EDUCATIONALLY SPEAKING -- Gay Geiser-Sandoval

Instead of Gov. Gray Davis’ plan to add time to the school year, just

once I would like teaching to start on the first day of school. That

means each student would have a confirmed schedule and teachers could

pass out books and expectations on the first day to students who would

ultimately remain in their class for the year. Each year we now waste

about a week of time getting all of the scheduling problems straightened

out. Is the first day of school a big secret to those in charge of having

lockers in working order? Why can’t they be ready and be doled out the

week before school starts?

Somehow, school districts have to figure out a better way to start a

new school year. If I were a school principal or assistant principal, I

would start getting ulcers in August, just knowing what faced me in a

week. At the elementary school level, principals have the challenge of

the 20 students to one teacher cap in kindergarten through third grade.

That means that if there are 82 third-graders at a school, the district

and school has to pay for five third-grade teachers at that school or

come up with a different solution.

Salaries are the most expensive part of the district budget, so if

that elementary school has five teachers for 82 students, some other

school or department will feel the burden. Should fourth through 12th

grades have classes of 38 students each to allow for the fifth teacher?

Should schools with just a few extra second- and third-graders combine

them into one class? Should the students that registered at the last

minute be sent to a neighboring school that also has fewer than 20

third-graders?

The solution will have an effect on the students, as well as the

district as a whole. Parents have been contacting me about the horror of

a combination class. However, most American schools started out as a big

combination class, where the one-room schoolhouse taught all grade

levels. With such a low student-to-teacher ratio in the early grades, the

teacher has time to work with students of all levels, no matter what

their assigned grade level. I would prefer a combination class without a

child who continually disrupts the class to a straight grade level class

with my child losing education minutes for the teacher to deal with

behavioral problems.

Last week, I watched a PBS show that followed five teachers during

their first year of teaching. Almost everyone had a student who did not

comply with class rules and didn’t get their work done. As one teacher

recounted, “There are 10 students that always come in on time and get

started with their work. They don’t make a fuss, and they always complete

their work. They must think there is something wrong with me since they

have to put up with daily disruptions.”

Those disruptions seem to be pushing new teachers out of the

classrooms into an alternative profession. The September issue of

Stanford Magazine found that while kindergarten through 12th-grade

education still attracts young adults with sterling credentials, they

are leaving as fast as they arrive. It notes that a new teacher makes

about $15 an hour -- about the same as a fast-food manager, even though

they have five years of higher education.

As many as 30% of new U.S. teachers leave the profession within five

years, according to research by Stanford education professor Linda

Darling-Hammond. This summer, the nation’s public schools tried to fill

180,000 teaching slots. The Newport-Mesa Unified School District, in an

effort to control personnel costs, hired teachers as substitutes with the

understanding that they would be hired full time as needed. Substitute

teachers don’t get benefits, such as health insurance. I’m surprised that

any teachers signed on under those conditions.

As one young ex-teacher said, “I didn’t get into teaching to yell at

kids or force them to be in school.” It was suggested that the problem

does not lie with the teachers or the way they are trained. The problem

lies with the structure of secondary education, in particular. Schools

need to be smaller, with teachers involved with fewer kids per year.

Let’s stop blaming teachers or expect Stanford 9 tests to be education’s

salvation. Let’s make every school day a day for learning.

* GAY GEISER-SANDOVAL is a Costa Mesa resident. Her column runs

Tuesdays. She may be reached by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .