I remember kissing my elementary school crush on the playground tire swing, getting sent home with a “bad note” from Ms. Hernandez’s First Grade classroom, and dressing up for Homecoming Week Nerd Day during my senior year of high school. My list of memories from school is endless. Spending the majority of our childhood going to school is a shared experience that almost all of us have. But school memories do not make an education policy expert. The latest research on reading intervention strategies, legal considerations for special education IEPs, and the elements of a high-quality clinical experience for prospective teachers aren’t exactly areas of expertise that the general population has. Even as a former high school math teacher who works full-time in education policy, I’m not an expert. But you know who is uniquely qualified to speak to these nuanced--and essential--issues? Teachers. I know, shocking answer, right? Well, if it’s so obvious, then why are teachers usually left out of policy-making decisions? The experts closest to the kids, and working daily inside the systems we hope to impact, are usually left without a chair at the table or without a microphone for their voice to be heard when policy decisions are being made.
In my role as the policy manager for Teach Plus, I lead a year-long Policy Fellowship for 50 of Texas’ most excellent, experienced, and diverse teacher leaders. In the midst of a global pandemic and the racial reckoning occuring in our country, they’re not only teaching and addressing trauma, they’re also getting equipped and empowered to effectively impact education policy on behalf of their students and their communities. Most policymakers -- local and state elected officials and administrators -- rightfully trust the expertise and opinions of doctors and nurses when creating healthcare policy because they’re literally operating within the system and have daily exposure to patients. Decision-makers should, likewise, be relying more heavily on the expertise of and ideas from teachers so we can diagnose and properly address the loss of learning opportunities Texas students have experienced because of the pandemic. What do students need most right now? Let’s ask teachers. Afterall, they’ve been on the ground since the pandemic began, pivoting, Zoom-ing, leading, counseling, coaching, and teaching the very students we want to support. How do we best invest $12 billion in federal stimulus dollars to address learning gaps for our most vulnerable kids? Let’s ask teachers.
And we did. Earlier in the pandemic, Teach Plus conducted teacher-led research, engaging 532 teachers across 25 states and published findings and recommendations in a report. One of the main recommendations that came out of the research was, “to embrace teacher leadership and include teachers in the decision-making process.” One high school teacher put it plainly:
“LISTEN TO THE TEACHERS. Too often decisions are made without taking into consideration the opinions of the people on the front lines. The teachers are the ones that are working with students, talking to them, helping them navigate the world we live in right now. We are teachers, friends, guidance counselors, therapists, cheerleaders … The vast majority of teachers went into teaching to help students. COVID-19 did not change that - it will never change that. Please listen to the teachers.”
Our Texas teachers (who we call “Policy Fellows”) conducted their own research of peers across the state--engaging over 200 of them--and have now written two reports: Navigating the Texas Pandemic Recovery: Teacher Recommendations for a New Normal and (soon-to-be-released) Learning from Learners: Teacher Recommendations for Improving the Clinical Teaching Experience. The findings and recommendations from these reports will be used for advocacy during the current 87th Legislature, in the future to encourage high quality clinical experiences in teacher preparation programs, and to inform work with our partners to increase teacher workforce diversity.
So while district and state leaders are trying to figure out how to spend the federal dollars to best serve students and figure out how we “do school” as we recover from the pandemic, Texas teachers are best positioned to inform policymakers and they’re waiting anxiously for policymakers to listen. It’s time for policymakers to give teachers a seat at the table and a louder microphone. Our teachers deserve it, our students need it, and our state will be better for it.
**If you’re interested in amplifying teacher voices, consider applying for 2021-2022 Cohort of Teach Plus Texas Policy Fellowship. This is a paid 12-month fellowship with no prior policy experience required. Applicants must be a current classroom teacher or school-based educator that works directly with students. The deadline to apply is April 19. Learn more and apply here, or nominate a teacher here.
D Thompson is the Texas Policy Manager for Teach Plus, managing state policy strategy and empowering teachers to have an impact on critical policy issues in the Lone Star State and beyond through the Texas Policy Fellowship. Prior to his time at Teach Plus, he spent time as a high school math teacher and administrator.