Rethinking role of Shelby County teachers
As a Shelby County Commissioner, former educator, and school founder, I have seen the COVID-19 pandemic completely transform the way we think about education in a matter of weeks.
Students, parents, and community members are sharing their concerns about the entire spectrum of support that our education system provides. Many children and families look to their schools for more than just education, but for safety, food, and a sense of community.
Not only must we continue to meet these needs, which Shelby County Schools and others are currently working hard to do, but we must go further than that and work even harder to deliver a rigorous education that is adaptive, student-focused, and futurealigned.
Pushing for innovation
That means equipping our teachers and school leaders with the resources and leadership they need to make this happen for the more than 100,000 students in Shelby County.
As a county commissioner, I’m tasked with ensuring public accountability and equitable allocation of resources. But as an educator, I know we must work together to come up with urgent, high-quality solutions to address continued learning as a result of school closures relating to our current public health crisis.
Even as we near the end of the 2019-20 school year, I hear almost daily from teachers and other educators who are yearning to do more for their kids. They want to adapt and figure out how to build or maintain digital learning engagement, they want to engage their students in rigorous discussion, and they want to see their students achieve their goals.
Our teachers have already started
It’s examples like these that highlight how teachers are profound leaders for kids. In Shelby County, we have over 100,000 students who need strong leaders every day. As the Director of Regional Impact at Leadership
for Educational Equity (LEE), I am able to support nearly 1,000 current and former teachers to develop their civic leadership inside and outside the school building.
Two leaders that I have worked closely with this school year as policy leader are Amber Huett-garcia in Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris’ Office of Education, and Gestina Tiffany Howard in Shelby County School’s Office of the Deputy Superintendent for Strategic Operations.
Former teachers like Amber are on the front lines of programs and policies in Shelby County. She shares, “when we have a problem as a community, currently the narrative is that our existing leadership will solve it and that the teachers, as constituents, are the consultants.” She asserts that teachers are viewed as developers of future leaders, but that we need to reframe them as leaders of that change.
The same goes for Gestina, also a former teacher, who says, “Educators bring with them a unique perspective from their classroom experience; and as a policy driver in one of the largest school districts in the country, Shelby County Schools is investing in teachers having a voice in what they do.”
Our educators are primed to close the opportunity gap for our students. Educators must use their experience in the classroom to forward policy change by engaging in decision making directly. Amber and Gestina represent educators who have translated their experience into action.
I challenge you to view our teachers differently
Every call to action that involves our teachers seems to end with asking them to do more. If you’re a teacher and inspired to do so - you should answer that call. You are valued by the leaders and residents of this city and essential for the future of our children of this city and country. The other invitation I’ll extend is to everyone else. If you are running a program, building a budget, overhauling a system: talk to a teacher. Invite them in.
Let’s show our Shelby County teachers just how much they matter.
Michael Whaley is the education committee chairman on the Shelby County Commission and the Memphis director of regional impact for Leadership for Educational Equity.
Gestina Tiffany Howard is a Urbanist, Educational Strategist, and Steward-leader and is an adamant supporter of the educational equity movement.
Amber Huett-garcia is a LEE Public Policy Fellow in Shelby County Government’s Office of Education.
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE VERSES
Qur’an Hud, Surah 11:6 — There is no moving creature on earth but its sustenance dependeth on Allah. He knoweth the time and place of its definite abode and its temporary deposit: All is in a clear Record. Talmud — A dream which is not interpreted is like a letter which is not read.
MALLARD FILLMORE