BOE in Action: Honoring Teachers

Okay, so I walked into my first Board of Education meeting unsure of what to expect. Were there going to be a lot of people? Was it going to be busy? Quick Answer : Yea. Although I would consider myself an extrovert, I was still overwhelmed by the new environment, feeling unsure about how to move forward. 

I took a seat near the main table (the table where all the important people sat) and soaked in the feeling - excitement. I was buzzing, ready to see in real time how the local government policies were handled. 

I didn’t know it, but the reason there were so many people was because it was the day they were giving out tenure. 13 teachers, from all different grades, received this honor, a few being my own. I got to hear wonderful stories about the pure passion and commitment that these teachers put forward, detailing the impact of teachers on the students in the classroom. 

When focusing on the quality of teachers and what tenure provides school districts with, we can see that tenure attracts and retains strong educators. Students benefit from getting to learn from long-term teachers who understand the needs of every student and are allowed to experiment and innovate within the classroom -without a fear of being fired. 

It's important to note that hiring teachers might not seem that important regarding the outcome of our district, but when researched studies show that “Teachers matter more to student achievement than any other aspect of schooling” (RAND) In our case, tenure itself doesn’t guarantee quality- but strong tenure systems that include mentoring, evaluation and accountability can protect great teachers and improve schools. 

On another note, they took a short recess to congratulate the teachers of their amazing accomplishment. When we returned to session, is where things got especially interesting. The mood of the room did a complete 180, from a congratulatory and upbeat attitude the room slowly changed and it set the stage for talking about active legislation. `

They mentioned recent bills in New York state that will impact the future of my high school. On top of that there were mentions of various policies and budget cuts/raises, but for the sake of clarity, we will only talk about a few of them - the ones that raised the most questions, curiosity, and thought in me.

-Chloe Mosquera

Stay tuned for Part 2, where we dive into how the new "bell to bell" statewide cell phone ban is being enforced—and what it means for students and schools.

Sources:

RAND: https://www.rand.org/education-and-labor/projects/measuring-teacher-effectiveness/teachers-matter.html