Thank you all of my supporters! We came up 41 votes short, but this election shows that there is a large number of teachers seeking to make positive changes in our union and profession. Thanks again!
Karene-Sean Hines, NBCT for
BTU Executive Board & Delegate
My passion in life is to teach; but it is becoming harder when politicians try to rob us of our collective bargaining rights while shortchanging public education. That’s why I feel it is time for me to open my classroom door, and speak for the silent majority, the progressive teachers. In order to be your voice, I am running for BTU Executive Board and Delegate. As a member of the Executive Board I will voice our commitment to maintain collective bargaining and protecting the hard-fought benefits we earned. I will help voice practical, teacher-created responses to some of the anti-teacher, anti-public education assaults in the media. I will continue working to make our union more responsive to the needs of newer teachers as well as seasoned veterans. For example, newer teachers need assistance and resources, while effective veterans deserve recognition and to be tapped for our considerable skills and knowledge. Why not have effective veterans mentoring more novice teachers? It would be a win/win situation, and something I would advocate for when elected to the Executive Board.
Many of you know, I am a mid-career changer who practiced law for fifteen years, and for the past 11 years taught English language arts, at the Timilty School. At the Timilty I have served on the ILT, and chair of Faculty Senate. I am a member of the BTU’s Collective Bargaining Committee, and am also a Teach Plus Policy Fellow. As such, I co-wrote a policy proposal to reform teacher evaluations while preserving teachers’ rights. For the past seven years, I have been one of three district facilitators for National Board Certification.
As a proud parent of two children attending public schools, I understand that preserving the right to public education means maintaining a strong union. Elect me to the Executive Board and gain a strong, clear voice and an avenue respect we deserve.
Remember to vote, at the BTU Hall, on June 1, 2011!
Elect Karene-Sean Hines, NBCT for
BTU Executive Board & Delegate
The BTU Executive Board approves the budget and educational policy for Boston’s teachers. If we want to make progressive changes, we need to ensure that novice and veteran teachers feel their voices, and concerns, are being heard and addressed. As a member of the Executive Board, I will promote policies that support teacher-centered reforms:
1. Promote and offer BTU co-sponsored professional development, that is relevant and helps us improve our classroom practice.
2. Propose and sponsor events that highlight the accomplishments of effective teachers, and help others view us as respected professionals.
3. Propose changes to teacher evaluation policies and procedures, so they support teachers to grow professionally.
By electing me to the BTU Executive Board, we will take a progressive step forward in recognizing and supporting effective teachers.
For more information please visit my Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Karene-Sean-Hines-for-Boston-Teachers-Union-Executive-Board/188338891207802
Or my web page https://karenehines.wordpress.com/
In addition, please contact me at karenehines@gmail.com, or call me at (781) 267-9122.
Have you seen this article? It seems some school systems in California are finding it harder to attract new teachers. This problem could spread nationwide as layoffs continue.
If fewer students are opting to become teachers, what could this mean for the profession? Some policy makers might say that salary reform will help offset these losses by encouraging more college graduates to enter teaching by paying more upfront. If salary reform brings more graduates to the profession, will they stay? Teacher retention is a huge problem. How can we keep them if we don’t look at the factors that drive educators to leave the profession?
What do we already know? From research, we already know that paying teachers more does not make them work harder. We also know that new teachers often feel unsupported and isolated. They struggle with classroom discipline, time management and the multiple demands of teaching in fast-paced educational environments. So, how is any of this helped when education faces well-publicized, sometimes gut wrenching (Detroit anyone) layoffs? What can we do to encourage college graduates to consider teaching, as a career? Perhaps a first step is for educators to speak to each other, compare notes, and see how similar our situations really are. From there, we can craft clear policy priorities for what we, and all stakeholders need to do to improve the teaching profession. We can begin with sharing best practices around classroom management. That might go far to help newer (and many veterans) feel more like the respected professionals we care. That way, more young people will be attracted to, and hopefully choose to remain teaching.
There is a push to have students, and parents, evaluate teachers. This proposal is supported by many business people and policy makers at the federal, state and local levels of government. The rationale is that, teaching is like any other service industry, and other service providers are rated by customers, so why not teachers?
Do any of us believe that teachers should be rated on a “customer service” scale, like telephone representatives, waiters and some other service providers? No offense to anyone, but education is different, particularly in the K-12 setting. After all, legally, students under age 16 1/2, in MA, are forced to attend school. No one forces us to eat at a particular restaurant, or have cable television. We can choose to have/utilize those services, or not.
Public education is different. Not only is there the legally coercive aspect to address, but even if we (the parents and students) opt for a charter school, the child is still forced to attend–to consume the product. Do we think this element of coercion might impact “customer satisfaction” indicators, especially for reluctant/resistant learners and their parents?
Personally, I have some misgivings about this type of proposal–especially if it is being done without substantial teacher input. As an educator and parent of two children attending public schools, I have mixed feelings. I might support parents and students having some input into a teacher’s evaluation –on the content, and pedagogy only — not on whether or not we like the teacher’s personality/lifestyle/politics/appearance. As a parent and educator, I want to avoid anything that would make teachers feel they could be less than honest in their feedback to parents and students. I wouldn’t want an evaluation tool that can/could be used to carry out a grudge against educators. Teaching is hard enough without the “got cha.” What do you think?
Clearly the education system is not working for all of our students, and whatever solution(s) we reach will have a large impact on us teachers. There will be change, at least, that much is obvious. As educators, we can either lead the change or let the change happen to us. This is our choice. I choose to lead the change and help proactively shape a destiny, for Boston Public Schools, which takes into account the interests of both our students and teachers.
Let’s move the Boston Teachers Union onward and upward!
It’s time to move our union onward and upward. All educational policy decisions should begin by creating the best learning environments for our students, and improve resources and supports for their teachers.
This is what I believe:
Teaching is what I love to do, but it is becoming harder when politicians try to rob us of our collective bargaining rights while shortchanging public education. It’s time to step out of our classrooms and make our voices heard. As a member of the BTU’s Executive Board I will fight to maintain collective bargaining and protect the hard–fought benefits we earned. I will voice practical, teacher-centered proposals to make our union more responsive to the needs of younger teachers, as well as seasoned veterans.
In addition to teaching English language arts at the Timilty Middle School for the past 11 years, I am also a member of the BTU’s Contract Negotiation Committee. I am a Teach Plus Policy Fellow, and co-wrote a policy proposal to reform teacher evaluations while preserving teachers’ rights. For the past seven years, I have been one of three district facilitators for National Board Certification. Recently, I was appointed to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Grade 6-8 English Language Arts Committee. This committee will design the new model curriculum units and performance assessments that align with the Common Core Standards.
As a proud parent of two children attending public schools, I am committed to public education. I believe the BTU should be more progressive and take the lead by offering ideas that ultimately benefit teachers and students alike. That way, all of our students will be more successful, and us teachers will be more respected as the professionals we are.
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