalized and nonfiction biography of Hemingway's first wife, Hadley, the Paris Wife...we wallowed in Paris all summer long in Norman, OK. I decided to reread Great Gatsby because Fitzgerald and Hemingway were so close those years in Paris. Every time I read this, I'm older and see something new. Now I'm ready for what one student called 'revisionist filmmaking' when the movie comes out.

Even though I'm months from retirement, I read professional books. Some say it's silly for me to read about Common Core and other reforms, but I'm impelled to do just that. But the two books that will inform my practice for the next months are not about CCSS.

Note and Notice by Beers and Probst gives an easy-to-understand framework to sharing tools for comprehension. They call the tools 'signposts' and these signposts will truly allow students to be independent comprehenders of text. I appreciated the authors' narratives about their test-drives in real classrooms. They give step-by-step guides for how THEY introduced, modeled, and gave students time to practice. BUT they absolutely understand each teacher must make the work her own. I'll be using this work next semester, wishing I had years to practice. Now I can tell my students to look for "aha moments" and "tough questions" and "memory moments" within their stories...to stop and reflect on those signs...

From Tired to Inspired by Mary Kim Schreck, was a gift...a friend of a friend asked me to read a galley proof, and possibly write an endorsement. Well, I was tired when I started...but inspired as I read. I love the subversive elements of the book: the total trust in the teacher, the creative lessons, and the underlying philosophy. Yes, our classrooms need rigor...but rigor means giving work to students and expecting the unexpected...unpredictable outcomes, creative outcomes should be the norm. I loved this book, but was worried I couldn't count it toward my 160 total. Petty, I know. But, my recommendation IS on the back cover! Woohoo!

Who didn't make the 'cut'? I'm ashamed to admit, Lois Lowry, Neal Shusterman, Patrick Ness, Matt de la Pena, Ellen Hopkins, Christopher Moore, Ernest Hemingway, Andrew Smith, Terry Trueman, Gillian Flynn. I could have easily chosen their books too...Lucy Calkins...

Maybe I should reconsider.

Legislator Responds to my Letter Guns in Schools

I sent my letter to the two authors of the bill to allow teachers to carry weapons, and I cced it to all members of the Common Education Committees of the Oklahoma House and Senate. I also sent a copy to MY Representative; my Senator is a member of the Education Committee. I received three responses...from my Senator, a thanks, from one other member a thank you note. And from Representative Donnie Condit, I received the following note. I include my response to him. I realize I sent my note during Winter Break, but I hope more legislators choose to respond.

Ms. Swisher,

First, I want to thank you for your input. I am a member of the House Common Educ Committee. I'm also a retired educator with over thirty years experience in the McAlester public schools. My wife is also a kindergarten teacher with thirty-two years experience. 

If you do some research on the members of the State House of Representatives, I think you will be surprised how many are former educators. I mention this knowing that all of them are very much concerned about safety in our schools. When I was a building administrator, I would tell teachers and parents that my main concern was students safety. I believe that children cannot learn if they are concerned about their safety.

If you would also do some research on individuals with concealed carry permits, I think you will find that there are about 140,000 individuals in Oklahoma with a permit. It is estimated that over 10,000 teachers already have a concealed carry permit. I will never vote for a bill requiring anyone to carry a weapon. If I understand the proposed legislation correctly, it would be volunteer. If an administrator or teacher feels comfortable carrying a weapon, I believe that we should at least look at and discuss the possibility of allowing them. Many years ago legislation was passed making it against the law to have guns on school campuses. This was intended, back then, to prevent guns on campuses. The sad thing about it, now people (with mental disorders) see it as "open" game. They know that (by law) there should not be any resistance. I personally do not like guns on campuses either, but are we in a way putting our school officials at a disadvantage? Another thought, if you place armed police officers in each building, the shooter will know that if they take the officer out first, then they will have no resistance. 

I do agree with you that Oklahoma and all states need to start treating mental illness like another illness and get people help. 

Again, thanks for the input and good luck with the rest of hour school year.

Donnie Condit

Dist 18 State Rep

McAlester, Okla

And my response

Thank you for your response...your prompt, thoughtful response. I so often find our Legislators do not respond to our concerns. I know several other Legislators who are former educators, and I hope they, as you, help get our voice out there.

