Greetings everyone. My name is Rowan Sky and I'm a 9th grader at Arizona School for the Arts. I used to complain about my school a lot, but then I watched a documentary called "Waiting for Superman" and my whole perspective changed. I could not believe it. Never in my wildest dreams did I realize how lucky I was (and am) to be at a charter school like ASA. I had never thought about the schools in bad neighborhoods or the kids that attended them. I mean, I knew that a lot of them weren't good schools and that a lot of the kids weren't good kids, but I never realized just how bad these schools were. I blamed the kids and the bad neighborhoods for the poor quality of the schools, but now I realize that it's the schools themselves who are to blame. Sure, I guess it's possible that some of the students may just be nasty, little twerps, but in many, if not most, cases, environment and upbringing is largely to blame for juvinile delinquency. Perhaps, if these children had recieved a decent education, they wouldn't have turned to crime, or drugs, or whatever it is that makes them dirt on the boots of society in the public's eyes. Perhaps, they're not the ones we should be pointing fingers at. "So who's to blame?" you may ask. Well, I'll tell you. The public school systems, that's who. But really, even they are not the only ones to blame. The real culprits here are the teachers unions and their tenure.
Now, before I start ranting and raving, let me give you a little history lesson on the tenure. Tenure was originally created to protect teachers from being fired for political reasons, gender-based reasons, and so on and so on. You know, infringments on their constitutional rights and stuff like that. At the time, it was a benefit to society and a protector of teachers everywhere...but that was a long time ago. Many of the problems that teachers in that era faced are no longer issues. Time has progressed, but the public school system and the teachers unions have not even been attempting to keep up with it. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that we should nix tenure completely. Tenure in universities is actually a benefit to the teachers and they can't get it until they have been working at whatever college they are at for many years. But tenure in public schools has GOT TO GO! In public schools, teachers get tenure after seconds instead of years. They get paid whether they actually teach or not. Now a days, tenure in public schools is hurting our school systems not helping them. "Why is that Rowan?" you may ask. Well, I'll tell you. It's because tenure prevents bad teachers from being fired. In "Waiting for Superman", an example they use is a student who put a camera in their backpack. The footage they captured showed education at its worst. The video showed a number of things, from teachers reading newspapers instead of teaching, to students doing drugs in the back of the room. The head of the school fired these awful teachers, but was forced to rehire them because of their
TENURE. This is the sort of thing tenure does for us. These are the classrooms many U.S. citizens can expect their children to end up in. Charter schools help, since they have no tenure, but the odds of your child winning the lottery to get into a charter school are not so good.
Children are the future of this country and right now, our future is doing drugs in the back of the room. Is this really what you want for them? Don't they deserve better? And are these the people really the people you want teaching your children? I don't think so. Parents want the best for their kids and right now, the best is definitely not what they're getting. Now, when I discovered all this, my first question was: "If public school tenure is so bad, why doesn't the government just get rid of it?" Well, it wasn't long before my question was answered. The answer is: They have. (Well, state governments have.) Not that long ago, the woman in charge of k-12 educaton in Washington D.C. came up with a plan to get rid of tenure in her state. She offered teachers who kept their tenure a small raise in pay, while she offered the teachers who
gave up tenure a
large raise in pay. For the first time, there was hope. Hope that finally, children in public schools might be able to get the quality of education they deserve. The plan might have worked, but the D.C. teachers union was so threatened by it, they wouldn't even allow a vote. So that small ember of hope died before it had a chance to burn.
"But, Rowan, what can we do? What can we possibly do to change all that is wrong with our schools?" Plenty. A lot of times, people are so overwhelmed by the effects of a flawed system, they get it in their heads that there is nothing they can do to make a difference.
THIS IS ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE!!! This is the United States of America. Do we or don't we live in democratic republic?
Yes...we do. You CAN make a difference. Students AND parents, go online and look up your state teachers union's webpage. Email them, write them a letter, heck, you can use carrier pigeons if you want. It doesn't matter how you do it. Just contact them, let them know how you feel. If we all get up in their faces, they will have no excuse. THEY
CAN'T IGNORE US. I have already contacted the teachers union in Washington D.C. Join me in my struggle to save education. Together, we CAN make a difference.
