There are plenty of changes teachers say could help them do their jobs better, such as adequate planning time and support for their well-being.
Louisianaâs Department of Education decided to tackle some of these challenges by bringing together a group of teachers to recommend solutions â and theyâre seeing change take shape.
The Let Teachers Teach workgroup released its list of recommendations in May, and their ideas span improvements for dealing with issues including professional development, student discipline and what one of the stateâs top education leaders calls âthe art of teaching.â
âTo me, teaching is a pedagogical science, but it requires an artistic delivery,â Louisiana State Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley says. âUnfortunately, many teachers â due to bureaucracies or inadequacies of leadership â feel as if they’re more of a robot than a professional.â
The 18 recommendations donât mince words when describing the problems teachers face. Its section on training eschews âredundant professional learning sessionsâ in favor of strategies like individually tailored teacher growth plans and more time for better collaboration and planning.
One of the recommendations on discipline is titled âTrust us â donât blame us,â calling for âexcessively disruptiveâ students to be removed from the classroom and for âungovernable studentsâ to be assigned to attend alternative schools. This kind of âexclusionary disciplineâ practice has its critics, who argue it can be counterproductive and that it unfairly targets students who are racial minorities. However, post-pandemic, some teachers are looking for new solutions as theyâve struggled to manage what they call worsened student behaviors.
Brumley says that four recommendations became laws during the stateâs spring legislative session. They include a law requiring disruptive students to be removed from class at a teacherâs request and prohibiting retaliation against the teacher.
Others will ban cellphone use in schools starting in the fall and require extra pay for teachersâ ânon-academicâ work, which Brumley says might include activities like working the concession stand at a school football game.
The legislature also tasked the Louisiana Department of Education and State Board of Education with devising a more effective plan for state-mandated training, Brumley explains. The Let Teachers Teach recommendations described these trainings as something teachers do âoutside of the normal school day and without compensation.â
Brumley says he wanted the working group to come up with âreal-world solutions to make the profession stronger while keeping in mind that student outcomes have to be paramount.â The concept was to address problems that teachers consistently told him hindered their ability to do their job.
âA very clear example is I will hear teachers say, âMy school forces me to read a script,ââ Brumley says. âWe were very clear around that particular concept in the recommendations: Unless it is explicit, direct instructions or it’s a novice teacher or a struggling teacher, effective teachers need the autonomy to deliver the content through the art of the profession and not simply reading from a script.â
While Brumley and Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry have come out in strong support of the recommendations â they led a news conference announcing the documentâs release â thatâs not to say the education landscape there is without conflict.
Low earning potential has some Louisiana teachers wondering how much longer they can stay in the field, and the governor declined to back permanent pay raises. Itâs also a place where culture wars are playing out, which teachers say are a mental strain â the governor is suing the federal government over expanded Title IX guidelines that protect transgender students from discrimination.