I was under the impression that the bill as it's drafted now will require CLEET training...as someone who does not own a gun or has any interest in carrying one, I'm not certain if the training for concealed or open carry are the same as the CLEET training. Others have told me that this training is more involved and demanding.

I am not at all comforted by the thought of my colleagues carrying weapons, concealed or not, into their classrooms. The parents I've talked to feel the same. What will your answer be to parents who threaten to homeschool their children rather than have them exposed to teachers carrying guns? I am concerned about the parents who will desert us. I know you'll say there are parents who will feel MORE secure with professional educators carrying weapons...so I don't have an answer. I hope your committee will ask for input from parents across the state, as well as educators. This is our workplace, and many of us feel guns will destabilize already stressful situations.

You mention a security officer who would not be available or a target in an attack. My school has over a hundred classrooms. There is no guarantee that a deranged crazy person with a gun is going to randomly pick an armed teacher's room to attack. And, again, since I know so little about guns, how can a teacher armed with a hand gun stand a chance against a gunman with the kind of weapon Adam Lanza used? To suggest the teacher stands a chance is nonsense. An FBI agent who was interviewed immediately after Newtown strongly recommended NOT arming teachers. He talked about the reaction time of the person who would be the target opposed to the original shooter. He said reaction time always lags 5 or so seconds behind action time. In those five seconds, children could be killed in a deadly gunfight...

IF this does become law, I hope the liability issues are resolved. I see this as a nightmare for our state in so many ways. 

I hope you will solicit input from parents and educators as this goes forward. 

I am not convinced armed educators will make the classrooms safer. I fear they will create new stress for all...

Again, thank you so much for talking to me. I tell my students I'm always eager to learn...to consider other people's points of view and test them against my own. Your note has helped me think through this.

Thank you!!

Guns in Schools? "Teachers Shouldn't Have to Go to Boot Camp to Teach Romeo and Juliet!"

NOW, the letter I really DID send...hopefully it's respectful and professional. The other was for fun...or for venting.

Dear Representatives McCullough and Shorty:

I’m writing to you and copying to the Education Committees to express my deep and abiding opposition to your proposed bill intending to arm public school personnel.

I’m a career teacher with over thirty years of teaching in Oklahoma, at every level in public education, K-12. I’ve also taught at both OU and SNU. I’m a fourth-generation teacher. I have spent my entire adult life in classrooms, so I hope you respect my perspective.

I believe your motivation for the bill is pure – you want to protect our children. I also believe your solution to keeping students safe is the wrong one.

Many experts emphatically state that liability issues in arming teachers would be prohibitively expensive. The potential for accidents is high. Who will pay the insurance? Who will pay the damages when a student overpowers a teacher and grabs a gun?

Who will pay when a teacher with a weapon, in an attempt to protect students, accidentally injures or kills a student? Who pays when a child is caught in the crossfire? Who pays when an armed teacher becomes a target because of the weapon? Will your bill make provisions to hold teachers ‘harmless’ from any legal action? What about the schools who allow teachers to carry guns? Will they also be held harmless? Will irate parents sue the state instead? Will they sue you?

 I understand the CLEET training your bill requires is more intensive than typically available, but even highly trained law enforcement officers and soldiers make tragic mistakes in the heat of battle. They kill each other. They hesitate and are killed. If this happens to professionals, I guarantee teachers will make more mistakes. And the mistakes will injure children, kill children.

I have spoken to parents of school-aged children who emphatically say they’ll move from the public schools or even from the state if this bill passes and if their children’s teachers carry weapons in the classroom. Parents do not want armed teachers…will you listen to them?

Attacks like Columbine, Aurora, Newtown, were sudden and horrifying. Even law enforcement officers on site would be hard-pressed to respond quickly and accurately in stressful circumstances. I’ll tell you, my school, Norman North, has two armed officers on site, ready to do just that.

When compared to the precious lives of our children, a discussion of cost seems crass and petty. But there will be costs involved with the enactment of your bill. Who pays for the teachers to be trained? Right now our OSDE won’t even pay for training teachers in the new evaluation model which will be used to possibly fire us. Who pays for the weapons teachers bring to school? Who pays for the ammunition? The lock boxes? The holsters? If a teacher brings a personal weapon, does that liability fall on his or her shoulders?

The past few years have made me cynical when policymakers talk about education. My cynical self wonders about this bill…

Why not a bill requiring an armed guard at every school, like Norman North currently has?

