School Me: Lessons I Didn't Want to Learn

Letter to the Editor (Union Tribune)

The article on low-performing schools (“5 county schools are low-performers,” March 9) contained an intriguing observation by Jeannie Steeg, executive director of the San Diego Administrators Association.

Steeg pointed out that principals should not be held accountable for the performance of their teachers, since they are not allowed to choose their faculty members.

After all, who knows what sort of teachers might show up on the principals’ doorstep? They could lack even the most basic skills to be successful. Perhaps they have no motivation. They might be distracted by stressful events in their lives. Chronic health problems could mean spotty attendance. If English is their second language, communication problems would impede the teaching/learning process.

As a teacher, I find it interesting that this lack of control means it is unfair for principals to be held accountable for poor performance by staff members. I, on the other hand, must graciously accept all the children who come through my door, regardless of any deficits or challenges they bring with them. Moreover, if Obama’s Race to the Top initiative is any indication, there is no limit to my accountability. My students’ standardized test scores will be a major component of my evaluations, and those evaluations will determine salary, tenure and promotions.

Perhaps it is time for me to stop teaching at the ethnically diverse, low socio-economic school I love, and go someplace where my success is more assured (ie: a school with white, wealthy English-speaking children). Or then again, maybe I’ll just become a principal.