Re: For Teresa: NBPTS-- a FIGHTING teacher's perspective

[Anne Nonniemouse <ShopMathEdu@AOL.COM>]

In a message dated 9/23/2001 8:07:31 AM Central Daylight Time,
jtglenn@CAROLINA.NET writes:


> I am pursuing NBPTS this year... I have serious qualms about the process,
> but as I am the sole breadwinner in my household & I can increase my pitiful
> salary by 25% .  Quite frankly, in talking with other teachers this IS the
> motivation.
>
> And I can't say, as idealistic as I am, that I blame myself or others... I'm
> currently supporting a family of 5 on under $30,000/year.  I became a
> teacher for all the "right" reasons (I think, anyway) but I am finding that
> to remain in the classroom, I either have to condemn my own kids to having
> nothing so that I can teach other people's kids, OR I have to do crappy
> stuff like jump through the NBPTS hoops....
>
> ...... I am thinking about leaving teaching
> next year-- I'm yelling at my family and I am not a very nice person as a
> result of the constant pressure about the damn tests-- and I *love* teaching
> and I'm a damn good teacher... *sigh*  so now I'm wrestling with guilt over
> that.......
>
> .....At any rate, NBPTS and national certification may be one way I can
> continue
> to teach, whether I think the whole process is valid or useful or whatever.
>
> Teresa Glenn
>

Dear Teresa Glenn and ARN folks:

Ahhhh....the harsh realities and contradictions between theory and practice;
between preaching and deeds; between talking the line and walking the line;
between confidence that we can win this civil rights battle and the
frustration and despair at the odds against us such as the power of the
standardized war machine, or the events of September 11, 2001; between the
poor and working class and the privileged; between what poor and working
class kids need, and the arduous journey to help get them there....

I, for one, shall print out Teresa's letter and post it near my work station
because I find her comments to be inspirational, even if she has written them
from a low point in her journey.

I only know a little bit about Teresa Glenn, and that comes from bytes and
megabytes strewn through cyber space.  We wouldn't know each other if were
marching side by side on an anti-standards picket line.

But the little I have garnered tells me that she is a STUDENT ADVOCATE, and a
fierce defender of her children and her family.  I have read bits and pieces
about her here and there (mostly there) and I have come to know that this
world, the students, and the education profession need more Teresa Glenn's.

I find no contradiction in opposing the NBPTS in the long run but applying
for it in the short run.  Hopefully, Teresa and others will be in a better
position to explain it's flaws and pseudoscientific sorting out system,
having been candidates for it and knowing the process inside and out.

And, we need the Teresa Glenn's of the world to be advocates for our students
and opponents of standards from a vantage point of working IN the classroom.
If poverty and want is driving her away, we all need to support her and
others to pass that darned NBPTS so that she can remain IN the classroom and
also alleviate some financial pressures at home.

I feel a kindred spirit to Teresa's description of family and school life.
As fighters and advocates for our students at school, we often lose the same
influential position with our own children.  We seem to be good at saving a
whole room full of kids, but fairly uncoordinated at raising those few under
our roof.  As student advocates, a tension develops where our children view
our teaching as a sort of sibling rivalry.  Our own kids subconsciously set
up a competition for our attention and energy which is often diminished after
we return home having worked to the best of our potential with dozens and
dozens of kids we teach everyday in class.  And how can our own kids win out
against such a large number of kids?  This is a difficult situation which we
activists and advocates must pay more attention to or else our own children
become sacrificed in this most important civil rights battle against
standards.

As some of you may know, I was a public school adult education teacher, and
was fired for blowing the whistle against pushing 522 students out of school
in order to, in my humble opinion, "raise" standardized test scores.
However, had I remained an employee with the school system, I was strongly
considering taking the NBPTS.  It ends up I was not eligible to take it (but
that's a longer story).  With weak unions (or possibly no unions) and the
NBPTS under one's belt, this certification might be one added protection
against retaliation for teachers and educators who are outspoken.  It could
make it more difficult for them to fire you while you continue to be an
advocate for students, against standards, and against the NBPTS itself.

Teresa Glenn:  I wish you success in your efforts to conquer the NBPTS both
in the short term as a candidate and to stop this testing madness in the long
term as a NBPTS veteran.  I hope that you are able to work out your economic
insecurities so that you can continue in this profession which you dearly
love, and which dearly needs you.

If you are ever interested in really jumping into the pits of poverty, I
would like to extend an invitation to you and the entire Glenn Family to come
to teach or mentor at the World of Opportunity program here in Birmingham,
Alabama.  The NBPTS will mean absolutely nothing to a very low salary here,
but we would be so very proud to have an NBPTS certified teacher amongst us.

Thank you a hundred times over for the compassionate, student-advocate,
family defending, heartfelt, smelling salt of a letter which you sent to this
ARN list.

Warmest peacebuilding greetings to Teresa, the Glenn Family, and to the ARN
folks, one and all,

Steve Orel
Birmingham, Alabama