Brian Cohen
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One Letter Per Day: Teacher Leaders

5/3/2012

3 Comments

 
To: School Reform Commission
440 North Broad Street 

Philadelphia, PA 19130 

May 3, 2012

Dear members of the School Reform Commission,

As a third year teacher in the school district of Philadelphia I have had the unfortunate experience of being left out of major decisions that directly affect my students and me. Decisions made at the District-level often disregard the fact that we are the ones implementing policies directly with students and parents so our expertise should be considered as well.

While I have expressed skepticism of the current plan to implement “achievement networks” I have been attempting to discuss this issue with as many of my colleagues as possible. During these conversations we bring up intelligent points that deal with specific on-the-ground issues of these policies. The most recent decision to reduce the instructional time of our students by eight days is one example of this.

I urge you to provide opportunities to utilize the skills and experiences that we have in the community to help fix problems we see every day. Perhaps the solution will involve more volunteer hours on our part; perhaps we can connect organizations to our schools through our own networks; or, perhaps, we can mobilize parents to take a stand against what you are trying to do.

Before you rely too much on any outside consulting group please consider this: teachers want to help students however they can and we will tap our networks dry in the process. All you have to do is let us in the door.

Thank you,
Brian Cohen
One Letter Per Day Campaign

3 Comments
Alon
5/3/2012 12:39:14 am

Hey Brian, I admire your plan to write these letters every day in May! I'm sure it helps you form your ideas about this issue just as much as express your points to the district, which is very valuable.

This letter reminds me of that NY Times article you shared a while back, about decisions being made higher up by people who don't understand the issues at the "front lines", much like taking resources away from soldiers who really know what they need for success. It really seems like you need your input heard. What does the Teacher's Union have to say about all this?

Reply
Brian Cohen
5/3/2012 12:52:43 am

Thanks for the thought, Alon! I actually have been in touch with the Teacher's Union as well and they have been crafting a plan of action. They want to try to work with the city to change the tax code, work with the state to improve funding for education, and change the people making decisions in state government. A lot of this involves political action that just simply requires people to get off their butts and vote.

The one criticism I have is that teachers like me don't necessarily know enough about what the Union is doing. We need to have better lines of communication so that we can help.

Reply
Alon
5/3/2012 02:05:43 am

Yes it will be interesting to see what they say! I'm not sure how much power they have to wield in this situation. Would they go so far as to strike? I'd guess not right, since it's not an issue of contracts, but rather a big lack of funding and a lot of closures... I don't really know, I guess I'm pretty ignorant to the whole situation. What and when is the vote, besides the November elections?!

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    I am a math teacher in the New York Department of Education. I infuse technology and real-world problems into my curriculum in order to prepare my students for the future. I would love for people across the country to recognize we teachers can't do it alone. If you don't believe me, come visit my classroom!

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