Virginia Journal of Education: April 2021

VIRGINIA JOURNAL of

EDUCATI N The magazine of the Virginia Education Association April 2021

VEA Leads the Way Back to the Table

INSIDE

• COVID made me a better communicator • What’s your ‘why’ right now? upg. 16

upg. 12

Editor Tom Allen VEA President Dr. James J. Fedderman VEA Executive Director Dr. Brenda Pike Communications Director John O’Neil Graphic Designer Lisa Sale Editorial Assistant/Advertising Representative Yolanda Morris

COVER STORY

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Contributors Cari Allen David Jeck Joy Kirk Michael Siraguse Noah Ashbrook Jeff Rudy Karl Loos

CONTENTS

Why VEA members have fought so hard to return to the table.

UP FRONT 4-7 This month: Speaking truth, the digital divide, and Touching Base with Cari Allen of Fairfax.

Vol. 114, No. 5

Copyright © 2021 by the Virginia Education Association

FEATURES

The Virginia Journal of Education (ISSN 0270-837X) is published six times a year (October, November, December, February, April and June) by the Virginia Education Association, 116 South Third Street, Richmond, VA 23219.

12 How COVID Made Me a Better Communicator Another of the many lessons of the pandemic.

Non-member annual subscription rate: $10 ($15 outside the U.S. and Canada). Rights to reproduce any article or portion thereof may be granted upon request to the editor. Periodicals postage paid in Richmond, VA.

13 At the Microphone Local leaders speak out on behalf of VEA members.

16 What’s Your ‘Why’ Right Now? Teachers share what’s kept them motivated in the face of the enormous challenges of the pandemic.

Postmaster: Send address changes to Virginia Journal of Education, 116 South Third Street, Richmond, VA 23219.

Article proposals, comments or questions may be sent to the editor at tallen@veanea.org or Tom Allen,116 South Third Street, Richmond, VA 23219, 800-552-9554.

18 ‘Channeling’ Knowledge

A Salem educator takes to YouTube to reach students in new ways during COVID.

Member: State Education Association Communicators

DEPARTMENTS 20 Membership Matters Member lobbying efforts get it done in Richmond.

24 Insight on Instruction Advocating for bullied students.

30 First Person Love and respect for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Cover by Lisa Sale.

John Reaves Kelly Walker Jessica Jones DeWayne Harrell Kathy Davis Courtney Cutright

“I can’t show you my report card.

It’s still in litigation.”

VEA Vision: A great public school for every child in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

VEA Mission: The mission of the Virginia Education Association is to unite our members and local communities across the Commonwealth in fulfilling the promise of a high quality public education that successfully prepares every single student to realize his or her full potential. We believe this can be accomplished by advocating for students, education professionals, and support professionals.

UP FRONT

“You know, if you stopped buying broccoli you could raise my allowance.”

When COVID closed our schools last year, NEA estimated that about a quarter of American kids ages 5-17 didn’t have what they needed to effectively participate in distance learning. As federal CARES money became available in the months after school closings, many states and school systems worked hard to improve that predicament.

A new analysis by Common Sense, Boston Consulting Group, and the Southern Education Foundation shows that significant progress is being made, though. And while there’s still plenty of digital divide ground to be covered, that’s good news. Here’s why, according to a Michigan State University study: • Students with high-speed, home internet access have higher overall grade point averages (half a letter grade higher, the difference between a B+ and a B average).

• The gap in digital skills between students with no home access or cell phone only and those with fast or slow home internet access is equivalent to the gap in digital skills between 8th and 11th grade students.

• Students who do not have high-speed internet access at home are less likely to plan to attend college or university.

• Students with high-speed home internet access do more educational activities online when away from school.

• Students with higher digital skills are more likely to plan to enter a career in a STEM- or STEAM-related profession.l

It Doesn’t Add Up… Virginia is a top 10 state in the country in median household income, yet bottom 10 when it comes to the state investment in K-12 education.l “My parents couldn’t make it. This is my attorney, Mr. Beale.”

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VIRGINIA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION | APRIL 2021

Speaking Truth Dr. David Jeck is both a member of the Fauquier Education Association and the superintendent of the county’s school system.

He was among the speakers at VEA’s Fund Our Future Rally at the Richmond Capitol and is not one to shy from the truth.

Here’s Dr. Jeck, talking recently about the challenges schools face because of educational setbacks during the pandemic: “Clearly, Fauquier County Schools, just like every other school division in the state and around the country, is dealing with this issue of learning loss. We know; we’re not Pollyanna here. We understand that this hybrid model, the virtual model, hasn’t been successful for some of our students.

So, our charge is to identify who those students are, and create opportunities for them, so that they can make up for that learning loss.

It’s going to be really, really hard to fix. It’s going to be really hard to bring kids back to where they need to be. Frankly, it’s not going to happen in an eight-week summer school program.

But we can’t just settle. We can’t just say, ‘Oh, they’ll catch up in a few years.’ We’ll have to be making plans well into next school year.”l

TOUCHING BASE WITH… CARI ALLEN

FAIRFAX EDUCATION ASSOCIATION Elementary school counselor What’s something you like about your job?

One thing I love about being a school counselor is getting to both educate young children and to learn from them. It is very validating when I have worked with an individual student on a certain topic, such as self-regulation, and eventually they begin to internalize it. Seeing them use the strategies that I taught them and seeing that success is so satisfying!

How has VEA membership been helpful to you?

Being a member has opened my eyes to how influential we can be as educators.

As a Union, we have made changes happen for all educators in our school district. It is great to be associated with such an active organization that has me, as an educator, in mind when fighting the good fight.

Being a member, as well as a representative for my school, keeps me in the loop about the status of current issues and new ones as they arise, so I can relay that information to my colleagues. l

Illustration and photo page 4 by iStock, rally photo page 5 by Lisa Sale

Why We Must Close the Digital Divide

Source: The Commonwealth Institute (thecommonwealthinstitute.org)

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UP FRONT

“Don’t give them what you think they want. Give them what they never thought was possible.”l — Actor, director, and screenwriter Orson Welles Source: Virginia Commonwealth University

“Here’s some of my body-cam footage of your son in class.”

What Do We Really Learn from Test Scores?

Standardized test scores are highly correlated with family income and education. The students from affluent families get the highest scores. Those from poor families get the lowest scores. This is the case on every standardized test, whether it is state, national, international, SAT, or ACT. Sometimes poor kids get high scores, and sometimes kids from wealthy families get low scores, but they are outliers. The standardized tests confer privilege on the already advantaged and stigmatize those who have the least. They are not and will never be, by their very nature, a means to advance equity.

