Mrs. Tucholski was one of my 4th grade teachers. I had plenty of stinky teachers from K to 12, but she was one of the best - in the top 3 from K to 12. I'm sure some of the stinky ones will show up here on Change Works at some point. Mrs. T died last week of a brain hemorrhage or something or another - very sudden and unexpected. Hearing of her passing reminded me of our most recent conversation. We bumped into each other at Wegmans (the best supermarket on the planet) a few months back. As we were catching up with each other she told me that she had been following my school. Her exact words, "you're doing good over there with that charter school, dearie." That I had pleased Mrs. Tucholski...that I had made her proud - wow! Even though I'm 41 years old and 31 years from her classroom, it felt good. She wasn't one of those gushy teachers who praise kids for simply breathing. Her praise had to be earned. It was a feel good moment, right there next to the bags of potatoes and onions. I invited her to come and take a tour, maybe volunteer, or share some of her expertise with our teachers. Wished it would have happened before she died.
Mrs. T was smart; she didn't stand still and she wasn't boring. A snazzy dresser and pretty darn tall, she stood out where ever she was. As a teacher, she kept the classroom lively and fresh. She did hands-on education before it was a buzz word. She recognized and met individual needs before the popularization of the term differentiation. For her teaching was instinctual.
Public education needs more teachers like her - smart and caring. Too often teachers care about their students, but can't figure out how to effectively teach them. Or, the teacher is smart and knows the subject matter, but doesn't care that they aren't reaching the kids in their classes. And, because of the systems in place, these teachers get lumped in with the Mrs. Ts out there. Same time in the classroom and same education level equals the same salary...no matter that the Mrs. Ts are being impactful and the others are not.
What to do about this? Teachers need to be held to actual performance standards tied to their compensation. Teachers' salaries need to be like other professionals' salaries - the better you are, the better you're paid. If you aren't that great, your salary reflects that and if you really stink up the works, you get the boot! We can't control the starting "product" that a school receives when a 5-year-old arrives for kindergarten, and a school certainly can't dictate one pace of learning for all students. Kids are not widgets and school is not an assembly line. However, we can expect teachers to meet kids where they are and continuously guide them to acquire skills and knowledge. It's not simple, and it's not easy. That's why we need smart and caring teaching professionals whose salary is a reflection of their performance. Scattered schools across the country are doing this, and some school districts are trying as well. Here in PA, it will be quite a battle to get performance pay in public schools as the teachers' union is a pretty strong foe, but it needs to happen. We owe this to all the Mrs. Ts out there who work their butts off for their students and continue to be paid the same amount as the slacker down the hall from them.
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