President's Viewpoint
New Respect, Not Reproach

America's lowest-performing public schools must be our highest priority.

At a conference on high-priority schools last fall, I asked one teacher why she was there. She replied: "Because my school is 'on the wall.'" I asked: "What do you mean by on the wall?'" She explained: "We're on the wall of shame. That's what we say about schools like mine that have been labeled 'low performing' by the state department of education."

She explained further: "We work our hearts out in that school. Almost half of the students are immigrants, just learning English. Ninety percent of the kids live in poverty. But because of the way our school is labeled by the state, all the teachers feel like they have a scarlet F [for failure] sewn on their collar."

I was appalled. This teacher was smart, conscientious, and obviously very professional. She deserves respect, not reproach.

Let's be clear. She and her colleagues in high-poverty schools across America are not failures, they are quiet heroes. They are grappling with the most difficult--and compelling--challenge we face in our public schools: successfully educating children of poverty and disadvantage.

Last summer at our NEA Representative Assembly, I pledged that I would seize every opportunity to visit priority schools. Since then, I have toured struggling school districts from Oakland to Atlanta, Milwaukee to Omaha. Everywhere I've gone, I have met teachers, support professionals, and administrators who are passionate about bringing out the best in their students.

But these dedicated folks can't do it alone. And they can't do it without resources.

On that score, it bears remembering that not all schools in poor communities are "low performing." In December, the Education Trust, a nonprofit advocacy group, released a study showing that some 4,500 public elementary and secondary schools serving mostly poor and minority students are among the top academic achievers in their states.

How do they do it? Well, it turns out that these schools share a number of traits in common: high standards and expectations, increased instructional time for reading and math, major investments in staff professional development, and a strong emphasis on parental involvement. In addition, these schools use tests not to punish, but to identify students who need extra assistance.

Interestingly, the education reform legislation passed by Congress in December is full of excellent ideas and initiatives. For example, it requires low-performing schools to ensure that 100 percent of their teachers are "highly qualified" within four years. The problem is that the legislation utterly fails to provide sufficient funding to make good on this promise.

Some in Congress argue that there is simply not enough money to fully fund reform. Funny how Congress has no difficulty finding $1.3 trillion for tax cuts or $20 billion to bail out the airline industry, but public schools must make do with less than $4 billion in new annual funding--a sum that is simply inadequate.

In poor communities across America, teachers and other school staff struggle heroically to make "leave no child behind" something more than a hollow slogan. They deserve our respect. They also deserve adequate resources to get the job done.

Comments? E-mail Bob Chase at BobChase@nea.org.