 On Friday my son's middle school science teacher retired. Family reasons led to the decision at such an abrupt point in the school year. Her departure, after more than two decades, is a loss to the school.
Pam Lockwood has been a remarkable teacher. She has taught biology and chemistry to seventh- and eighth-graders at a level that was closer to high school than middle school instruction. She wasn't easy; parents and children often described her as tough, a bit of a throwback to the days when teachers demanded only the best. She was known to push her students far beyond what might normally be expected. In chemistry there were weekly lab reports. The assignments were extensive, requiring detailed experimental data, observations and conclusions. In biology, she handed out packets with charts and graphs of human anatomy that students had to identify down to the individual parts inside the ear. There was also required research pertaining to the pro and cons of specific drugs, such as Vioxx. Students were told to look for 1,000 word articles; shorter pieces were not acceptable.
Many nights I would hear my children moan about the volume of science homework. In the end, the skills and knowledge garnered from this determined woman were invaluable.
When my daughter entered high school biology she was more than prepared. While others where uncertain what to do, it was absolutely old school for her, and she coasted. The same applied to her bio SAT results. She walked out of the exam during her sophomore year crediting a number of questions to the teachings of her middle-school teacher. What a remarkable thing to say, considering she had taken biology in seventh grade.
No doubt the Pam Lockwoods of the academic world are hard to find. Those who do enter the teaching profession frequently burn out because of the environment or lack of support. Others leave simply because it's not what they expected. Yet finding and keeping teachers such as Lockwood is more critical than ever in our state.
Her departure seemed timely as I debated how to vote on Proposition 74, the initiative that--if approved on Nov. 8--will increase the length of time until a teacher earns tenure from two to five years. Currently there are only two states in the country with this mandate, Indiana and Missouri. There are 33 states that require three years. California and eight other states require two years, while other states mandate either one or four years. The accountability issue literally is all over the map.
The issue seemed complicated until I attended a conference last week. It had nothing to do with education but, during one session on diversity, the statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau gave me the information I needed to decide.
According to the 2000 Census, which ranked the percentage of the population age 25 and over without a high school diploma, California placed 10th, in the same group as Louisiana, West Virginia and Mississippi. Not a good sign. Even more startling, the same report placed California second in the rankings of state populations age 25 and over with less than a ninth-grade education.
It's important to add one more fact to these numbers. According to figures from 2003, the California population under 20 years old is 66 percent nonwhite. This includes Latino (46 percent), Asian (10 percent), black (7 percent) and other (3 percent).
This is our future work force in California. If we do not provide them with the necessary education to graduate from high school and go on to college, our white-collar state will become blue collar within the next two decades.
After reviewing this data, I don't believe raising the tenure requirements is the answer. What we need is to hire teachers of color who are bilingual, who understand the culture of the students they teach, whom students can relate to and perceive as role models. We need to look at the bigger picture. States such as New York and New Jersey have only three-year tenure requirements and spend more than $10,000 per pupil. Their test scores are at the top, making dollars spent per pupil--not tenure requirements per teacher--the integral component to success.
Prop. 74 looks like a bandage, not a solution. And we need solutions. Our state needs to steer more funding into education, not more paperwork. We should be encouraging more individuals such as Pam Lockwood to choose teaching as a career and give them the tools to help our children achieve success. Our future depends on it.
Moryt Milo is the editor of The Willow Glen Resident. She can be contacted at 400.200.1051 or mmilo@community-newspapers.com.
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