State Senator Andy Berke (D-Chattanooga) is a politician who loves to talk about education. And he has a lot to say—from ensuring that "90 percent of all education dollars are spent in the classroom" to advocating "new and innovative strategies to raise the quality of instruction." In a recent op-ed in The Tennessean, Berke maintains that politicians have a new urgency, citing the widening income gap between college graduates and everyone else.
Berke's editorial comes in the wake of the Tennessee Department of Education's 2009 Report Card for the Hamilton County Department of Education—a report card full of C's in academic achievement and student progress. Berke writes, "When the public schools of the state's capital receive a poor report card and schools across the state struggle to meet our new higher standards, it is well past time for talk. It is time to focus—and act—on specifics."
For the senator, that means focusing on recruiting the best teachers, equipping them with best tools and providing more support. "Unless we are willing to try new and innovative strategies to raise the quality of instruction in our state, Tennessee will suffer the consequences," Berke argues. Among those strategies, Berke is sponsoring legislation that would use lottery dollars as scholarship funds for the best and brightest Tennessee college students "on the condition that they teach in our public schools after graduation."
In addition, Berke laid out three key areas for recruiting and retaining quality teachers:
First, teachers need professional development and support. By giving them the tools and best practices to do their jobs, we make them better instructors as well as making them happier in their jobs. Second, we also want to shore up support inside the school. Our teachers spend too much time worrying about disruptive conduct in the classroom, and we must enforce better discipline in the classroom to aid them. Third, we should help new teachers succeed by expanding student teaching aides. Studies show that new teachers in particular perform better with a student teacher helping.
So, for all the talk about the quality of Hamilton County schools, the question remains: is it time to try new and innovative strategies?
twitter-13657752 on Nov. 11, 2009
Sorry, Senator Berke, "we must enforce better discipline in the classroom" is hardly a new strategy, it's "build more prisons" translated to a classroom level and I'm sure it will play well to the same audience. Disruptive conduct is a symptom of a lot of problems and discipline and idiotic "zero tolerance" policies do not work. How about an innovative strategy for helping kids with social issues instead of blaming them?
Andy2012 on Nov. 16, 2009
Senator Berke is right. We need to recruit and retain the best teachers. It will take BOLD leadership to change the way Higher Ed. recruits teacher education candidates. The lottery scholarship idea is a good one. We need MORE than that. How do we ensure that EVERY student admitted to a teacher ed program is an academic high achiever? There should be higher standards for GPA and a demonstrated level of content mastery BEFORE anyone is admitted to teacher ed candidacy. Perhaps it means a 4-year degree and then a 5th-year of training + residency? Let's rethink the way we train. Next, let's pay starting teachers more. TN now pays lower than most states in the Southeast. We don't want UTC educating great teachers only to see them go to Georgia for $10,000+ more per year. Finally, let's reward the best teachers to encourage them to STAY in the classroom instead of leaving the field or seeking administration for a pay raise.