The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.
- William Arthur Ward
Barring a minor miracle, Portland Public School teachers will go on strike Thursday. I’m not going to pretend to know or even fully understand the issues involved in this contretemps; what I do know is that this run up to a potential strike was inevitable. Like districts all around the country, PPS has demanded ever more and greater things from its teachers- larger class sizes, heavier work loads, less preparation time. Eventually a breaking point was bound to be reached; it appears we’re there.
The biggest problem- and this is not a problem exclusive to Portland- is that education is not a value. As a society, we view funding education not as an investment in the future, but as another expense to be squeezed and minimized to whatever degree possible. No one wants to pay higher property taxes, but if we want a quality education for our children we need to face the reality that it can’t be done on the cheap. Education doesn’t grow on trees, and despite what so many of us think, teachers aren’t merely those who can’t get “real” jobs. Most teachers do what they do because they love children and want to make a difference.
The choice is simple: do we want our schools to educate, or is our expectation that teachers act as professional babysitters and schools function as warehouses? I was a teacher for two years, so I’ll own up to my prejudice. I’m firmly behind Portland’s teachers; at some point they had to draw a line in the sand. There’s no way to demand excellence from teachers when they’re constantly expected to assume ever greater responsibilities.
I hope the strike will be a short one, but I admire Portland’s teacher for taking a stand- for themselves, but also for the children they teach. They deserve better.
WE DESERVE BETTER.
