DATE: Sunday, July 27, 1997                 TAG: 9707250287

SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS     PAGE: 02   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: Ida Kay Jordan 
                                            LENGTH:   64 lines

PUTTING KIDS FIRST IS KEY TO IMPROVING OUR SCHOOLS

``Teachers union to focus on classroom issues,'' the headline read.

That story in the Washington Post Sunday immediately caught my eye.

The Montgomery County Education Association president was quoted as saying the teachers don't want pay and job security issues to continue to dominate their relationship with school officials.

Instead, he said, teachers want to talk about the quality of classroom life, such as reducing class size, dealing with unruly students and helping administrators root out poor teachers - even if they are members of the union.

The speakers said his stance reflects growing concern about such issues in the National Education Association, which is asking teachers to make their bottom line ``what's best for the kids.''

The NEA has dropped long-standing opposition to using teachers to evaluate teachers.

Let's hope this notion catches on across the nation. I long have felt there's no way we'll ever get rid of poor teachers or those who simply do not do their jobs unless the teachers themselves agree on certain standards - and agree that those who don't make the grade will be removed from their teaching jobs.

There's no doubt in my mind that every school has some teachers who never could be paid what they are worth.

All of us experienced priceless teachers and all of us still know many of them.

At the same time, there are some who aren't worth what they're paid - and may never earn their keep. We all know some of them too.

It's interesting to note that we had excellent, adequate and awful teachers when the pay was very bad.

Teachers salaries and benefits have improved considerably in my lifetime - even taking inflation into consideration - and we still have some barely adequate and some poor teachers.

I hasten to reiterate, we also still have some very good teachers who never will be paid enough for what they do.

In many ways, newspaper reporting and teaching can be compared. When I first started working, newspaper reporters were historically as underpaid as school teachers. Yet there were brilliant writers and enthusiastic reporters, who would have worked for nothing if they could have.

Just like the good teachers, those reporters didn't want to do anything else. There also were bad reporters and lousy attitudes in the newsroom, same as in the classroom.

Then the pay gradually got better, almost respectable, for both reporters and teachers. But guess what, there still are good newspaper folks and bad newspaper folks, good teachers and bad teachers.

I always have supported better pay for the educators, but I never have believed that would be the answer to attracting more good teachers or getting rid of more bad ones.

The profession itself must be responsible, must agree on standards and then help the schools uphold them. That's the only way they will be able to attract more good teachers and re-establish the prominence of teachers in our society.

The teachers union leadership is on the right track. We're at a point in time when a lot of people oppose putting more money in public schools.

Taxpayers want to see better results for what they're already spending. If responsible teachers begin focusing on kids as the bottom line and then agree to uphold certain standards of teaching, the schools will get better.

And better schools are about the only way these days to the taxpayers' wallet. Portsmouth teachers will do well to emulate their colleagues to the north of us.

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