Save Our Dollars
Support Teaching, Not Testing
Strengthen the Education Profession
Improve Communication
Concerns:
-
Pursuit of controversial federal grants that do more harm than good for our students and teachers
-
Payment to consultants for expensive programs that are not evidence-based or justified
-
Expenditures to build new schools to relieve overcrowding while many current buildings are not fully utilized
Solutions:
-
Discontinue the implementation of programs backed by federal grants if they are draining resources and not producing positive results.
-
Replicate programs that have been proven successful in local charter schools instead of paying consultants for theories of what "might" work.
-
Do not over-build or under-build for capital projects. Make the most of existing buildings.
Concerns:
-
Use of student standardized tests scores to evaluate and pay teachers
-
Hiring of outside evaluators to observe all teachers multiple times per year
-
Cumbersome checklists (SLOs) for every teacher and additional testing for students
-
Use of an unreliable Value Added Model (VAM) to evaluate teachers of core subjects
Concerns:
-
Poor educational decisions by non-educators
-
Treatment of teachers as scapegoats
-
Lack of enough certified, experienced teachers in high-risk schools
Solutions:
-
Demand that every superintendent and principal be a professional educator who is able to recognize and support good teaching.
-
Respect teachers and pay them at least the national average salary.
-
Creatively recruit certified, experienced teachers for hard-to-staff schools and subjects.
Concerns:
-
Top-down management style of the school district
-
Poor communication from the school district to school communities
-
Implementation of programs not supported by the community or vetted through the school board
Solutions:
-
Allow local schools to identify and address their specific educational needs with the support of the school district.
-
Insist on transparency regarding district-led community meetings and communications.
-
Require the school district to seek public input on major educational issues and to present all the facts to the school board for approval.
Solutions:
-
Advocate on a state level for a fair teacher evaluation plan that is created by educators, not politicians.
-
Allow principals do their job, which is to hire, train, and evaluate teachers.
-
Reduce the amount of testing and red tape. Allow teachers to teach.
-
Use only evidence-based methods in teacher evaluation.