In addition, standardized tests are normed on a bell curve.

There will always be a bottom half and a top half. Achievement gaps will never close, because bell curves never close. That is their design. By contrast, anyone of legal age may get a driver’s license if they pass the required tests. Access to driver’s licenses are not based on a bell curve. If they were, about 35 to 40 percent of adults would never get a license to drive.

If you are a parent, you will learn nothing from your child’s test score. You don’t really care how he or she ranks compared to others of her age in the state or in another state. You want to know whether she is keeping up with her assignments, whether she participates in class, whether she understands the work, whether she is enthusiastic about school, how she gets along with her peers. The standardized tests won’t answer any of these questions.l

“I got an A+ for my Zoom background.”

88 The percent of students aged 13-18 in a national survey commissioned

by NEA and the National PTA that say they trust their teachers “to teach them in a way that will help you grow as a student” during COVID.

You’re Not Alone

— Diane Ravitch, former assistant U.S. Secretary of Education and author, historian, and public school advocate

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VIRGINIA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION | APRIL 2021

As a member of the Virginia Education Association, you have colleagues in just about every county, city, town, and just about every ZIP code in the commonwealth. You’re part of a statewide (and nationwide) educator force that works with students at every level. Someone’s always got your back!l

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Photo and illustrations by iStock

Aim Higher

TOGETHER IS BETTER Why VEA members have fought so hard for the right to bargain contracts.

By Tom Allen

C

ollective bargaining has been an elusive goal, just beyond the reach of VEA members for more than 40 years. Since 1977’s ruling by the Supreme Court of Virginia banning the practice of local school boards negotiating contracts with local educators, our Union has created

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10-year plans, legislative campaigns, and numerous other strategies in an ongoing effort to regain those rights.

Why, exactly? Why have we expended so much time, energy, sweat, and tears to get back to the table with school boards? What will the opportunity to negotiate really do for us? And for our students?

VIRGINIA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION | APRIL 2021

Well, as VEA members who helped make bargaining a reality at last in 2020 and who remain in the fight to implement it can tell you, there are lots of very important reasons.

“Our students, our schools, and our school employees all win with collective bargaining,” says VEA President James J. Fedderman. “It’s a benefit for both kids and educators, and a way to identify and solve problems for the betterment of all.”

VEA members from across the commonwealth agree. Here are some of their reasons.

Public education is a collaborative effort. “Knowing that all parties—administrators, school board members, teachers, and education support professionals—can come together to advocate for the best interests of students is incredibly democratic,” says Glen Chilcote, a member of the Montgomery County Education Association and an elementary school teacher. “When this conversation begins, it blossoms into seeing how everyone’s interests align. From this point on, building a contract based on shared values seems like the most logical thing to do to make schools welcoming, innovative, and filled with possibilities for our students. We’re all in this together.”

And together, just like in the classroom, is how progress happens.

“I believe that in solidarity with each other, our students, their parents and our community we can organize to create the schools we know our students are owed through the collective bargaining process,” says Anne Forrester, an ESL teacher and Richmond Education Association member.

Just being there when decisions are made will be significant, says Adam Levine of the Education Association of Alexandria, a world languages teacher. “When educators have a seat at the table, we are stakeholders in the educational process of our students,” he says. “We can help shape policy and procedures that benefit and protect everyone.”

Bargaining is also part of our nation’s DNA, says Chilcote: “The process of asking tough questions and creating real solutions is something that all Americans should view with pride.”

Bargaining a comprehensive contract ensures that students’ needs are met. “Collective bargaining is an effective tool to meet student needs because no one knows more about what our students need than the people who have dedicated their professional lives to education,” says Jeff Buchanan, supervisor of an alternative school and member of the Pittsylvania Education Association.

“In states where educators negotiate their contracts,” says VEA President Fedderman, “agreements have been worked out that address issues such as class size, extra resources for students who need them most, and school health and safety issues. That’s our vision for Virginia— contracts that benefit everyone.”

“If teachers have adequate

planning time, access to quality professional development, and policies that aim to eliminate inequity built into their contracts, Glen Chilcote students reap the benefits,” says Montgomery’s Chilcote. “Remember, our students are our ‘why’.”

Educator working conditions are also student learning conditions. This is closely related to the idea of meeting student needs. How are we giving students our best when the educators who spend their careers in schools and classrooms are often absent when decisions are made about their working conditions?

Here are the kinds of questions—and insights—educators can bring into sharp focus during negotiations, says Karen Tyrrell, a member of the Loudoun Education Association and a digital specialist—and they’re all affected by the workplace environment: “What should our schools look like, what they should teach, how can we improve, and how can we better serve our students?”

Arlington Education Association member and computer science teacher Jeff Elkner has seen how a well-negotiated contract can make a classroom a far better learning environment. Before coming to Virginia, he taught in another state, in a very challenging school environment where his students came from low socioeconomic homes. “These kids lived chaotic lives,” he says. “Sometimes they’d hear gunfire when they were in bed at night.” But, because his school district’s contract had a clear procedure for removing disrup-

tive students from class, Elkner was able to maintain what he calls a “safe space” and high-quality instruction in his classroom.

Why? “We negotiated those rules together,” he says. It was different in Virginia. Not long after coming here, Elkner witnessed a situation where a student refused to do assigned work and ran from the room, only to be escorted back by an administrator, who returned him without any repercussions.

“The teacher’s authority was completely undermined,” he says, “and control of the classroom was lost.”

Knowing that their on-the-job issues are being addressed “can give educators a sense of security so that they can focus their energy on providing the creative, quality education that their specific students need,” says Pittsylvania’s Buchanan.

The ability to bargain increases educator power. Power, for educators, is nothing more than having and using the ability to make good things happen.

“Collective bargaining represents an important power shift for education workers,” says Forrester of Richmond. “All too often, we hear about the need for ‘teacher voice’ but ultimately, in Virginia, the conversation stopped there and there Anne Forrester was no real mechanism for us to have a real say in the conditions in our buildings.

Now with the renewed possibility of collective bargaining, we are able to not only make our voices heard, but we have actual power in establishing our working conditions and our

VIRGINIA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION | APRIL 2021

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Illustration by iStock

COVER STORY

COVER STORY

get a voice in their contracts and get a direct benefit from having a voice in what affects them. This will make our schools stronger and better.”

Collective bargaining ensures that educators are treated fairly and respected as professionals. Without written and agreed-to contracts, there’s far too much gray area in how educators can be treated.

