November 2017 Behind the Bubble: Why MTL Must Choose Teachers Over Bleachers UPDATED

While Elaine Cappucci continues her political campaign PR, I decided to publish Jason Margolis's November 2017 Behind the Bubble in October. Thanks, Jason!

November 2017 Behind the Bubble:

Why MTL Must Choose Teachers Over Bleachers

** Special Early Pre-School Board Election Edition **

Sports are a wonderful thing for children – really, for people of any age.  They can encourage a spirit of healthy competition, a sense of team, and a lifelong love of fitness.  But sports are not the primary function of schools.  Schooling’s primary purpose is to advance students’ learning and love of learning.  This is why, when a choice is to be made, a community must choose teachers over bleachers.

For the past 20 years, we have repeatedly heard the refrain that there is nothing more impactful on a child’s education than the quality of the teachers they encounter.  But why is this?  Isn’t all knowledge available on the web these days – on Youtube, in Ted Talks, in the Khan Academy?  Doesn’t this make teachers obsolete?  Absolutely not.  In fact, teachers – good teachers, and plenty of them – are more important than ever.  And here is why:

1. Learning is primarily a relationship-based endeavor, as humans are hard-wired to learn with and from each other.  The more teachers can relate to and with a student, the more they will help the student form their own relationship with the content of the classroom.  This makes teachers indispensable.  It also is supported by research which illustrates that class size does matter, as the quality of the relationships go down the more the teacher’s relational energies are spread out amongst more humans.   
2. All kids learn differently – in a sense, everyone is on an IEP.  Because of this, a teacher must get to know a child’s mind and being in order to meaningfully teach (and learn with) a child.  This requires time, which requires a low teacher:student ratio.  
3. Technology is being over-used and mis-used in countless classrooms.  This is the case when it supplants teacher-student interaction.  Instead, good teachers use technology as a tool to support learning, not as an activity onto itself.  This, in turn, teaches kids how to master technology – not to be mastered by it.  
4. There is a growing mental health crisis among our youth.  According to several recent studies, nearly half our children will be or have been on anti-anxiety or anti-depressant medication by the time they graduate high school.  This is, at least in part, due to kids’ misusing and even forming addictions with technology.  Teachers, and specifically low teacher:student ratios, can help to maintain a social presence in kids’ lives when it is sorely needed.  They can also better monitor social activity in the classroom, and stem off bullying before it happens.  Teachers are essential to developing students’ social well-being and interpersonal intelligences.  

While it is true that sports and other extra-curricular activities can motivate kids who feel marginalized in schools to even show up, this is more a call for better teachers than for more frills.  Good teachers integrate physical activity, creativity, music, art, movement, and a sense of team into their science, math, English, and social studies classrooms.  The more good teachers you have, the more students are receiving their inherent motivation to attend school from the joy of learning connecting to the core mission of schools.

Now, some might say – But MTL is wealthy, can’t it have both?  Apparently not.  Class sizes are on the increase and are approaching dangerous territories in schools like Lincoln Elementary, where parents recently appealed to the school board for more teachers – to no avail.  And further, there appears to be some sort of shell game involving a MTL fund-raising Capital Campaign which, at minimum, is failing – and at worst, could be engaging in shady activities to funnel monies from the taxpayers to special interest groups in the Sports and Recreation community.  One would have to ask: If the money is there, why do you need a capital campaign with a $6,000,000 target in the first place?

But the money is not there, and so clearly a choice needs to be made.  And this brings us to the upcoming School Board elections.  I suggest all MTL citizens concerned with public education put forth the following two related questions to all candidates – both in public forums, and in private conversations:

If there were only $60,000 to spend – would you support more teachers or more bleachers?

What evidence is there from your previous work to show us that you would indeed do what you say you will do?

Update October 28, 2017 3:27 PM There seems to be a little controversy going on Lincoln's Nextdoor. JoPo is against Jason's post. Of course.

Josephine Posti, Lincoln Mt. Lebo·1h ago

Jason, this type of post can be seen as political campaigning and may violate NextDoor's Community Guidelines. Please consider taking those posts elsewhere.

Jason Margolis, Lincoln Mt. Lebo·1h ago

Hi Jo - Thanks for your suggestion. This has already been considered, and has been discarded. Reminders about elections writ large are important, and just because there is no presidential election this year doesn't mean people shouldn't vote. Many areas within the South Hills and beyond have important votes coming up - school boards are one of the most important, although also one of the most forgotten. I am pretty sure MTL Nextdoor is not anti-democracy. I guess we will find out.