Budget time is here again, and it is going to be difficult to get school improvements. The reasons are easy to see. First there are the city and state financial crises which will make every new dollar hard to get. Second, there is the atmosphere which has been created by an unholy alliance of left- and right-wing critics of the schools alleging that "money doesn't make any difference" because what is needed is "a change of heart" or a "change in structure." Finally the public, (teachers included) is fed up with
the annual ritual of educational panaceas ... ( educational TV, programmed instruction, computer assisted instruction, 4-4-4, higher horizons, phonics, the new math, etc., etc.) which are paraded out each year to demonstrate that the schools are innovative and experimental. In spite of these difficulties, the schools must move on key priorities.
Teacher Role Central
The schools have suffered through many confrontations in the last few years. Most of these confrontations have arisen over the question of who shall hire teachers, who may fire teachers and how teachers shall be licensed. Underlying all of these conflicts is the assumption that the classroom teacher is the central figure in the educational process. It is the teacher-child relationship in the classroom which is the key to success or failure. The conflict over hiring, firing and licensing will undoubtedly continue, but this conflict is merely a symptom of the real problems: inadequate teacher training and preparation.
The major ingredient of teacher training is a college education. Beyond that, there are some education courses and, for some students, a brief experience with "practice teaching." All this is good, but insufficient. Teachers should be college graduates, (New York City residents were recently treated to the interesting contrast of a police commissioner asserting that a college education should be required for all policemen in the future, while some "educators" declare that a college education should not be required for teachers!) But college graduation is not enough.
Teaching requires a college education and teachers must obviously be proficient in the subjects which they teach, but, beyond these, teaching involves a complicated set of performance skills. The teacher is partly mother, policeman, psychologist and actor. The general education of the teacher can be guaranteed by the requirement of a college degree. The knowledge of subject matter can be guaranteed by tests. But the performance skills can be developed only through an on-the-job training program -- roughly equivalent of a medical internship, The conflict over who should hire teachers misses the point, for the question of who can really teach can be answered, not by a written examination or by local hiring and screening processes but only by scrutiny of the actual teaching performance during an internship period.
Dr. Scribner's Budget
The $2 billion budget requests of Chancellor Scribner needs both praise and criticism. Dr. Scribner deserves support in his provision for $43 million for breakfasts, for he is right in asserting that hungry children cannot learn. Also, he should be supported in his request for funds for additional school security, guidance services, secretaries, anti-drug programs and bilingual and corrective reading teachers. The $5 million for teacher training is not enough.
Under Dr. Scribner's plan, cooperative training centers could give 4-5 weeks of training to 2,000 teachers a year. This provides for only I of 4 new teachers. If the program applied to those already teaching, it would take 30 years for it to reach each staff member once. Clearly this is not enough.
The Chancellor has focused on a key issue: teacher training. But, unfortunately he has not asked for a program which will have significant impact on the schools. New teachers need an internship from I to 3 years so that they can acquire the needed performance skills. This internship training should be required of all new teachers. In addition, retraining facilities should be made available to all teachers in the school system when they need it, not after a waiting period of possibly 20-30 years.
All of this will cost much more that $5 million, but it would be the beginning of a rational policy of educational expenditures. What is "saved" this year on good schools will be spent next year on welfare and crime protection.