By Kevin Shannahan/Opinion
Things are not always as they appear. The Natchitoches Parish School system might have a body teaching, or at least present, in each classroom, but that is not the whole story. The person teaching your child might not be a certified teacher. He or she might not even have a 4 year degree. He or she might not have a degree in the subject being taught.
The Natchitoches schools employ a depressingly large number of long term substitute teachers, 62 at last count. This is alarming on several levels. Firstly, long term substitutes hide the problem. On the surface, all appears well. After all, there is a teacher in every classroom. A parent might not even be aware that their child is being taught by a non-certified teacher. The use of long term substitutes enables the district to hide the underlying problem-that the school district is unable to attract and retain enough quality teachers to fully staff the schools. This has been the case for years!
Secondly, this burden is not being equitably borne by all of the parish’s schools. If we must employ long term substitutes of dubious quality, it is a moral imperative that the burden be borne equally by each school. No school and no child should have a greater or lesser chance of having a non-certified teacher because of where his or her school is located.
Let me be perfectly clear here. I think there is a base level of intellectual capacity needed to be a schoolteacher. If a retired engineer, lawyer or college professor does not have a teaching certificate, I am not overly worried. The Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts seems to do rather nicely with an almost entirely uncertified faculty. On the other hand, if a person is a long term substitute because he or she cannot pass the Praxis tests, I am quite concerned. If they have failed the tests more than once, I think they need to do something else for a living. If you cannot pass the Praxis, you have no business being a schoolteacher-period. I don’t care if you claim you “are not a good test taker.” Would you accept that excuse from a physician, nurse, engineer or lawyer, all of whom have to pass licensing exams in order to practice?
I taught at a desperately poor school in rural north Louisiana after leaving the Air Force. I had a college degree, but not a teaching certificate, so I had to pass the National Teacher Exam (NTE) by the end of my first year, or I wouldn’t have a second one. The NTE was, over the years, replaced by the jazzier sounding Praxis Exams, both by the same company.
The NTE Core Battery I took was not rocket science and the Praxis seems no more difficult. Any of the Regents Exams I had to pass to leave high school in NY were far more challenging. How someone supposedly in possession of a 4 year degree cannot easily pass them is quite beyond me. This matters. That our parish employs anyone as a teacher who cannot pass these rudimentary tests should alarm every parent and citizen in our community. It is a critical measure of our school systems quality and one of the most amenable to correction.
The Natchitoches Parish schools have struggled for years with lackluster performance. We are a rural parish with many of our families mired in poverty, often for many generations. We are wracked with divisions of race and class. Good jobs and a growing economy continue to be elusive. A better school system is an indispensable first step.
The children have a right to an education. No one has a right to a teaching job. The education of the parish’s children is far too important for the status quo to continue. Our community is failing too many of our children. It is immoral. For all too many of our children, their teachers are all that stand between them and another generation of poverty and a stunted life. A teacher has to have many qualities to be successful. Before anything else, however, he or she needs to be well educated. Failure, particularly repeated failure, of a rudimentary test like the Praxis, gives me grave doubt as to one’s intellectual ability. I would not want such a person teaching my grandchildren, nor would I foist you on anyone else’s.
Raising the quality of the substitute pool is the quickest way to boost our system’s quality. Hiring long term substitutes who are not certified does not doom us to mediocrity. Quite the contrary, Natchitoches is not without resources. It is after all, a college town with a substantial retiree population. Let us look for indications of quality, something that shows a person has performed well on an objective standard at least as challenging as and, to be honest, quite a bit harder than, the Praxis.
Go to the head of the Louisiana Scholars’ College and ask her the following: Do you have any seniors who would like a challenging and worthwhile job before they go off to graduate or medical school? There are retirees who may want to be of use. There are any number of bright people in our community who may never have thought of teaching. It is time to fix that.
Teaching- providing an environment for learning, having support from the parents, administrators, school board, and even the students, all working together and creating a piece of lovable art and desired behavior. This sounds good and it is feasible, but not probable, although most of this idealism can come together with work from all of the following groups:
Parents: This is your child. Teach, work, help that child before he ever reaches kindergarten; he should have a resume already being established and you should offer support to the teacher and the teacher should have standards already in place according to State requirements and even more requirements from the local level, making certain the child learns to obey and behave in an orderly fashion without scolding the teacher. The child or adolescent must learn proper behavior from the parent and transmit this throughout his schooling. Reprimand your child and establish goals and perimeters for learning. Provide the parental guidance that is necessary to become socially acceptable.
Teachers- Do your work; prepare for your students, be ready. Motivate, motivate, motivate, and also teach! Evaluate yourself at the end of each lesson or day. How can you improve and reach that child who finds nothing of interest or of kin. Make the eyes of that student see light, becoming bright with a reason to learn. He will find something, maybe fun, pleasurable, or at least a moment of confusion or even frustration to arouse some discussion and communication of a problem or idea. There is something that can and will appeal to a student and there is a teacher who can make it happen. Take pride in your work, be professional, and care. Everybody needs someone to care– about them. Teaching with pride and dedication is not always easy; it can be difficult, or it can be as simple, as A, B,C., but I have loved it all my life. I don’t claim to always like a student, but somehow I cared and loved the student.