Levine saw a stark difference when he left New Jersey to teach in Alexandria. “[In New Jersey] contract expectations were clearly spelled out, as Adam Levine well as evalu-

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ation procedures and due process rights. When I asked if I could sponsor a club, I was given a list of clubs with their corresponding stipends.

These stipends would actually increase every year I continued to be a club advisor. I remember thinking, ‘Wow, the time and energy I dedi-

cate to my students outside of class was actually being recognized by my school.’ I felt respected. I felt valued.

“When I arrived in Virginia, I was surprised by the mindset of educators. I was told by a colleague, ‘We have no unions down here. We have an association. We do whatever the school district mandates.’ I felt frustrated when I heard this. As a new, probationary teacher, I was concerned about my future. Throughout my first year I noticed differences.

Teachers were now ‘encouraged’ to sponsor clubs as part of the continuing contract process, but received little or no remuneration. There were a few stipend positions, but the amount of money allocated for them paled in comparison to stipends in New Jersey. The contrasts were also discernible in the teacher evalua-

VIRGINIA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION | APRIL 2021

tion process. In New Jersey, I was evaluated at least once a month. I received regular feedback from my administrators, department chair, and colleagues. I knew exactly what I had to work on and worked hard to refine my teaching and classroom management skills. In Virginia, the process was inconsistent. Timelines were rarely adhered to and everything came down to whether the principal liked you.

Fortunately, I had an awesome principal who supported me. But how many have suffered at the whim of an incompetent administrator? It can be an emotionally and professionally devastating experience.”

Instructional assistant Trina Congress of the Education Association of Alexandria sees bargaining as the best way to avoid being taken advantage of by school administration.

“There was a time when I was left without choice to cover classes, many times alone and without pay as a substitute Trina Congress teacher,” she says.

“When I voiced my concerns, I became a target of degradation and chastising in front of my co-workers. I had allowed that treatment for as long as I could before I found the courage to take action! If I had been a part of collective bargaining at that time, things would have been very different. I believe it would have prevented me from working without correct pay and would have stopped me from retaliation for speaking up about it.”

A bargained contract gives educators a sense of increased ownership and commitment. “The stronger investment our educators make in their jobs, the stronger the school and the stronger the students,” says John Reaves of the Henrico Education Association, a high school English teacher. “If you rent a house, certain aspects of upkeep fall on the landlord. No ‘all-in’ investment is required. However, if we invest in building a house together, we all begin to see and feel pieces of ourselves in this house. It will be for the community, created with the community. With collective bargaining, educators will have an opportunity to positively impact the effect their work has within the learning community, with more responsibility building a doorway to higher expectations of professionalism and, most importantly, better schools. Bargaining is an opportunity for educators to turn their experience and knowledge into tools that can directly make meaningful and lasting change for our students now, and in every generation to come.”

Going to the table is an exciting opportunity for educators to broaden their impact. “A contract isn’t just a document securing employment, it is a living, breathing promise that has the ability to greatly increase student achievement, teacher effectiveness, and quite frankly all facets of public education,” says Chilcote. “I support collective bargaining because I care. I want to help shape what our school division could be.”l Allen is editor of the Virginia Journal of Education.

O2B: Your Union Leading on Bargaining After working tirelessly to win back collective bargaining rights for all educators, VEA members are now turning their efforts to making Virginia’s new law a standard practice through our O2B (Organizing to Bargain) Campaign. Because the bill was written so that local school boards must agree to negotiate—they’re not required to—there is plenty of local legwork still to do.

Here are some of the resources and assistance available through O2B: •

trategy. Our leaders will bring tested strategies to build your S own campaign around. At press time, we’d already notched one important victory, turning back a restrictive proposed ordinance in Alexandria that would have limited the items open for collective bargaining.

•

ommunity. It will take educators coming together to find our C collective strength and voice. We’ve established an O2B Governance Steering Committee and we’ve had local presidents working with staff to deliver negotiations information.

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ducation and training. We want you to be as prepared and E knowledgeable as possible. We’ve already held six regional collective bargaining events, attended by over 300 members representing 61 locals.

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embership. It will take membership growth and unity to win M the right to bargain. We can help with that.

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I ssues. Determining the issues of most importance to your members is critical. We can help with that.

•

e’ll be there with you. Through W O2B, your local efforts will have the backing of the entire VEA organization and all our resources, including a statewide May 1 Organizing to Bargain Conference.

To learn more about O2B and how it can help you and your colleagues, reach out to your local UniServ Director or contact Katie Bishop (kbishop@veanea.org) or Todd Park (tpark@veanea. org) in VEA’s Organizing and Field Support department.l

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Illustration by iStock

students’ learning conditions at the bargaining table.”

And it’s not just power for teachers, says Loudoun’s Tyrrell.

“Collective bargaining gives a voice to so many who otherwise wouldn’t be heard. Education support professionals, in particular, will

FEATURE STORY

FEATURE STORY

How COVID Made Me a Better Communicator

By Joy Kirk

I

’ve always prided myself on being an effective communicator. I reach out to my students’ parents each school year, keep an open line of communication, and have established routines. After 26 years in a variety of teaching positions, I didn’t feel there was much more to learn on communicating with parents.

Thank you, COVID-19, for reminding me we can all learn something about everything, if we just pay attention.

I’m currently an elementary self-contained autism teacher, and I’ll spend this entire school year teaching remotely. I had to decide what materials would work best for my students and how I could assist their parents in helping their child learn from home.

First, I weighed what I could and could not control. An internal battle

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ensued as I realized my students’ learning was largely outside of my reach. I was going to be a face on a screen and over half my students had never seen me in person! How would I make sure they were tuning in and learning? I needed their parents on board.

I decided to send home the same resources we’d use in our classroom. My teaching assistants and I worked together and apart to design visual schedules, prompting cue cards, If-Then boards, calming strategy sheets, and token boards and stars for each student. We knew we had to keep routines and practices in place to make learning at home as much like learning at school as we could.

So, each child’s parents received the same visual cues we use in our classroom. I then did several parent

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Kirk, winner of VEA’s 2019 Award for Teaching Excellence, is a member of the Loudoun Education Association.

At the Microphone

Local leaders speak out on behalf of VEA members.

Educators have been in uncharted territory since last March, when COVID-19 showed up and wreaked havoc with their lives and those of their students and families. Never has leadership been more important—and local union leaders haven’t let down the professionals they represent.

