It is easy and common to blame teachers' unions or "bad" teachers for what is wrong with schools.
Minneapolis has settled its teachers' contract by giving more power to principals to choose their staffs. Would that it were so easy!
What principals must do is to serve as real curriculum leaders in their schools. That does not necessarily mean closer evaluations of teachers. It means creating an atmosphere where learning can take place; it means backing teachers when they try to discipline students; it means being honest with parents when more parental support is needed. It means serving as a voice for the teachers with the school board, city leaders and the Legislature.
Critics of teachers' unions forget that contract guidelines which have been hard-won by teachers are not for the teachers' convenience; those guidelines attempted to create reasonable conditions for teaching -- a reasonable amount of time to prepare for various classes and correct homework, a reasonable number of assigned students and reasonable compensation for supervising after-school activities.
When budgets are tight as they are in Minneapolis, more and more is expected of teachers for only a small or no increase in compensation. Think about what a beginning teacher in Minneapolis will receive and (as an example) only a $250 tax credit for out-of-pocket classroom expenses (which are above $600 on the average). Consider that when you consider the number of decisions and responsibilities teachers encounter every day. Greater support from the wider community is urgently needed.
CORINNE ROBINSON, MINNEAPOLIS; RETIRED MINNEAPOLIS TEACHER
Instead of refunds, investments ... Small instant refunds are a bad idea whose time may have come. They should be rejected. We have sent jobs overseas and are in debt to China for the Iraq War.
We need investment in renewable energy resources, mass transit and education so to create new jobs with a future. We can use and export new technologies.
