“Students who are habitually ungovernable should be removed from teachers’ classrooms so teachers can actually teach and students can actually learn," Louisiana Superintendent Cade Brumley told the Independent Women's Forum.
Educators who want more effective (and sane) teachers and higher student achievement, will study the common-sense recommendations in Louisiana's Let Teachers Teach report, writes Robert Pondiscio of the American Enterprise Institute.
Kylie Altier, the state's Teacher of the Year, led a group of teachers in developing the recommendations, which deal with student behavior and discipline, teacher training, curriculum and instruction and "taking non-academic responsibilities off teachers' plates" (or paying extra for extra work), writes Pondiscio.
Administrators leave disruptive students in class because suspensions lower a school's performance rating, the teachers said. They called for decoupling student behavior from school accountability.
"That feedback was critical to recent passage of a state law," said Brumley. After three suspensions, disruptive students are sent to “alternative sites where they can get the support that they need — academically, behaviorally, socially, mentally — to eventually return to the general school setting and function among their peers.”
Brumley presented the recommendations to 7,000 teachers at the state’s annual teacher summit in New Orleans a few weeks ago, he said. “After sharing the first recommendation, I struggled getting to the next recommendation due to teacher applause.”
Stop forcing teachers to be therapists, the report says. Students should have access to mental health professionals, with the approval of their families.
Let Teachers Teach also calls for abolishing "antiquated," time-consuming lesson plan requirements, banning cell phones and paying teachers for additional, non-academic work.
Teachers complain they're asked to take on an array of extra work without extra pay, reports Madeline Will in Education Week. That includes finding their own substitutes, mentoring new teachers, analyzing data, updating parents about their child's health and attendance, participating in community events and fundraisers, cleaning classrooms and serving as hall, lunchroom and bathroom monitors.