Commentary; Posted: 9/15/04

Report reflects unfairly on state teachers

Sen. Mark Dayton
Guest Columnist

I missed the Minnesota State Fair for the first time in many years, because I was recovering from reconstructive knee surgery. At my Fair booth, however, over 4000 Minnesotans nominated their favorite teachers to receive special recognition for outstanding teaching and their critical impacts upon their studentsí lives.

My idea to give Minnesotans the opportunity to honor teachers originated when, last year, Minnesota Department of Education officials oddly chose the State Fair to announce their list of schools which had ìfailed to make acceptable progress.î Traditionally, the State Fair has been a place to appreciate and honor the best of Minnesota. Supposedly failing schools are nothing to celebrate.

As I expected, state education officials repeated their publicity stunt on the first day of this yearís Fair. This time, they recruited Gov. Pawlenty to announce that the number of schools which supposedly failed to make acceptable progress had tripled, to 472.

State officials are excited about so many apparent failures, because this has been their mantra for the last several years. They claim we have been spending increasing amounts of taxpayersí dollars on our public schools; yet, more and more schools are failing. Gov. Pawlenty has even proposed a program to train ìsuper teachersî for our schools.

Failing government programs and wasted taxpayersí dollars are ìKodak momentsî for some ideological conservatives. Anything that undermines the publicís faith in government contributes to their desire to privatize everything possible.

There are, however, some serious shortcomings to their approach. First, which nonpublic schools want to educate all 930,000 Minnesota schoolchildren currently in kindergarten through 12th grade? ìAllî means not just the students profitable to educate, and not just the children who fit into the schoolsí educational philosophies.

Many parochial and private schools provide their selected students with excellent educations. They are to be congratulated. However, they do not compare with public schools, who must admit and keep all students in their districts who walk through their doors.

Secondly, it is just not true Minnesota has been spending more and more money on public education, yet suffering worse results. In real, inflation-adjusted dollars, Minnesota spends 12 percent less today on each elementary and secondary school student than in 1990. This slacking financial support of public education has had very negative consequences for our schoolchildren and their teachers.

Minnesotaís average pupil/teacher ratio has worsened to 38th among the states. The average public school teacherís salary in Minnesota is $1300 below the national average.

Nevertheless, by the few nationwide measures of student achievement, Minnesota studentsí performances are among the best. The ACT (American College Testing Program, Inc.) exam is the most widely used standardized test for high school juniors and seniors.

Minnesota students averaged the second-best scores among the states. Minnesotaís fourth- and eighth-grade reading and math scores have averaged between first and eighth ranking in the most recent national assessments.

Someone is doing something right, and those ìsomeonesî are our schoolchildren and their teachers. Yet, those teachers receive few recognitions or rewards. Instead, they hear repeatedly what poor ìresultsî they are producing and how their combined efforts within schools are failing -- from people who mostly donít know what they are talking about.

My idea at my State Fair booth was to provide opportunities for students and former students to let some of their teachers know what outstanding jobs they are doing and what important and lasting differences they have made in their studentsí lives. Here are a few of the comments:

Dear Janine: Youíre the best ever. I have learned more from you than you will ever know. Thanks a million for everything. ó ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝA current Minnesota student.

Dear Bill: You taught me how to think and how to believe in my own intelligence. You provided the challenge that I needed to survive in an environment that wasnít always inspiring to freethinkers and artists. ó A former Minnesota student.

Dear Mr. L.: You had a lasting influence on me. For the last 34 years, I have been teaching English and Theater largely due to your influence. Thanks for making my senior year and my life so rewarding. ó A former Minnesota student.

There is still time for you to nominate your favorite teacher! Please call my Fort Snelling Office at 612-727-5220 or 1-888-224-9043, E-mail teacher@Dayton.Senate.gov or mail your nomination to me at 246 BHW Federal Building, Suite 298, Fort Snelling, MN 55111, by Oct.1. I will formally recognize all nominated teachers in the Congressional Record and will notify them of their selection shortly thereafter.

Sen. Mark Dayton is Minnesota senior senator in the U.S. Senate.

Top of Page