Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
screenings
of
the
film,
to
be
followed
by
a
panel
discussion
or
open
forum
on
the
important
issue
of
teachers
working
conditions
(which
translate
to
students
learning
conditions).
To
organize
a
screening,
visit:
http://www.theteachersalaryproject.org/screening.php.
You
can
also
contact
the
Teacher
Salary
Projects
Outreach
Coordinator
Emily
Davis:
Emily@theTeacherSalaryProject.org.
Key
Film
Reviews
The
Washington
Posts
Michael
Chandler
described
the
films
timing
as
At
a
moment
when
bad
teachers
have
been
targeted
as
the
biggest
problem
in
public
education
and
lawmakers
are
scrambling
to
find
different
ways
to
evaluate
and
fire
them,
a
new
movie
now
being
shown
in
previews
and
premiering
later
this
year
takes
a
less
punishing
view
of
our
3.2
million
public
school
teachers,
focusing
instead
on
the
need
to
support
and
pay
them
better.
The
Education
Week
review
of
American
Teacher
can
be
found
at:
http://bit.ly/kHRhmc.
Also
check
out
The
New
York
Times
opinion
piece
by
the
films
producers
Ninive
Caligari
and
Dave
Eggars
at:
http://nyti.ms/mnkccj.
The
review
of
American
Teacher,
published
September
20,
2011
by
The
New
York
Times
Anna
Phillips,
came
in
advance
of
the
films
nationwide
release
on
September
30,
2011.
A
complete
copy
of
the
review
is
attached
to
this
document.
The
New
York
Times
article
cites
a
survey
by
the
National
Education
Association
in
2006,
also
mentioned
in
the
film,
which
found
62
percent
of
American
teachers
have
jobs
outside
of
the
classroom.
They
coach
local
sports
teams,
tutor
high
school
students
for
the
SAT,
run
after-school
programs,
and
otherwise
try
to
cover
their
basic
costs.
Because
of
the
pay
and
poor
working
conditions,
almost
half
of
them
leave
the
profession
within
five
years.
NEA Talking Points on American Teacher (film) Most of the American Teacher film chronicles several very engaging teachers who face all sorts of problems because of low teacher pay (divorce, almost no maternity leave, second jobs) and the long hours required of teaching. The American Teacher film: communicates clearly the need to raise pay and improve working conditions. In general, American Teacher portrays teaching as a thankless profession that requires long work days with inadequate compensation and little or no support. profiles several teachers at various stages of their teaching careers. Despite the challenges, all of the teachers profiled find the profession fulfilling, but some choose to leave due to financial and/or family pressures. includes interviews from notable educators (Linda Darling-Hammond) and researchers (Eric Hanushek) and presents current and accurate data on various aspects of the teaching profession (recruitment and retention issues, teacher salaries, female dominated profession.) promotes merit pay and touts state and local efforts like Denvers ProComp and Washington D.C.s new teacher compensation system as promising practices in improving teacher compensation.
NEA agrees with most of the documentarys 75 minutes. However, five minutes, late in the film, in which solutions are introduced are problematic. Three key issuescharter schools higher pay, merit pay/using test scores in evaluation, and the firing of bad teachers, raise multiple concerns and deserve deeper debate than the film provides. Some aspects of American Teacher that are problematic and of concern to NEA: In one scene, a state education official from Utah says that final pay needs to be raised, not starting pay. (NEA would argue both are crucial, with an emphasis on starting pay/working conditions.) The film holds up an example of a NYC charter school that pays their teachers $125,000 per year. The movie says this is all public money, so we could assume that class size is huge, but that is not addressed. Denvers ProComp system is applauded because it links pay with accountability (in other words, pay for test scores.) This is only one part of the Denver program and it is too bad that this was the part the movie chose to mention. On the other hand, NEAs affiliate was involved in negotiating it, so we do support the program as a whole. An administrator from DC Public Schools talked about their new program that will exit bad teachers, (part of Michelle Rhees DC pay system, is based on merit pay, although the film does not specifically spell out it is a merit pay system, and it weakens teachers collective bargaining rights.) It seems clear, based on the Denver and DC examples, that the filmmakers believe that the solution to recruitment, retention, and teacher pay is to identify good teachers and pay them more.
Some things NEA we would have liked to see included in the documentary: A more detailed and accurate portrayal of alternative compensation systems (e.g. merit pay, pay for performance, and pay based on test scores.) NEA believes that the single salary schedule is the most transparent and equitable system for compensating education employees. NEA does not support merit pay, pay for performance, or pay based on test scores. Our policies do call for supporting our affiliates who have collectively bargained for alternative compensation (including pay) that is agreeable to both members and the administration.
The development of any additional/enhanced compensation system must include authentic representation and agreement from all stakeholders, especially those who will be directly affected by the plan. NEA support professional level starting pay (at least $40,000), quality base pay systems, movement through the pay system for things that matter, and enhancements to the pay system for those things that make a difference.
A broader list of solutions to improve teachers working (and students learning) conditions. Not every school can pay teachers a base salary of $100,000 as presented. A discussion of the lack of diversity in teaching, beyond the lack of male teachers, to include the lack of teachers of color in increasingly diverse settings.
NEA applauds, for the most part, the American Teacher NEA and its members can certainly support the filmmakers efforts to chronicle teachers poor working conditions, show what they put into the job, the cost it has on their families, how difficult their work is, and how little they are paid. Unfortunately, this is all a very accurate portrayal of the challenges American public school teachers face. There are some scenes of teachers in actiontheir working conditions, and the students learning conditionsthat will likely surprise much of the public who havent been inside schools for a while. NEA applauds the filmmakers efforts to present memorable and very likeable faces to highlight the problems that teachers live with every day. We encourage NEA state and local affiliates to host and/or participate in community screenings of American Teacher and initiate dialogue on the teaching profession through community-based panel discussions or open forums with real educators at the table.