Talking Points for the August 22 BOE Meeting
What the board and administration can do when teachers and topics are targeted by public ed disrupters.
Public education disrupters are “masters of chaos,” as Diane Ravitch, Assistant Secretary of Education under George H.W. Bush, put so well. Disruption is a calculated and insidious movement bent on privatizing public schools while attacking teachers’ professionalism.
When public education disrupters targeted Social Emotional Learning, the District 205 board and administration bravely made it clear that SEL was a valuable, inextricable part of children’s education. Spotlights at regular board meetings, YouTube videos, written communications, and an “SEL at Home” website all served to demystify, validate, and spread the competencies. Through these visible actions, the board and administration made it clear that they stood behind the value of SEL and the educators who incorporated it. I greatly appreciated these steps, which let me know that the SEL my kid needs is here to say, and gave me access to tips for incorporating in our family.
In contrast, I did not see a similar level of support for the American Studies course and its teachers, when they were relentlessly disparaged by public ed disrupters. To me this was a missed opportunity for showcasing our district’s valuable assets. Where were the spotlights, the written explainers, the YouTube videos? Where was the demystification to show that this course ties to specific Illinois State Board of Education Standards for Social Studies and English? For parents or community members who wanted to bring American Studies topics into the home, where was a website with links to resources? Those are just some ways the board and administration could have communicated its support for the topics and teachers being harassed by public education disrupters. It’s never too late, though.
Subjects and teachers that help us meet our strategic plans so well should be leveraged and showcased, not left isolated to their own defenses. I know that teachers have our children’s best interests at heart and I am urging us all not to be bystanders when they are demonized by public ed disrupters. The ideas for specific support that I’ve mentioned illustrate that the board and administration are not powerless. But obviously, teachers that draw the negative attention of public ed disrupters should be asked how they wish to be supported by the district. These attacks on public schools and educators probably won’t stop. But I trust that the district has the ability to keep our great schools as strong as they are.