Administrators: The teachers make you successful; they are the shining example for your school and the students become the stars. Support the teacher, but make certain he is providing a desirable learning experience and preparing the students within his provided curriculum study. There are rules and regulations, but teaching with motivation and applied creativity usually entertains the student to at least a minimum standard of learning. The substance is offered and provided for the student to elect or select! Guide your teacher and help that novice teacher in a justly manner to reach expected heights and be proud of his achievements and those of his students. In the end it is the student that is rewarded with knowledge of understanding and applying simple rules and standards for acquiring success.
School Board- You should guide and do everything in your power to help the administrator and teacher become successful and if this happens, surely the student will also find success. You can’t reach this goal by fighting for power, struggling between black and white, but compromise and expect even more from that child and that teacher and the administrator. Presently, it seems most of the bickering is over who can win a battle, while it is probably irrelevant to the child. (leave alone and they will play together and likely get along and even work together). Stop fighting each other and realize your job is to provide the best education possible for all, K-12. Set goals, expect more than the least, and don’t make exceptions to the rule; either do or don’t, but some win and some lose in life. Too many students are rewarded because of failure ( common sense allowed me to know I would never be a master student of math or biology, but I recognized other courses that fit my forte).
Students: Some, maybe most of you understand that learning is a necessity and it only makes a better future for you. It should be a privilege to attend a free public school and be taught by an educated and professional teacher, one who should care about you and your future, and tries to guide you toward a successful and happy way of life. Some of you have no desire to learn or become part of the workforce, but you should not be allowed to hinder the right of other’s who want to become worthy citizens and give back to society. Find something that you like, learn a skill, and do something with your life. You choose to be a beggar or a cheat or maintain a castle or a prison. Decide which is best for you. Do something in life and earn respect! Give before you accept and then reward yourself when time comes.
Closing: After teaching nearly 40 years in Natchitoches (secondary) I know we have some of the brightest students and master teachers in the State, but I also know there is another side of the picture that we must challenge, and with leadership including parents, find a way to solve the problems or the City and Parish and the University will fall into ruins like those of the Roman Empire. We were once great; we rated among the highest in the State, but now they too have fallen and trying to make their way. We can do it, but it won’t be an easy task. Parents, teachers, administrators, school board, and students- are you willing to work together? A simple response of “yes” won’t make it happen; it won’t come to fruition without leadership and meetings, and workshops. Are we doomed? Only YOU can answer and make the necessary modifications. Parents, do you attend PTO meetings and parent-teacher conferences? You must make time and become involved. You are important; so is your child.
Long, wordy? Important? Yes!
o-but sports will be well funded and pushed–everything is focus on social engineering and the hell with education–If the old days when one took a test that was it–whatever u made that was it–now a days u can keep taking test until u make a passing grade–plus in our day grade scores were higher–today u can make an F if its under 65–our day it was 75–sorry system–cut out sports and go back to 3r’s
Just saw on ktbs the district scored a B just caught the end of the story. But a B was good at one time.
My husband has a Masters Degree and passed the Praxis exam and they still hired someone else because it cost less to pay them. They would rather hire an inexperienced person to teach our children than pay a little more for someone who is qualified to teach. There is a real problem here!
They should give a time frame from the time they are hired to get certified. If they can’t, then their job should be on the line. My friend is working for Central almost a year and is in the process of getting certified. There should be yearly evaluations if there isn’t already.
Good, insightful article. Teacher recruitment and retention is a long-standing problem throughout Louisiana, more severe in Natchitoches than most other districts. Despite having a premier teacher education program at NSU, the district seems unable to attract and retain the university graduates. Perhaps after the prospective teachers get a four-year look at the town, they don’t see anything that entices them to make it their home. Nor can you blame them; there’s not much in Natchitoches that would suit the lifestyle of a young adult.
But even once we’ve got them, we seem to drive them away. IMHO, some of that is due to leadership’s failure to treat our teachers as professionals. A word to principals and supervisors–you’re no longer in the classroom managing children and adolescents. Learn the skills necessary to lead adults.
Oh, and comparing NPSB to LSMSA is apples to oranges.
This article and posted comments are really on target. Another obstacle to our school system (and a nationwide problem) is the lack of parental guidance in the home. Parents do not have to be rich or have a great job to make their children do homework.
Excellent statement of tat which is obvious to many fellow educators.
Generally, parents don’t know.
When I became a teacher in the 60’s there were not ma y obvious options. Many very capable women became teachers. Times have changed, now ther are many more options for women & for men.
Education must find a way to attract and hold more highly qualified people in the field of education. Improving the work environment is one place to start, improving community support and appreciation is another.
Good job Kevin, however, because of the bureaucracy instilled in the system, good teachers are not being allowed to teach. I taught many years with the Natchitoches parish school board. In theory, it was a great job. In reality, it was a paperwork nightmare and much of the paperwork was duplicated for each regulatory board. Teachers are subjected to Federal, State, and local rules and regulations that must be documented to cover the school boards butt. I was lucky, I had a wonderful teacher’s aid. I spent about 40-50% of my day, taking care of the paperwork to meet deadlines and compliance. This was above and beyond all the class prep work. So, who taught? The Aide taught part of that, some student handouts and book work so I could sit at my desk and get this bureaucratic paper mountain completed on time. Just so the school board was safe from lawsuits and could get their funds. It was ridiculous! So, I quit. There are many others that have and are quitting for the same reasons. The state and federal governments are cutting the funds and increasing the regulatory burden. Teachers, good ones, will not work under these conditions. If I was a parent, I would be livid!
Well stated.