Here a sampling of what some local leaders have been publicly stepping up and saying on behalf of their members, at school board meetings and in other venues, as communities and school divisions work through the impacts of this coronavirus:

WE’VE RISKED EVERYTHING Throughout the pandemic, we have muscled through a wholesale change in our educational mindset. Grit, determination, hustle, creativity, and empathy are some of the key words I would use to describe what the staff of WPS has shown in this unique school year. We have literally put our lives on the line for the children and community. Looking at the COVID Dashboard weekly gave me a sense of fear: Would I, someone in my department, or one of my colleagues across the division be next to get sick, and maybe not recover? Through all of this, we showed up, put our teacher, nurse, aide, counselor, bus driver, food service, librarian, custodial, maintenance, office, or admin hats on, and made the best of a tricky situation.

We’ve been flexible to the point of breaking sometimes.

Now, as the public budget discussion starts up, I want to be very clear on what staff would like to see.

We want to make sure that our priorities of affordable health insurance premiums, competitive salaries, safe working conditions, and positive and proactive communication around evaluations and policy are the items you emphasize as well…When staff see that neighboring divisions are offering salary increases, there has to be consideration of something (besides the valuable work we do) that keeps us here in Winchester.

Over the past several years, the WPS School Board has gone to bat for the staff, and we would like to say thank you, and to ask you to

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Photos page 13 by iStock

The author, teaching remotely.

sessions in the fall on using these resources and a timer. I discovered that, although I am a good communicator, parents still didn’t know what happens in my brick-and-mortar classroom. The materials I sent home became a bridge to a conversation on effective instructional strategies for children with autism. Parents were excited to have the same visuals and reminders that we use all day and wanted to learn how to use the token board and the timer.

We began to develop a common language.

As the year has progressed, each family has adopted what works for them from the materials and strategies I sent home, and our common language has grown stronger. We all say, “First work, then (insert preferred activity),” and everyone is seeing the benefit of less oral language and increased wait time. Each student has made progress this year and I know the communication piece has played a critical role in this progress.

How will what I’ve learned change me? Each year, I’ll offer parents of new students the visual cues I use in my classroom to use at home and teach parents how to adapt them. I’m currently creating a document with my common classroom practices and how to reinforce them at home.

Teaching has been a challenge since the pandemic began, but we’re all working to keep our bright shining stars shining on!l

FEATURE STORY

— Winchester Education Association President Michael Siraguse SOMETIMES, THE MUSIC HAS TO STOP I’ve been a musician for over 20 years: joined my first band in eighth grade and have played thousands of shows in 15 states. Moonlighting as a musician is more than just a job, though. It’s been an emotional and creative outlet for me since middle school. It’s been a part of who I am.

There are only two times in my life I can say for sure that I haven’t played music. The first one was when I’d just graduated from college and couldn’t dedicate time to creating music before finding a job. .

The second time is now. Like the rest of the nation, my life drastically changed last March 13. Since then, I’ve sat behind a drum set twice. Not because I don’t have time. I’ll always make time for music. And not because I don’t want to. I desperately want to. I’m not playing be-

cause it is the right thing to do.

You see, a few of the musicians I play with do not have health insurance. If I got COVID, I could go to the hospital with minimal worry about finances. That’s not the case for my friends. If I inadvertently got them sick, I don’t know if I could forgive myself.

I tell you all of this because I know you have difficult decisions to make. I’m not even remotely suggesting that my decision to not play music is comparable to deciding whether or not to remain in-person in our school system. I am saying, not only to you but to the rest of the people in this room and those listening via livestream, that sometimes we choose to make things harder on ourselves, not because we want to, but because it better serves those around us.

— Noah Ashbrook, co-president, Bristol Virginia Education Association WHAT ARE THE RULES? We have community members who like to come in here and talk about the World Health Organization’s guidelines for spacing between students. So then, let’s talk about the World Health Organization’s guidelines for positivity rates. The WHO says that the positivity rate should be below 5% for a community for a minimum of 14 days before

schools even consider reopening.

Only seven states meet these requirements, and we all know that Virginia isn’t one of them.

We’ve heard that children don’t get COVID. We know that’s not true.

We’ve gone from an almost zero COVID rate per 100,000 people for kids in April, when schools were closed, to a rate of over 1500 per 100,000 today. Children today make up almost 12 percent of cases…

Let’s talk about the reason we shut schools down back in March: to flatten the curve and reduce the strain on our medical facilities. At Lynchburg General, which is a five-story building, we’ve already got two floors dedicated to COVID response and they’re preparing to open a third. I’d say we’re straining our medical facilities.

So, what we want is a defined set of metrics. What are the rules to this game of Russian Roulette we are playing? Your staff, your students, your parents, and your community deserve to know.

— Lynchburg Education Association President Karl Loos ‘IT SURE WOULD BE NICE TO BE TREATED LIKE I WAS AVERAGE’ Recently one of my students asked me if I thought he should be a teacher. It made me stop and think.

“It’s a tough gig,” I told him…

Teaching is like walking across four lanes of highway, risking everything and dodging cars to get to the middle to help a child. That is what is at the center of this profession, and it is very much a profession.

Sometimes, though, when you’re trying to reach that kid on the other side of the mad traffic, you get hit: families relocate or get visas denied and move away, and students disappear, drop out, or get kicked out.

Earlier this month, our school was locked down because of a threat. The next day, one of our students committed suicide.

Earlier this month, our school was locked down because of a threat.

I want the best for my students, all of my fellow professional educators do, but it is a relentless and extremely isolating job…

Did you know that Virginia teachers make over $9,000 less than the national average?

It sure would be nice to be treated like I was average. And that’s why I could not tell my student to be a teacher: my students might not all always earn it, but I think every last one deserves to be treated better than average.

I invite you to show the community, state, and country that you truly value your teachers by treating us like we’re at least average.

I think it will restore a lot of faith and it will heal, because teachers will continue to serve—because we don’t think of it as a job, we think of it as our identity as people on this earth.

— Henrico Education Association President John Reaves THE NUMBERS DON’T LIE Our review shows that after five years of service, 56 of our new teachers quit. Furthermore, the pandemic has accelerated the number of teachers who retire or resign from VBCPS. From July to November in 2019, 92 teachers retired or resigned. In 2020, we lost 210. The numbers do not lie and signal that the teacher shortage is real and demands that we take a long, deep look at solutions to this problem. Therefore, the VBEA would like to offer the following recommendations to the budget.

Teachers at the 5, 10, 15, and 20-year level of service are often making less than starting teachers.

Since 2010, our starting teacher salary has gone up 23 percent, while the average teacher salary has gone up by less than 5 percent. Experienced teachers are falling behind. The step system is broken. Adjust the step scale to reflect true experience.

Create a task force that will formulate short, medium- and long-term goals for attracting and retaining educators. The task force would include stakeholders from the city council and school board, city and school administrations, and the VBEA, as well as other interested parties.

