Navarrette and the teachers

[George Sheridan <learn@jps.net>]

Good News: Ruben Navarrette heard from many teachers about his recent 
column on NCLB. Bad News: He is more convinced than ever that many teachers 
are lazy and racist and that these character flaws explain why so many 
students of color are not succeeding in school at the level of most of 
their white peers.

Ruben Navarrette: Touchy about NCLB
By Ruben Navarrette
Published Sunday, March 12, 2006
http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/story/14228789p-15052088c.html


SAN DIEGO -- In this line of work, you have to be willing to adjust your 
thinking when confronted with new evidence.

So here goes: I used to think that left-wing Latino activists, Minutemen 
vigilantes and politicians in both parties had the thinnest skins on the 
planet. But now that I've been scolded for criticizing the critics of the 
No Child Left Behind education law, I'd have to say that public 
schoolteachers win the prize.

In what became a common theme, one teacher asked: "How many education 
courses have you taken? Have you ever been involved in education? I cannot 
respect your writing because it is so simplistic, so uninformed. Why don't 
you stick to writing about topics you understand?" Another educator wrote: 
"What are your qualifications to assume you have an opinion on this matter? 
Because if you have none, your piece is a waste of newspaper space."

As a matter of fact, I was a substitute teacher for four years in my old 
school district, where I taught at every grade level from kindergarten 
through high school. I also taught at the college level.

I took education courses both at Harvard and later at UCLA, where I 
enrolled in a doctoral program in education before dropping out to write a 
book about my own educational experience.

None of that will placate some teachers. All they care about is that you 
agree with them. And I don't.

Teachers are so accustomed to being around like-minded people -- in 
education courses, in their credentialing program, in the schoolhouse -- 
that many have become hostile to hearing another view. They will talk your 
ear off about the shortcomings of students -- particularly Hispanics and 
African Americans -- but they're in no mood to confront their shortcomings 
as educators. Judging from their complaints, many of them hate their jobs, 
disrespect their students and resent their supervisors. And yet, they won't 
leave.

Leafing through more than 100 e-mails from angry teachers, I couldn't 
escape the feeling that what they really wanted me to do was write the 
following 50 times on this blackboard of mine: "I will not criticize 
teachers for expecting so little of their students and for demanding so 
little of themselves and for thinking so little of their profession that 
they cower at the thought of the rest of society finding out -- through 
testing -- what sort of job they're doing teaching our children. I will 
never again point out how unfair it is for those who defend the status quo 
to label NCLB racist, when, if anything, the law exposes the racism that 
exists in the educational system. I'll just keep paying taxes and keep my 
criticism to myself."

Not everyone hated the column. Some of those who liked it were also in the 
field of education, including school administrators.

One of them wrote: "I loved your article. I am principal of a rural 9-12 
high school where we serve about 90 percent students of color and 90 
percent free and reduced lunch. I am thankful for NCLB because it helps me 
hold adults accountable to results. We have overcome many obstacles because 
of NCLB and (we'll) continue to fight for all students."

Another wrote: "Being a school administrator, I am not a huge fan of NCLB. 
However, I have been saying the same thing that you espouse in your 
article: The best part of NCLB is that it does identify those groups who 
are not scoring appropriately."

I'm intrigued by this difference of opinion. It tells me that while some 
teachers are frustrated with their students, some principals are just as 
frustrated with their teachers.

I'm also intrigued by this idea of having to hold your tongue unless you've 
walked in someone else's shoes. By that standard, the next time we're 
confronted with police misconduct, we can't criticize those who wear badges 
unless we've worn one. We can't scrutinize the work of doctors unless we've 
practiced medicine. We can't criticize immigrants unless we're 
foreign-born. Come to think of it, my critics couldn't blast away at me 
unless they've worked as journalists and they've been responsible for 
turning out a regular column.

Now we're getting somewhere.

On second thought, what fun would that be? We all have jobs to do, and 
others are free to challenge how well we do them. Newspaper columnists and 
football coaches know that better than anyone. Who knows? We might even 
learn from the criticism and improve our performance.

Of course, it would help if teachers didn't always make the worst students.

*

About the writer: Ruben Navarrette Jr. writes for the San Diego 
Union-Tribune. His column routinely appears in The Bee on Wednesday and 
occasionally on other days. Reach him at ruben.navarrette@uniontrib.com. 
Distributed by the Washington Post Writers Group.



George Sheridan
Northside School
Cool, California 95614