Editorial: “I’ve seen worse”
I had an interesting conversation with a teacher recently. In defense of the district and its current leadership this teacher mustered up a “Well, I’ve been teaching a long time and I can say that I’ve seen worse than we are experiencing here”.
Is that the best we can do? Really? We get the distinction of not being the worst district this veteran teacher has seen in decades of dedicated service as a teacher?
Something needs to change in HUSD if that is the best we can say right now.
Now I know that the issues at HUSD can’t justly be pinned on any one person. However I also know that the buck stops somewhere so if things aren’t working then it is the responsibility of the public to elect board members that will change things and the responsibility of the board to enact those changes. As I have mentioned in the past, I figured that rather than just complaining about these problems I would volunteer to help change things for the better myself. That’s the sole reason I am running for the governing board.
Change can happen in lots of ways of course so it is my plan to do whatever is in the best interests of the stake holders in HUSD — that includes children, parents, teachers and other staff. Obviously these sorts of things take a lot of work but I have hope that the new board will be up to the task.
Steve Johnston:
I don’t know if you have ever served as a teacher in a teachers’ union before. I have. I got out of teaching because of the union. We were continually told to preach the following:
September 8, 2008, 9:29 am1. We’re unappreciated.
2. Our morale is low.
3. The administrators are out of touch and mean.
4. We’re underpaid.
When I told my local president that I loved teaching, he told me not to say it too loud. Crying that we are not appreciated and that our morale is low is the MAIN tactic used by unions to use in negotiations. By creating a stir that we are miserable and it’s all the administrators fault creates an us against them theme which can then be used to make the public feel obligated to come to the aid of the poor teachers. If you are successful in your bid to run for the school board, you will quickly learn this. Believe me, I’m not on the side of the administrators in this. I’ve worked for some horrible ones, but I’m sick of the “teachers” whining - I’m sure you’ve only had a few out of hundreds contact you. There is a reason for this. Good teachers are content with doing what they love. Bad teachers create controversy and discord to protect themselves. Sad.
Geoff Johnston:
First, you have a good last name Steve. Maybe we are distantly related…
Second, thanks for your input. While I have taught some college courses before I am not a teacher by trade. However, I have been in companies where morale really was low and I know how painful that can be.
If it makes a difference, I don’t think salaries are the primary complaint by teachers at HUSD. The salary schedule is in fact competitive with other districts in this area. Now if what you are really trying to say is that the HUSD teachers union is fabricating (or at least fermenting) claims of low morale in order to improve their bargaining position I will have to disagree. Former teachers with no vested interest in HUSD upping the salary structure are just as vocal about the culture problems as current teachers (more so in many cases because they have less to lose by being honest).
However, I am aware that there is a sampling bias with the people who contact me. I have tried to mitigate that as much as I can by contacting teachers myself and eliciting their opinions. My sample is obviously still not exhaustive but I think I am likely in the right ballpark with my impressions.
Again, I don’t doubt that we are not the worst district around, but I hope that we will be able to be soon debating whether HUSD is the best school district in the state.
September 8, 2008, 1:34 pm