The bottom line is this: We are facing an imminent crisis if we do not address this situation now. Educators were behind on pay and compensation before the pandemic; now it is even worse. Did you know that

Virginia ranks 34th in the country in teacher pay? And on average, Virginia Beach teachers are paid 6.5 percent less than the state average (more than $4,000). Until 2015, Virginia Beach paid more than the state average by 2 to 4 percent. With inflation and the 5 percent VRS contribution, buying power for teachers in Virginia Beach has decreased 18 percent since 2009.

Years of stagnant pay raises or raises that barely cover inflation have taken their toll.

Market forces, coupled with the pandemic, have left us once again on the short end of the stick. It is time to be proactive in our efforts and show our employees we value them by paying them appropriately.

— Virginia Beach Education Association President Kelly Walker IT’S YOUR JOB TO LOOK OUT FOR US As elected officials, the spotlight is on you and your decisions…What will you do when, inevitably, an outbreak occurs? What is the plan? What is the Board’s “goal”? How much collateral damage do you need to prove a point?

Why is the school system so focused on keeping students in class despite being so far beyond the threshold for highest risk established by the CDC? Are the School Board members aware of their personal and organizational liability if a teacher or student has lasting health consequences or dies?

Is the system aware of whether its insurers will pay out for damages if the school system continues to operate beyond the CDC thresholds, and thus cannot prove it has met a reasonable standard of care?

Pittsylvania Education Association President Jessica Jonesl

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Illustration by iStock

shoulder another heavy lift. Our school system needs can be overwhelming—but what we do as educators is overwhelming (in a good way).

I am constantly in awe of what my colleagues do every day. All we ask is that the WPS School Board listen and provide the support we need to keep serving the children of Winchester.

FEATURE STORY No one has ever taught in exactly the same circumstances our teachers have faced for the last year: COVID has turned everyone’s world on its head. The determination, commitment, and perseverance of our teachers has been inspiring.

Teacher2Teacher, an online education community, used its Twitter account (@Teacher2Teacher), to ask teachers about what’s kept them going in these difficult times. Many responded, using #WhyITeachNow—here’s a sample of those responses: I teach because more than ever my most vulnerable students need me now. All students forced to learn online are facing challenges, both emotionally and educationally. My kids need to know I am here for them: an ear to listen, a heart that cares.

I gave a 1-on-1 online tutorial to a freshman student yesterday. By the end of our 90-minute journey, he just stopped and said, “This is why you’re my favorite teacher. You took time to show me something you knew I’d love.”

I teach, despite all the challenges, because I never went into this profession expecting the job to be easy. As young people are struggling now more than ever, I’m happy to be there for them.

I teach because these kids need a positive light in this crazy world. I teach to build students up. I teach that mistakes are OK because we can learn from them. I teach to bring life to the lessons.

After 20 years, I still love my job. I teach for my students!

Genuine curiosity to construct meaning: “Do you think at least a foot long?” from a curious kindergarten student as I

I teach because of the teachers who didn’t give up on me. My behavior and grades didn’t reflect who I was. I want to be one of the teachers who didn’t give up on me.

I teach to make the world a better place.

I do that by relentlessly believing in my students and creating space for them to come alive and be themselves. This is my job. This is my why.

I teach because I believe in power of education. Education helped me form who I am. It helped me to write my own narrative. I am honored to be a part of my students’ narrative, their stories of finding their strengths and beliefs!

I teach now because scholars need me now more than they ever have; therefore, I think past martyrdom and go to work because they show up to my class.

The need for learning never changed—

models. I try to emulate them every single day!

but heightens it in diverse and creative ways.

My students need to feel that there’s meaning in these days of learning, meaning in coming together across distance and difficulty and doubt. With each moment of connection, I can show them that they matter and so does their learning.

I teach now in hope to be or become someone who helps turn things around for students. I aspire to be a demanding role model setting high standards for achievement with the support they need to succeed. Can I change the trajectories and achievements of students?

To extend hope, grace, and love daily to my students, my co-workers, and school community.

Because I want a different future and different outcomes for the humans of tomorrow. I want to be a part of that change and do what I’m led to do.

I teach now because it’s imperative we make sure our future has reasonable and logical thinkers. In addition, I teach because my colleagues reach a point feeling like they can’t!

Because pandemic or not, our students deserve to have an education that is powerful, engaging, and meaningful to their lives.

There are dark days and there are days filled with light. I get up and teach hybrid during a pandemic because my students are there, waiting expectantly for me on their computers. I must show up and give all I’ve got because I care for their education—and I love them.

What’s Your ‘Why’ Right Now? Teachers share what’s kept them motivated in the face of the enormous challenges of the pandemic.

I teach now because all students and educators deserve an educational environment that is more collaborative and less competitive. I want to support students in authentic experiences that help them grow and connect with others.

Every day, I have seen teachers lifting each other up, navigating uncharted territory together. And it’s been beautiful to watch.

Is teaching challenging? Of course it is. If it were easy, everyone would do it. Is it rewarding? You bet!

neither did my passion for being a teacher during this crazy time.

I teach now to be the advocate my students need, for them to be seen, and for my students to have a champion in their life every day!

Creating and curating resources to support academic learning and social and emotional growth sets my soul ablaze. I teach now to help bring empathy, connection, hope, joy, healing, and love to the hearts of humankind.

I had a particular teacher who went above and beyond when my dad’s plane went down in Vietnam (I was 7).

I’ve had some fabulous teacher-role

My students need my spark now more than ever before. I want my students to build confidence with math and have fun learning.

To model perseverance and learning new skills.

Teachers have the opportunity to model what it looks like to persevere through adversity, and we get to teach the soft skills that go beyond just the curriculum during a crisis.

To collectively learn the importance of cooperation, understanding, support, and empathy, and to remember that together, we create a safe, unified space that doesn’t hinder education

I press on because my students deserve it!

I teach because Black kids deserve the best. They deserve someone who is willing to fight for them, advocate for them and be a champion for them.

They don’t deserve the mediocrity that they oftentimes receive.

I pride myself on my ability to create and foster positive relationships with my students. Now more than ever, they need someone to listen and let them know that you care about them.

They will learn from you if they know you care.l

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Photo by iStock

was holding a 50-foot extension cord.

FEATURE STORY

A Salem educator takes to YouTube to reach students in new ways during COVID.

By DeWayne Harrell

R

eaching and teaching my students through YouTube seemed to make sense to me after the way last school year ended and how 20-21 was going to look. At first, I thought using the tools I had—Canvas and my school computer—would be enough, but I was finding that having only them limited my creativity a little. Being able to video myself was a great way to reach all my students, who are online, in a hybrid set-up, and coming in-person. Plus, I didn’t feel I could compete with what students watch every day on YouTube if I was using a basic video recording program.

