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Most news reports and editorials that reference the striking Bellevue teachers list salary as the primary motivator for the strike, which is the easy play because it's always about money. Except when it isn't. The striking Bellevue teachers we've talked to (full disclosure: Seattlest's wife is a striking Bellevue teacher) list the current implementation of the centralized curriculum as the primary motivation for the strike.
In 2006 the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded millions of dollars in grant money to the Bellevue School District to develop a centralized curriculum. From the 2006 press release:
Designed to be universally adaptable, the Web curriculum has the potential to serve as a model guide for other school districts in Washington state and across the nation.The Internet-based system will be accessible to students, parents, and teachers, and will provide information about courses, units and lessons, and resources to strengthen curriculum, instruction, and classroom learning so that all students graduate with the skills necessary for success in college, work, and life.
It's 2008 now, and the implementation of that curriculum is flawed. Instead of revolutionizing education across Washington state and the nation, it has contributed to the teachers of Bellevue being without a contract and on strike. The Gates Foundation money is spent and although a lot of hard work on the part of teachers and administrators went into the curriculum, it treats every student the same.
Not every student is the same. Not even every classroom of students is the same, and part of a teacher's job is identifying the differences between this student and that one, this classroom and another, and tailoring daily lessons to the speed, strengths, weaknesses, and learning styles of the particular student or group of students they happen to be standing in front of. It's an integral part of an educator's job. To reach this particular kid and effectively move him towards an objective--and allow him to successfully navigate an assessment--is where a teacher's own education, creativity, experience, and skill all come into play. This process is where the job satisfaction resides. It certainly isn't in the pay envelop.
So when the District mandates that a centralized curriculum be followed to the letter, and that it knows best what to teach to a given student on a given day, and insists that it be taught exactly the same way to every student...well teachers are going to disagree with that. And they should. And it looks like they might be disagreeing for a while, unfortunately, because the Bellevue school board doesn't seem willing to reopen the book on its grand experiment of classroom automation.
Oh, and it's also about the money, which we'll talk about later this week.
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I hope everyone noticed that the key word in your piece is "mandates." We have nothing against an electronic repository of curriculum materials and lesson ideas. We are against the ridiculous notion that even the 35 kids in our classroom can learn in exactly the same way.
I'm glad that more positive press is coming our way, as well. It's been gloomy with all the misinformation and anti-strike skewed editorials out there.
So, again, thank you.