At the same time, we weep over the increasing distance in our educational system relative to the much-lauded Finland, which is going in a diametrically opposite direction in nearly every reform category. Finland beats us in test scores and yet spends no time at all preparing students for standardized tests and doesn't track its students' progress with them. Finland also doesn't improve its teachers and schools punitively by tying their salaries and funding to test scores; instead, it recruits top academic performers and then gives them the freedom to teach well.
But I'm not interested—today at least—in decrying the national bipartisan run to the wrong endzone. I'm interested in Westport, which has a unique opportunity to show us the way forward for our public schools. In part, that's because Westport has very few of the common obstacles that impede student progress, and in part, it's because many of Westport's key players are looking hard for ways to improve the system.
If we're going to succeed in setting the gold standard for American education here, we need to embrace the lessons that both our successful competitors and good sense teach us, and we need to start with getting the best people and giving them the chance to create and teach world-class curriculum.
Westport is successful in hiring really good people, but it's struggling with creating the kind of environment that retains the best people and gives them the freedom to do their best work. All the non-tenured teachers—including yours truly—were formally fired last spring before being rehired, so in the midst of the "Westport 2025" reform conversations and the noble plans to create a better institution over the next decade, a substantial chunk of the staff was hunting for backup work because the district couldn't even guarantee them a job five months out.
Last spring was also when the Board of Ed passed a new technology policy that hamstrung many teachers' work with blogs and other social media. There were meetings to discuss changes, but as far as I know, the board has not passed any updated version of the policy.
So as step one, Westport needs to do a better job in fighting its budget battles without creating an atmosphere of insecurity and disrespect for its teachers. Obviously, we don't have unlimited funds to pour into the schools, and it's paramount that each dollar spent is spent on delivering real benefits to our students. However, there has to be a way to create that budgetary efficiency without undermining the educators who are actually in the rooms with the kids. Teachers don't teach their best when they aren't respected and have to worry about their financial security. In fact, if budget wrangling leads to that kind of personnel inefficiency, it probably ends up costing the district a lot more in reduced teaching than it saves.
Westport does a better job than most places and putting the curriculum into its experts' hands. Teachers create the curricula and then are given autonomy to teach it their own way. We're not tied to three-ring binders of each day's activities and assessments. We're free to use our own expertise and tailor our teaching to our individual students' needs. We achieve consistency through collaboration rather than through top-down decrees. This is something we do really well already, and we need to embrace it as central to our reform efforts.
