The Task Force for Teacher Excellence: A Whole New World?

When my son was three and a half, he asked for a flying carpet for Christmas.

This caused an immediate panic in our household.  He insisted, despite all evidence to the contrary, that flying carpets existed and Santa would have no problem procuring one.  After all, Santa was magic.

We debated a plan of action for the next little while.  Distraction didn't seem to work; all efforts to show him other better, more attractive toys failed.  Logic, as a strategy, was completely out the window; three-year-olds are not known for their critical reasoning skills.  All we could do, we figured, was to purchase a carpet that looked like a flying carpet and hope for the best.

On Christmas Day, we had a very happy little boy.  He dragged the coffee table in front of the television set, put his little area rug on top of it, and watched Aladdin repeatedly while "flying" his carpet.

After a while, though, he tired of pretending.  This wasn't a flying carpet, he realized.  In terms of flying carpets, his was a dud.

The Task Force for Teaching Excellence report is much the same as my son's flying carpet.  It promises a magical ride full of wonder and joy for many teachers, as it makes recommendations for increased mentorship, preparation time, and professional development.  Those fantastical promises are the stuff of which teachers' dreams are made.  Just imagine a world in which a teacher had a prep period every day!  Or professional development that was self-directed, job-embedded, and fully funded!  This, indeed, would make Alberta a teaching Shangri-La.  I'm worried, though, that the recommendations that are most attractive to teachers are not fiscally feasible, thereby grounding the promised flight before it even has a chance to fly.

Minister Johnson, in his most recent email to teachers, said, "The [Task Force for Teaching Excellence] report makes many recommendations that, if implemented, would empower and support teachers throughout their careers.  For instance, the Task Force calls for increased time for preparation, a mentorship program for younger teachers, a more formal set of best practices, and increased access to technology and professional support."  Most of this sounds great.  Please, though, consider our provincial context before buying into the infomercial.

Currently, education funding in Alberta is largely a shell game.  For instance, during the last budget, Alberta Education proudly announced that funding for English Language Learners was increasing.  Well, the per-year allocation increased ever-so-slightly, but funding was cut back from seven years of support to five.  This means that overall support for English Language Learners was actually cut, not increased.  

We have to ensure that any increase to teacher preparation time or professional development is not given the same treatment.  Stick with me while we do a little math:

For years, I taught in Junior High on a six day rotation.  There were seven classes a day.  According to my contract, I had to teach 1430 minutes per week (this was my time in front of students, not my entire work day).  This meant I had two forty-five minute "prep" periods every six days.  Given the information we know about teacher workload, it wouldn't be an unreasonable to wish for a prep every day.  This would allow me to return assessments in a more timely fashion, open up possibilities for collaborative work with other colleagues, allow me to set up interesting and new lesson plans, or provide time for some professional learning.

In order to have a prep period every day, I would need four more prep periods.  This amount of time, because time is money, would cost the school $10 000 (roughly, but we are just doing rough estimates, here.  This is a fairly accurate number).  If there were 10,000 junior high teachers in the province (I have no idea, actually, but play along with me.  We have 36,000 teachers overall, so let's just go with ten thousand for easy math) and that prep time cost $10 000 each, then adding additional prep time to teachers' schedules would cost the province $100 000 000.

That's right.  One hundred million dollars. For only a third of the teaching population.

Somehow, I don't see that in our future. 

But it is possible that money will be shifted around.  In order to provide prep time for teachers, the money could be taken from other areas.  This would satisfy the TF recommendation, but still have the overall effect of reducing student and teacher supports.  This is how the shell game works. 

Call me a cynic.

While I'm being cynical, it has not escaped my notice that the recommendations that are problematic to the ATA, like removing principals from the Association or having teachers become re-certified every five years, do not have a hefty price tag associated with them.  For instance, much of the re-certification paperwork could be downloaded to principals (who already have a significant workload issue).  Actually, I would anticipate that any costs associated with re-certification would be on a cost-recovery model, a situation that would see teachers having to pay a fee to be re-certified.  That's just speculation, but it is within the realm of possibility.  Certainly more possible than "increased time for preparation."

In order to make sure that this Task Force does not take us on a trippy magic carpet ride that ultimately crashes and burns, teachers need to take action.  At the very least, it certainly appears to me that the recommendations that would support teachers are unlikely to get off the ground without a significant influx of money.  If these recommendations are truly important to teacher excellence, then we need to lobby for increased, sustainable, and predictable funding.

We are left with few options but to let our voices be heard.  Minister Johnson and I agree on this: Teachers need to respond to the Task Force survey.  Please go to www.education.alberta.ca/TeachingExcellence to complete the survey by June 15.  (I know.  This is the worst possible time of year to ask teachers to complete anything but report cards.  But this is important.  Make time, as best you can.)  It is only by speaking out that we can help shape the future of education in this province.