Candidates better be ready for this pop quiz
Next week, many of the Democratic presidential contenders will visit Houston to address a crowd of teachers at the George R. Brown Convention Center. I’ll be in that crowd — one of the 7,000 delegates attending the Representative Assembly of the National Education Association annual meeting.
Our members are very engaged and a tough crowd. No politician will get a free ride.
If I get a chance, here are a few quiz questions that I would like to ask the candidates:
How will you fix a growing shortage of qualified teachers? In my home state of Florida, public schools had more than 4,000 vacancies last year. The teacher shortage is becoming a crisis. For the upcoming school year, the Florida Department of Education projects a shortage of 10,000 certified teachers. And Florida is not unique: In a tight job market, good teachers are leaving because of low pay, a high cost of living and poor working conditions.
Are you willing to let teachers teach? The No Child Left Behind Act, signed by former President George W. Bush in 2001, launched a nationwide push for highstakes testing. Here in Texas, parents, teachers and superintendents are pushing for changes to the controversial statewide STAAR exam, which puts intense pressure on students but with little evidence it accurately measures academic performance. While former President Barack Obama’s Every Student Succeeds Act has removed some of the out-of-control standardized testing culture, many teachers still feel they have little room to try more creative approaches.
Will you stand up for genuine public education? Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos did not attend public schools, has no teaching experience and never served on a local school board. She’s a fierce advocate of vouchers and other privatization schemes. This Wild West approach has put students in unsafe buildings with unqualified instructors using inaccurate textbooks.
Do you support teachers’ right to stand up for themselves — and for their students? The wave of teacher strikes and protests across the U.S. in 2018 and 2019 involved much more than educators advocating for better pay. Teachers and parents were standing up for smaller class sizes, better health and social services for students, new funds to replace out-of-date textbooks and renovate run-down school facilities, and limits on unaccountable charter schools and voucher programs.
Why did hundreds of thousands of educators, mostly in red states, go on strike during the past two years? And why did educators overwhelmingly receive support from students and parents?
Because the public wants students to be taught by qualified teachers in safe, wellmaintained buildings with adequate support services. Over the next few days, I aim to find out if the women and men running for president have learned this lesson.
The meeting will be held from June 27 to July 7.