Why not enhanced facilities and support for families struggling with mental health issues? With troubled members of their family?

Could the answer be that crass cost element? Could there be an element of ‘solve it cheap’ instead of ‘solve it right?’

Superintendent Kevin Burr of Sapulpa Schools estimates the cost of an armed security guard in every school in Oklahoma to be $15 million.  Are you unwilling to invest this amount in our children and are you hoping enough gung-ho teacher will jump at your offer?

Are you hoping you can then wash your hands of the problem of school violence and school security? Are you planning to say, “Well, we gave those teachers the chance to carry a gun. Not our fault if they killed a student, or didn’t stop the bad guy…we tried”? Are you planning to blame teachers if future attacks aren't thwarted?

Are you hoping to give the appearance of caring about our children, while doing it on the cheap?

Are you hoping parents DO desert the schools so you can label us failures?

Classrooms are sacred places for teachers and students. We create community; we laugh and learn. We celebrate and grieve. We create a climate of trust so learning and teaching can occur, so risks can be taken safely. Guns in this sacred place will not make any of us safer. It will destroy our climate of trust.

One of my former students, in a FaceBook conversation about gun control told me this. I want Nick’s words to be the end of my plea to you.

“Teachers make the commitment to further lives every day they go to work. To ask one to end a life is not only contradictory to their soul, but it would be unfair to MAKE them have to choose.
Post a Marine at the doors, put a cop in a janitor uniform, or something else. I may not have the answer, but I do not think teachers should have to go to boot camp in order to teach Romeo and Juliet.”

The Letter I Won't Send

Representative Mark McCullough and Senator Ralph Shortey, in response to the horrific school shooting in Newtown, are set to propose a bill the the Oklahoma Legislature allowing teachers and administrators to carry guns in school. What I've written here is the letter I WON'T send to them. I've a more measured response I will send, but this is what bubbled up first.

Seriously?? Seriously? Have you just gone around the bend? Are you nuts?? Do you really think this is the Wild West? Have I gone to sleep and awakened in Crazy Town? Merciful Heavens. You really want teachers to carry guns? In school?

You really think the solution to crazed, military rifle-wielding murderers is arming teachers? Let’s see…teachers are responsible for teaching…for generating mountains of data on testing. We’re responsible for students’ test scores. We’ll be fired if test scores don’t increase. We’re expected to align all our lessons to PASS now, while revising them to align with Common Core. We’re supposed to get kids ready for tests that haven’t even been written yet. We’re supposed to do all that, grade, plan, contact parents. 

We’re to continue our own education--at our own expense, buy snacks for our students, provide our own supplies and computer ink. We’re supposed to learn all the new technology in our classrooms, use it, and supervise our students’ use. We’re supposed to create learning climates that respect every child and maximize his or her learning. We’re supposed to be available for after-school meeting and before school meetings. We’re expected to differentiate for every child while simultaneously leading whole class lessons using books that are at or above grade level. 

Teaching is already full to the brim with stress and anxiety…and you want to put a gun in every classroom? Classrooms that contain stressed teachers and stressed students?

We’re supposed to do all that, and tote a gun?

Will I be evaluated on my marksmanship? Will that be part of my value-added measure? “Totes a gun and ain’t afraid to use it?” Will that be a line in my evaluation? Seriously?

Exactly how do you think guns will improve the climate of a school? Do you think third graders, already ‘under the gun’ to read proficiently or be flunked, will smile benignly at the gun at their teacher’s back? Do you think this will, as some have cynically suggested, help with classroom management?

If I had wanted to carry a gun to work and participate in gunfights, I would not have trained to be a teacher. I’d’ve gone into the military…where even trained soldiers often don’t take a kill shot, and too often kill their own troops in friendly fire.

You don’t trust me to be accountable in my classroom. You think because I belong to the OEA I’m a union thug. You choose to pay me far less than other comparably educated professionals. You take away my rights of due-process. You require more and more. You support me less and less. And now you want me to jump at the chance to play gunslinger? 

ARE YOU NUTS??

Pray, tell. Who’s going to pay for the gun training? The weapon? The ammunition? Who’s going to pay for the lock box to keep the weapon away from my students? Who’s going to pay the astronomically high liability insurance? If past experience is any indication, I do believe you will expect ME to pay. 

Again, I ask, ARE YOU NUTS?