So, with the school video recorder and microphone in hand, the process of creating videos in my house and in my front yard began.

I began a few weeks before school started, so I developed some basic “first day” videos for my students and edited it all with the video editor program on the school computer. It worked: I was able to create, save, and upload to my website or on Canvas, which is the preferred choice by our school system. These

first videos were OK, but like most teachers, I wanted to do better. To make that happen, I was able to purchase a laptop, microphone, a better camera, and editing software with some budget money—now I could create videos that would compete with the YouTubers of the world (and there are plenty).

It didn’t take long to see why the benefits of these new tools and my transformation as a teacher were important to my students and me. By designing my own content, I felt a better connection with my students, and they got to see me trying something new. The ability to create activities or lessons in this new format was a challenge to enable me to become even more of a learner and grow as a teacher. After watching numerous videos about editing, film, lighting, setting, and how to attract viewers, and finding success day by day, I started thinking like a YouTuber. The ability to record myself and create an organized playlist gives me both lessons and a format which allows students to become better independent learners.

Now to the real reason I went this route: I did not want to try to teach

with a mask on my face! My teaching experiences date back to 1996, which means that while I’m a little old, I also know my teaching faults. One of them is that I talk fast because my mind is racing, so teaching with a mask on during the pandemic would make it difficult for my students to understand me.

As an elementary school librarian, my focus is on books, research, technology, my school community, and the needs of my students. Now, please understand that I was once a high school teacher, and my thinking process would have been the same if I were still in the classroom. These basic concepts were the driving force behind all my content.

The first thing I did was find a strong reader who could keep the attention of my K-3 students. I reached out to my 13-year-old neighbor who’s in the children’s theater, and she was happy to read books for me. Using her audio recordings, the process of creating interactive books was next, matching the audio and images of the books together. Knowing there would be a loss of communication trying to read books with a mask to emergent readers, I thought this would be the best way to share books with students. During a

Graphic illustration by iStock

‘Channeling’ Knowledge

me to be creative. Students and I both 4. Students creating video lesson, students would see me share about topics. One playlist, called introducing the book, the interactive 5. Students’ final product “Did You Know,” has videos in which book, information about the author 6.

Student submission I’ve interviewed people or shared and publisher, and be able to ask basic facts. Students also upload their questions to better understand the

Most of these tutorials are done own videos to me, and I can edit them message of the book. As I felt the with a split screen by the students, so other students can learn from peoexcitement of the students, I was able watching me in the YouTube video ple they know. During this process, I to get retired teachers to read other on one screen and following the try to focus on trades or topics that are books for me, and the process was directions on the other screen. This more like field trips for students. The repeated. I could show the video to allows students to work at their own goal is to bring the “outside an entire class or connect world” into the classroom it to their Canvas, where so the students can gain they could watch it india better perspective of vidually at any time. The how they want to become ability to stop, pause, and productive citizens. ask questions became I can’t predict the future more deliberate while of my library, but I’m sure viewing as a class. there will be more You The research and Tube videos there for my technology came togethstudents and me. I’d like to er by paying attention to keep extending the learnstudent conversations, as ing environment by crewell as using the library ating more videos about standards provided by trades, professions, people, the state and national ormuseums, authors, and, of ganizations for librarians.

Harrell creates videos that help students understand and use library course, books. Giving stuMy videos became ways content, along with a series of “Did You Know?” videos that range from students uploading their understanding of topics to TV news-like interdents an opportunity to upto teach students specific views he conducts with community members. load their own videos about tools using technology books they’ve read, topics of while doing their own interest, and their own knowledge will research on particular topics, or pace and gives me the opportunity create a better learning platform for all just learning information. Using the to help individuals more because involved. The library, as well as schools camera and basic screen recording I’m not trying to teach and help at themselves, need to keep evolving to programs, I can create tutorials for the same time. This method has also establish a better presence in the lives students and teachers, using this helped decrease behavior issues. Of of our students and communities.l basic format: course, this is another topic, but I felt it needed to be mentioned.

1. Teacher explanation

A focus on my school communi2. Teacher showing Harrell, a member of the Salem ty and the needs of students is what Education Association, is the librarian seems to get the most attention on 3. Teacher modeling at South Salem Elementary School. my YouTube channel, and enables

MEMBERSHIP MATTERS

Member Lobbying Efforts Get it Done in Richmond I

n a General Assembly where just about every issue had to be re-examined in the light of COVID-19, VEA lobbying efforts still resulted in significant strides forward for Union members.

Here’s a rundown on some of what VEA staff and members accomplished: •

We protected school funding. State money for many school divisions was threatened when they experi- enced pandemic-related enrollment drops. Knowing these decreases were temporary, we advocated for and won protection for state support of local schools.

•

We got money for raises. Legislators approved money for the state share of a 5 percent raise for teachers and support professionals. To make the raises a reality, localities must now be convinced to add their share.

•

We protected the health and safety of students and educators.

As legislation about the return to in-person instruction was debated, we ensured that educators would have access to vaccines, those who were teaching remotely because of ADA issues could continue to do so, and those who had to isolate be cause of COVID exposure could do their work remotely.

VEA efforts also led to an additional $50 million toward fully funding the Standards of Quality (more will still be needed), and studies on how the pandemic has affected public education in

Write that Down! VEA members created their own signs to highlight the Fund Our Future Virtual Rally.

the commonwealth and on the need for registered nurses in schools, both of which could have huge impacts in the years ahead.

All this came on the heels of lobbying efforts not only at the Capitol, but in a four-event “VEA Lobby Week.”

Activities kicked off with an online briefing on Sunday, January 24, cluing members in to VEA bills, the Lobby Week activities, action steps to take, and more.

Monday, VEA held a press event with Senator Jennifer McClellan and Delegate Lashrecse Aird, patrons of a bill pushing for the full funding of Virginia’s Standards of Quality—and

pointing out the injustice of having failed to do so for years.

Tuesday was VEA’s Teach-In, an opportunity for members and policymakers to learn more about current public education topics: funding, the SOQs, testing/SOLs, racial and social justice, and more. The event featured a range of speakers and Q&A.

The week’s festivities wrapped up with the Fund Our Future Rally, where hundreds of members wore their #Red4Ed and got charged up with VEA President James J. Fedderman and special guests, including Del. Aird.l

Powerful Moments Highlight VEA Racial and Social Justice Summit

VRS Helps Educate Educators

It took persistence and then a Freedom of Information Act request several years ago for Barbara Coleman-Brown, a retired VEA member and president of her local NAACP chapter, to expose the fact that her county was reducing its number of minority teachers through attrition.

