Board of Education member Rhonda Thurman got it wrong. She’s taking a strength — diversity — and casting it as some sort of weakness. She is calling out less than 10% of students in our county schools. Not all of those are new English learners. They are not overwhelming our schools.
To say that teachers are telling her that English-speaking students needs are not being met because of the number of Hispanic students in class is not what I hear from teachers. I hear teachers asking for more resources and support for all of their students, including more staff to support our English language learners. No one wants to bus and isolate them in a separate building until they “catch up.”
Our diversity numbers are rising because our communities are changing. To say “county school enrollment would be falling off — except for the influx of the Hispanic students” sounds like a bad thing instead of it being seen as a sign of growth. Stating that 1,968 students are now in charter schools like they are not part of the Hamilton County Schools budget is misleading. Actually, one of the schools identified in a recent online news story — Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy — is a public charter that receives state and county funding through the public school system. The virtual, STEM and Collegiate programs are still a part of our district and our budget.
Helping our new English learners acclimate and immerse into the schools of their choice should be our goal. Ms. Thurman is all about school choice, isn’t she?
Let me be clear: Educators are not burdened by these students. Teachers’ concerns have and will always be the needs of these students. Nobody gets into public education to get rich. They get into public education because they have a heart for the work and a heart for the students, so the notion that educators would feel burdened by students, no matter their race or language proficiency, is an insult to both the teachers and the students. Educators dignify their students; they don’t demonize their students as Ms. Thurman has done.
Let’s talk about what is a burden to our teachers and begin with the big whopping unfunded mandate handed down by the state, forcing our teachers to give up their planning time to scan book titles. Think about it: Some teachers have amassed more than 2,500 books in their own personal classroom libraries over the years and haven’t heard a complaint yet, but now they have to use their own time to scan those titles. That is time that could be used to plan lessons, review student work or collaborate with peers. But, alas, it wasn’t meant to be. If Ms. Thurman wants to relieve a burden on teachers, she can volunteer her time to help and provide them stipends to help the district comply with state law.
Another burden on teachers: infringement on their planning time. State board policy gives teachers the right to 2.5 hours per week of individual planning time. Not meetings. Not collaborative planning. Independent, self-directed planning time to, you know, plan lessons. It’s not enough, but should be theirs.
Another one: duty-free lunch. State policy says that teachers are to have a duty-free lunch of time equal to that of student lunch. To be truly duty-free, teachers cannot be forced to eat in the cafeteria with students and should have the allotted time to have a break.
I saved the best for last: overwhelming amounts of testing. We have just a few state-mandated tests. We get that there is nothing we can do about those. But to add on top of them two three-test batteries is beyond burdensome; it’s counterproductive.
So, no, Rhonda. The English language learner students are not a burden. They are all of our students. They are welcome here.
Jeanette Omarkhail
President, Hamilton County Education Association