Love in the Lunch Room

A deeper look at the University of Maine System funding

When Teachers are in Charge

At Athens Community School, with 109 children, there is no “go to the principal’s office” because there is no principal. Here, none of the educators in the building ever seem to worry about those in charge, mostly because they’re all in charge in one way or another. The school, in Somerset County, is entirely led by teachers and is in its first full year as one of only 70 plus teacher-led schools in the nation.

“This school is the heart of this community,” said Marian Spalding one of the three lead teachers. “We want to be teacher-led. We don’t want to be principals. We want everyone’s voice to be heard,” added Spalding who stepped up as teacher leader along with Edward Ellis and Beverly Foss. The school had seen a shift in administration several times in recent years and with each shift came changes in how the teachers, many who have been in the same building for decades, would have to do their jobs.

“We were looking for stability in our building,” said Ellis. The stability came when some of the most experienced teachers in the building took over when the school board approved the new model in July 2015. Now, as a group they make the decisions they know are best for their students. Recently, the team chose its own science curriculum, decided what standardized tests to give and when, wrote their own school handbook, developed their own teacher evaluation model with help from MEA, and

developed their own reading benchmarks while creating a summer reading program for those who are a little behind.

“Morale is higher than before. Teaching is my passion and this model makes us all part of the process,” said teacher-leader Bev Foss, who’s worked at the Athens school for more than 40 years.

While there is no traditional administration in the building, each of the three teacher leaders serve their own individual administrative roles from discipline to financial, and are taking classes to achieve administrative certification requirements. Spalding works on the budget and is sure to involve the staff in how money is spent.

“Prioritize what you need the most,” Spalding recently told the staff. “I’m not saying you’re going to get it, but any books, periodicals you’d like to have, include all of that on there.”

For the teachers and support staff who have been around a while, simply being asked for input was a major step in the right direction.

“Really, teachers are the ones who know what’s best for kids so instead of a layperson dictating what we have to do, we have a say—we have the vision we are not following someone else’s vision,” said 8th grade teacher Tammy Moulton. From field trips to the water bottles students use in the school to promote a healthier lifestyle, all the decisions come from collaborative work by different committees—there’s everything from professional development to student wellness. Decisions are made in a democratic way after much thought and research. The investment in time and Can’t flip the script? energy from those in the You can still change the dynamic in your building with building is huge—all for the some simple advice from the team in Athens who went benefit of the student. from teachers to leaders in less than a year.

“With all our heads together, we can do it,” said “Get involved. Work on what interests you. Get on a Foss. professional development committee that will help give you a voice and make connections with the MEA—that helped us a lot. When we came to this decision, we had to start our own union. The MEA has been very helpful to start that, the Association helped with the evaluation model and offers professional development while also making the connection with the NEA.” - Marian Spalding on how educators who are not in a teacher-led school can take better control of their professional environment.