Best and Brightest: Part Duh

A recent article in the Sun-Sentinel shared the news that Florida's Best and Brightest Teacher Scholarship Program was being considered for renewal in the state legislature. In case you aren't familiar with it, this is the completely misguided program created by the state legislature (the brainchild of representative Erik Fresen) that rewards teachers for high ACT/SAT scores and "highly effective" evaluation ratings. New teachers with high ACT/SAT scores qualify automatically. 

This is the latest attempt by the state to work around actually fully funding education; it also satisfies those who believe in merit pay programs, hate experience-based salary schedules, and despise teacher tenure. Plus, it does a pretty good job of attempting to attract new teachers while mostly ignoring veterans, which seems to be the modus operandi of schools districts lately. Experience doesn't matter to the powers that be - compliance seems to be the trait they value most, and veteran teachers are less likely to be compliant. So, from that perspective, this program might seem like a good idea. 

However, here's the funny thing. Explain this program briefly to almost anyone and they will look at you in a befuddled way and say something like, "That doesn't make any sense." Or "Who came up with this garbage?" Or "What do high school test scores have to do with being a good teacher?" I understand the spirit behind it and a little of the logic. Politicians like Fresen look at the low enrollment numbers in college teaching programs and see a looming problem, so their knee-jerk reaction is to try to increase the flow of people into teaching. Of course, it is important to recruit new teachers. 

But if Mr. Fresen and others in his position would think for just a second or two longer, then their synapses would fire again and the next natural question would come to them: why is there a looming teacher shortage? Why do so many people leave teaching in the first five years? Why are so many people with experience getting out as early as they can? The reason I call this program short-sighted is that it mostly focuses on recruitment and not on the real problem. Teaching, which used to be fun, can really, really suck. 

Now, before anyone flies off in a tizzy, let me say this: I love teaching. I enjoy my students and colleagues. However, it's a good thing that I am arrogant enough and strong-willed enough to teach students what they need to know and help them learn to do what they need to do. When someone tries to mandate my curriculum, I smile at them, patiently, and then make it clear that I know my standards and will do what I need to do to teach them. But this kind of boldness is not universal and really only comes with time. Plus, all of the top-down pressure can squeeze the fledgling boldness right the heck out of a teacher who is learning to think for himself. Honestly, test-madness has drained so much of the joy out of the job that teachers have to teach by subversion or just throw in the towel and go along with mandate after mandate. And the constant cycles of testing, remediation and retesting which many districts insist on make it even worse. 

So the legislature, in coming up with a program like B&B is putting a butterfly band-aid on a very big wound. The field of teaching is hemorrhaging teachers and something much bigger has to be done to save it. I have said to many friends that I would not go into teaching if I were in college right now. 

Would a program like the Best & Brightest Teacher Scholarship have attracted me? Sure. But, with the way things are right now, it wouldn't have kept me for very long.