Ruthy Tyre, a bus driver and VEA member, had to listen to a White supervisor tell a Black colleague that he had a “lynching rope” outside for her. When Tyre protested, “It was swept under the rug,” she says, adding with a grimace. “Lumpy rugs trip people.”

Those were just two of the powerful, painful stories shared at the VEA’s Summit on Racial and Social Justice and our Schools in February. The virtual event brought together VEA-Retired’s Barbara over 100 educator-advocates to talk about the Coleman-Brown (from top), fight for equity and fairness and to build SVEA Aspiring Educators’ Amanda Gainer, and Bristol solidarity, momentum, and strategies.

VEA member Noah Ashbrook

“Each of us has a story to tell,” says VEA were among the speakers at President James J. Fedderman, “and at this VEA’s Summit.

Summit, through VEA’s Human and Civil Rights Department, we’re telling those stories and continuing to pave the way for educators to be bold and confident when advocating for social justice and racial equity.”

Conference attendees also came away equipped with information from: •

Harry Lawson, NEA’s director of Human and Civil Rights, who discussed the role of unions in what he termed our “dual pandemics” of COVID-19 and racial reckoning. He urged VEA to go deeper in forming authentic partnerships, careful listening, and shared responsibility with each other, students, families, and communities.

•

Michael Tamayo, an elementary school teacher and member of the Seattle Education Association, which has used collective bargaining to make enormous progress on equity issues. VEA staff members Toney McNair and Fabricio Rodriguez also presented on the opportu- nities that collective bargaining is bringing to Virginia educators.

• VEA’s Executive Director Brenda Pike, who stressed the influential role unions can have in the advancement of racial and social justice.

• Each other, as participants separated into geographic groups to discuss the roles educators could play across the state.l

Whether you want to know more about the retirement plan you’re in or you’re looking for personal strategies to improve your overall financial health, VRS Member Education and myVRS Financial Wellness have you covered.

Member Education Webinars. At varetire.org/education, you’ll find a series of webinars on topics such as prioritizing saving for retirement and tracking your retirement goals.

One-on-one retirement counseling appointments are also available to VRS members. Call 888-827-3847 to schedule a phone or virtual meeting.

Hybrid Retirement Plan Learning Channel. If your VRS membership date is on or after January 1, 2014, you’re a member of the Hybrid Retirement Plan.

To find out what this means for you and how your plan’s components work, visit the Hybrid Retirement Plan Learning Channel for a full suite of quick-watch videos, available at varetire.org/hybrid; see Education. myVRS Financial Wellness ‘Start Here’ Guides. By practicing good money habits now, you can help create stability that lasts over time. If you don’t know where to begin with certain financial topics, take your first step with Start Here Guides, available through your myVRS account at myVRS.varetire.org. Navigate to Financial Wellness, then find Start Here Guides under Topics.

You can also investigate the Courses tab for an entire curriculum of interactive mini-courses. Each course allows you to learn at your own pace with video, audio and quiz questions.

To stay up to date on the latest VRS news and information, follow Virginia Retirement System on Facebook and subscribe to Member News at varetire.org/ newsletter.l

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VIRGINIA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION | APRIL 2021

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MEMBERSHIP MATTERS

VEA-Retired Spotlight

Retirement Hasn’t Slowed Morris Down

by Kathy Davis Some active Association members, like Bea Morris, become even more involved once they retire, using the extra time to work on both active and retiree issues. Bea joined VEA in 1962 and retired from Lee High School in Staunton after teaching English for 32 years. As Staunton’s membership chair, she enjoyed encouraging colleagues to join SEA, working with local businesses to create goodie-bags for incoming teachers, and even making trips to the bus garage early in the mornings to recruit drivers.

In retirement, her focus has become legislative work. “If people know more about what’s going on, they will become more active,” she says. With a laugh, she also says that after leaving the classroom, she joined every organization “that had lunch!” They included not only VEA-Retired, but also the Valley Association of Retired Educators, the Virginia Retired Teachers Association, and Delta Kappa Gamma, becoming a source of information for all.

Bea proudly recalls her work with Rob Jones, former VEA Director of Government Relations, helping increase the retiree health insurance credit and promote Medicaid expansion.

An annual attendee of Lobby Day, one of her fondest memories was shaking hands with Governor Northam whom she thanked for all he has done for educators. She was touched when he immediately replied, “Thank you for all you do.” The moment is pictured here.l

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VIRGINIA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION | APRIL 2021

VEA Welcomes New Staff Members

KUD

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

VEA Members Stepping Into Statewide Roles

VEA has recently added a UniServ Director and four Organizing Specialists to work in the Fairfax and Northern Virginia area.

James Santos is the new UniServ Director, joining VEA after working as a national organizer for the Communication Workers of America. Prior to that, he spent 20 years with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and has also worked with traditionally underserved and marginalized communities as the External Affairs Manager for the Bronx District Attorney’s office.

The new Organizing Specialists are: Yusuf Al Barzinji, who has served as Organizing Coordinator at the The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), working with ADC local chapters across the country during civil rights campaigns. Prior to ADC, Yusuf was an organizer at SEIU International.

Jennifer Johnson, a union advocate for 16 years who has worked as everything from a local building representative, member leader, elected policymaker and, most recently, a consultant in the Organizational Development Division of the New Jersey Education Association. She’s also a 17-year teaching veteran.

Jannett Lopez, who joins VEA from SEIU, where she worked in both Los Angeles, as a Political Organizer, and Illinois, where she helped organize a strike campaign with 54 nursing homes.

Earlier in her career, she worked in Communications for the Washington Teachers’ Union, an AFT affiliate.

Tom Sullivan, a graduate of Fairfax County Public Schools and former executive director of the Manchester, NH, Democratic Party who has a long track record of managing election campaigns. He also worked as a Regional Organizing Director for Biden for President in Nashua, NH.l

Hayer Re-Elected to NEA Board Richmond Education Association member Charlotte Hayer, who ran unopposed for another term as one of VEA’s representatives on the NEA Board of Directors, was declared the winner by the VEA Board. She will serve another three-year term beginning September 1.l

How We’ve Approached In-Person Instruction There’s certainly been no lack of discussion and controversy over the subject of safely returning students to in-person learning in Virginia’s public schools: Legislators grappled with it during the 2021 General Assembly, local authorities have been figuring it out for months on end, and the public offers opinions from one end of the spectrum to the other.

