Like so many burned-out teachers, I retired early in 2021 after an over 20-year career as an educator. The problem wasn’t student behavior or low pay. It was the outrageous actions of unsupportive parents and the inaction of school administrators. Recent changes in education at both the state and federal levels, as well as increasing demand for more school choice, reflect the lack of confidence in America’s failing education system. The problem lies in the fact that our decision-makers have made improving public education far too complicated.
Arguments over data, assessments, behavior, DEI, curriculum, etc. have repeated themselves ad nauseam. After years of experiencing successes and failures at both the schools I’ve taught at and the ones my own children attended, I have come to realize that the answers lie in three easy steps:
1. All legislators and state school board members should be required to substitute teach six times within the first semester of each year. The first three assignments should be at the highest-performing elementary, junior high or high school in their district. The next three should be at the lowest performing schools. The differences they will experience will be obvious and sometimes disturbing.
2. Principals at low-performing schools should be required to train under principals from high-performing schools to learn what those schools are doing to create success and how those strategies can be replicated in their schools. Sound too simple? I assure you it’s not. If I had a dime for every time a principal told me and other teachers, “My hands are tied. There’s nothing I can do,” about bullies, terrible teachers and other chaos in our schools, I would have retired sooner and much wealthier.
3. Get rid of the red tape and insane rules that keep principals from supporting their teachers. Our education system is drowning in it! By forcing decision makers to be in the classroom to experience firsthand what our students and teachers are going through, I assure you their decisions will change … RAPIDLY. They’ll also realize that improving education isn’t about money. It’s about high expectations for students (and sometimes their parents!) and how much we support our teachers, especially when those students and parents get out of control.
Don’t make it complicated. If principals are allowed to support their teachers, the teachers will be able to actually TEACH! I guarantee that by following these steps, Utah will see drastic improvements in our schools and will quickly become the No. 1 education system in America.
Laura Johnson
Ogden