One size does not, in fact, fit all

Published 1:59 pm Friday, May 29, 2015

I would like to respond to the writer of the letter, “Reform needed before money,” who believes we should, “get rid of collective bargaining, so that school districts can pay better teachers more than less capable teachers and can provide top-performing teachers a financial incentive to stay in the teaching profession.”

As a special education teacher who works with students on average two years below grade level, I cannot envision how the writer’s “one size fits all” theory would work. How are top performing teachers determined? My students take a state test on math that they have never seen. Will this test determine how capable I am? I hope to have many of my students included in general education classrooms next year; will having my students in their class affect the “performance rating” of general education teachers willing to work with larger groups of my students?

To me, a “top-performing” teacher is a teacher who strives to include and involve all students in learning. Teachers work together as a team to provide accommodations and modifications, so all students can be included in classes and be exposed to all the general education curriculum. So are teachers who are worried about their “performance rating” and administrators with “the power to fire teachers who don’t perform” going to be willing to teach the students who will lower ratings? We have over 15 percent special education students, which does not include the students with social-emotional issues, economic hardships and behavior issues. I cannot imagine teachers competing for the better “rating” to the detriment of all these students.

Teachers not only teach with their minds, but also with their hearts.

Debbie Lamoree

Granite Falls