Teacher Town Hall (Education Nation Movie)

I found the Teacher Town Hall discussion to be very interesting.  It gave me a real insight on the problems and challenges that teachers face today.  Some of the main concerns are:

1.  Teacher Perceptions.  The general public views teachers as being more concerned about their salaries and working conditions, and less on the children.  The public also views teachers as being lazy and not working hard enough.  The real problem is that the wrong issues are being discussed.  The focus should be on the children and what their needs are.

2.  Parent Involvement.  The majority of teachers (84%) do not see parents as being involved in their child's education and believe this has a very strong impact on student improvement.  A number of different solutions were presented:  1) create an advocacy program; 2) use technology to inform parents of what is happening in the classroom; 3) visit the parent's environment to discuss education; and 4) engage students in the trust building process so parents see the teacher's best interests lie with their child's education and well-being.  In single-parent homes, more male teachers can serve as a role model.

3.  Academic Gaps.  Traditionally, there have been gaps in the method in which children are gauged academically from state-to-state.  The "Common Core" standards (tougher, more demanding standards) are to be put in place by 2014.  With the same standards being used across the nation, an "A" will mean an "A" everywhere.  There will be a common expectation, state-to-state, as to what children are expected to learn.

4.  Charter Schools vs. Public Schools.  Public schools are scrutinized for having teacher's unions.  High performance tends to correlate with union involvement.  Charter schools are benefiting from more resources. Resources should be divided equally.

5.  Poverty.  Poverty is not measured on standardized tests.  More than 84% of the children in Chicago schools receive reduced or free lunch.  This percentage consists mainly of minority groups. Caucasian children have the resources to opt-out of the system, but the minority groups do not have the resources to do the same.