Retention should take priority over recruitment
Iread with interest a news article a couple of months ago that Santa Fe Public Schools had received funding for teacher recruitment (“State to provide $1 million for teacher recruitment efforts,” May 5). In the four years I’ve been a volunteer math tutor, I’ve worked with four math teachers, all younger than 40, and all of whom are no longer in SFPS. Each had different reasons for leaving; with better management I think those teachers could have been retained.
What will it cost the taxpayers to replace them? And what does it cost the students in continuity? Three of these four teachers are bilingual, doubling the loss for Santa Fe’s most distressed students.
In my private sector experience employing people, the real reason for deciding to leave a job is seldom one thing. It’s usually a combination of feeling disrespected, being asked to do unreasonable things, feeling powerless, and feeling that there is nowhere to go to get redress for the true issues.
It’s a big deal to quit a job, and a lot of things happen before the commitment to leave is made. In all of these cases, during at least one conversation with me, all of these teachers expressed that they wish there was somewhere to go in the system to speak with a knowledgeable person under a condition of confidentiality to see whether solutions to their issues were possible.
There is no one in the administration, either on-site or on Camino Los Altos, who fills this function now. And I have witnessed the fact that discussing one’s problems with one’s principal seldom ends well.
The superintendent should set up an Office of the Ombudsman for teachers to speak with in strictest confidence. This would be a person (or two) knowledgeable about the system with the authority to confidentially investigate problems or refer teachers to resources that might help them. Aside from reporting potential violations of law, it should be known that this person will not under any circumstances report specific teacher concerns aside from handling them anonymously.
The superintendent should also direct that all teachers leaving the system be given exit interviews with at least two professionals. I would be curious to know how much the superintendent knows now about the real reasons teachers are leaving. We cannot afford to keep losing talent.