Last week I had my second unusual opportunity to attend a
policy meeting on recruiting and retaining high quality teachers in high need
public schools.  This meeting was
convened by Center For American Progress (CAP) in Washington, D.C., and was
meant to shape recommendations to the new federal administration on this
critical issue in education. 
Teachers and students at my school were excited that I would be able to
advocate for them at such a “high” level, and my principal was wonderful to
allow me the day away from school for the cause. 

The meeting was at the very grand Regis Hotel. Fifty or so
people from foundations, institutes, companies, and organizations, all with an
interest in ed. policy, sat around a large rectangular configuration of tables
under a crystal chandelier and spoke through microphones when called on by a
moderator from CAP.  I must say,
many of the voices at this meeting were much more difficult to listen to than
those at the Ford Foundation meeting in NYC for a few reasons.  For one, the meeting was quite large
and I noticed that most participants said their pieces without responding to
other speakers’ points.  The
trajectory of the discussion was thus disjointed and very little real
conversation seemed to take place. 
Secondly, I was taken aback by just how removed most of the discussion
was from the realities of real teachers and students in high need schools,
which I thought would be the focus of the meeting.

As the sole practicing teachers in the room, Renee Moore
and I were each given five minutes toward the end of the agenda to provide a
“teacher’s perspective” on what it will take to keep us in the
profession.  We both talked about the need to recognize and build on the
expertise of effective teachers in high needs schools and the need to improve
the conditions under which teachers work from a variety of vantage points.  We agreed that attention to these two
points would be more powerful than the sole use of financial incentives for
teachers in high need schools, though increased compensation would be a
valuable component of any initiative to recruit and retain teachers in such
schools.  

I’m told that not long ago, teachers were not invited to
the annual CAP meeting, and until recently, not allotted formal time on the
agenda to speak.  So what I’m about
to say should be understood within a context of progress made in the ongoing
struggle for the inclusion of teacher voice in education policy.  It was a big step that, thanks to the
work of CTQ,

After Renee and I each spoke, participants focused their
discussion around the need to fine-tune existing data systems.  In fairness, these first few comments
were from people who had been called upon by the moderator before Renee and I
spoke, and had been told to wait until after our piece.  Nonetheless, except for one or two
comments that made reference to either of our points, our messages were all but
ignored.  Participants seemed to be
fighting to get their own last points made before the day was done.

The emphasis on data seemed questionable to me in a
discussion of recruiting and retaining teachers in high-need schools.  While I agree that good data is an
important piece in determining what changes need to be made, as a few
participants pointed out, we already have the data we need to know when and why
people leave high need schools. Considering how tight the budget will be in
today’s economy, and how many good teachers are leaving the profession each
year, immediate action is necessary to begin to fix the situation--not more looking at it from afar
under the light of a crystal chandelier.

While these policy-wonks [I now understand why that
expression is used] went around and around the mulberry bush about data, just
after Renee's and my points, and again after small group discussions, I felt my
blood pressure rising.  I actually had the heated thought, "Well
if this is what our profession is being turned into, maybe I will leave after
all.  Most of these people obviously wouldn’t care."  Though I’m a conscious resister of the forces that
propel so many teachers to leave the classroom, this feeling provided a window
into the depth of the problem with many of the people who
influence education policy.  Frankly, they are stuck in a
conversation with themselves.  It’s
the same problem that we see when teachers don’t think to include student voice
in their classrooms.  The
“learning” or progress falls short, because there is no real conversation.  (Interestingly, the national
high school dropout rate in urban areas is approximately equal to the national teacher attrition rate for teachers in the first five years: 50%. Coincedence? I think not.) 

A lot of people came up to me after the meeting and said
how great it was to "hear your story."  But soon enough, this compliment fell short.  Did they
understand what I was getting at? Were they willing to discuss the
issues? 

After one of the moderators was the fourth person
to say, “I’m so glad we got to hear your story,” I decided to speak
up. 

"Thank you so much for having me," I said, "but I was disappointed that the
concluding remarks of the meeting seemed to focus only on data [a tool to
diagnose problems and track progress] and not on any plans to actually address the issues
of teacher retention.” 

She replied, in a gentle tone, "Oh, but we talked
about those things..." 

"Yes,” I responded, “but I really didn't see those issues addressed in the recommendations for the new
administration, which was strange and surprising." 

I hope that I showed that I'm not satisfied JUST BEING at a fancy meeting.  I’m not a storyteller, and I'm not trying to be a celebrity teacher collecting feathers in my hat. I may be dazzled by a crystal chandelier, but
I don’t forget the reality that brought me there.  Most of all, I cannot justify taking a day away from my
students to be listened to, but not heard. 

So here I am, singing into the blogosphere… holler if you
hear me!

[image credit: http://ciclops.org/media/gl/2007/4076_9552_1.jpg]