So, I want to make clear how we at VEA have approached the return to in-person instruction. We’ve said all along that the health and safety of students, school employees, and the community is our top priority.

With that as our guiding principle, we opposed the original bill in the Virginia Senate, which would have required every local school division in the state to make virtual and in-person learning available to all students by choice of the student’s parent or guardian. That proposal unnecessarily risked the health of people in our school buildings, and it wrestled decision-making on the issue away from local school boards and gave it to the state. Local school leaders, carefully advised by local health experts, had been making instructional plans since March 2020; there is no reason to take that responsibility from them.

Despite our opposition, the Senate bill passed and was sent on to the House of Delegates, where Del. Schuyler VanValkenburg, a high school civics teacher and VEA member, offered a more acceptable substitute. His version of the bill

S

makes sure educators will have access to vaccinations, any staff member who’s been doing their job remotely because of an ADA reasonable accommodation can still do so, and any teacher who must isolate because of COVID exposure can teach remotely. Del. VanValkenburg’s bill still commits school divisions to offering in-person instruction, with exceptions such as a virus outbreak in a building, but it creates a more carefully-crafted and safer version than the original bill. It will only be in effect from July 1, 2021 until August 1, 2022.

The revised bill, which also allows families who prefer remote learning to continue to have it, had been sent to Governor Northam at press time. I believe we are now on the right path to reopening schools for in-person instruction, and must continue to protect the health and safety of, first and foremost, the students we teach and to ensure proper mitigation measures for educators.

We’re ready to be back in the classroom, and we’re looking for it to happen sooner, rather than later.

Thanks so much for all your patience and support as we have been working to ensure that the return to in-person schooling is done right. I believe, because we’ve worked so closely with parents and legislators, that we’re where we need to be.l

Virginia’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, James Lane, formed the statewide LEARN workgroup this winter, a cadre of educators and community leaders to help oversee the state’s return to in-person instruction. VEA President James J. Fedderman serves on the group, along with five other VEA members: Rosa Atkins, superintendent of Charlottesville City Schools and a member of the Charlottesville Education Association; Jared Cotton, Chesapeake superintendent and member of the Chesapeake Education Association; Michelle Cottrell-Williams, a social studies teacher and Arlington Education Association member; Carolyn Jackson, a supervisor in Arlington’s Office of Equity and Excellence and a member of the Arlington Education Association; and Anthony Swann, a Franklin County elementary school teacher, member of the Franklin County Education Association, and Virginia’s current Teacher of the Year. Also in the workgroup is Kathy Burcher, VEA’s Director of Government Relations, who is on a leave of absence from VEA to serve as Deputy Secretary of Education for the state.

Earlier this year, Gov. Northam appointed the Culturally Relevant and Inclusive Education Practices Advisory Committee, which will make recommendations to give Virginia students a broader education. Seven VEA members are serving on that group: Kathryn Adkins of the Henry County Education Association; Jennifer Goss of the Staunton Education Association; Kirk Moyers of the Harrisonburg Education Association; Carla Okouchi of the Fairfax Education Association; Delegate Schuyler VanValkenburg of the Henrico Education Association; Carolyn Waters of the Chesterfield Education Association; and Thelma Williams-Tunstall, a retired member of the Richmond Education Association. The Committee’s recommendations are due

by July 1.l

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INSIGHT ON INSTRUCTION

We all want a culture in our schools (and elsewhere) where every individual is treated with respect and bullying is correctly understood and addressed. Here, from NEA, is some information on how to identify bullying, intervene in a bullying incident, and advocate for bullied students.

Be present and available to observe and listen. We know that bullying commonly takes place in areas on school grounds with little or no supervision (such as in the hallways between classes). Make an effort to be in those areas during transition times. Just your presence can make a huge difference. And, if something does happen, you are there to see it with your own eyes and intervene right away.

Students can’t learn in fear. Bullying is a huge deterrent to a safe learning environment. In education, we sometimes feel that there are many things that affect learning that are out of our control. Bullying is not one of those things. A student who is being bullied at school is being denied an opportunity to learn. We have the ability to change this, to stop the negative impacts to students’ well-being and their ability to learn, and ultimately, in some cases, to save their lives.

Bullying is a solvable problem. Expand your advocacy for bullied students by ensuring that your school has a comprehensive bullying prevention plan in place. A prevention plan enables educators to have a process in place for learning how to recognize bullying behaviors, how to intervene appropriately when it’s witnessed, and how to prevent it in the first place.

Educate students. Involve your students as peer advocates. Get student input when developing a bullying prevention plan. Integrate the topic of bullying and how to deal with it into your curriculum.

Role-play with students on diffusing a bullying situation and engaging bystanders. Create opportunities for students to work together, such as assignments that require sharing and collabora-

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VIRGINIA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION | APRIL 2021

tion. An anti-bullying curriculum should encourage students to report bullying and harassment to an adult.

Stand up. Let your voice be heard with colleagues. Get bullying on the map; ensure that space is carved out to address bullying at your local’s meetings and at state conferences.

Track changes to your state’s anti-bullying law. Also, review and revise state education agency and district policies related to bullying. Remember that parents of bullied students can be strong allies and advocates.

If it’s broken, it does need fixing. A large part of being an advocate for bullied students is to not accept the status quo.

Be informed about measures you and/or your school may be using that are known not to work, or that can make a situation worse, such as zero-tolerance policies. Peer mediation and conflict resolution are valuable strategies that do work in other instances, but they are not the right fit for dealing with bullying. The message that both parties are partly right and partly wrong is inappropriate. Students who bully must receive the message that their behavior is wrong and won’t be tolerated. The fact that peer mediation exacerbates the imbalance of power between the student who bullies and their target also cannot be ignored. Speak up for changing the current way of addressing bullying. The research is out there; encourage your colleagues to be open to change.

U.S. Teacher Facts and Figures

Watch Your Back

Some research from the National Center for Education Statistics:

• Just over three-fourths (76 percent) of U.S. public school teachers were female and 24 percent male in 2017-18 (latest data). At the elemen- tary level, only 11 percent of teachers were male.

• Also in 2017-18, about 79 percent of our public school teachers were White, 9 percent Hispanic, 7 percent Black, and 2 percent Asian.

• About 9 percent of public school teachers had less than 3 years of teaching experience, 28 percent had 3 to 9 years of experience, 40 percent had 10 to 20 years of experience, and 23 percent had more than 20 years of experience.l

Develop ESP-specific strategies. Education support professionals, such as bus drivers, cafeteria workers, and paraeducators are likely to be present where bullying tends to occur, so they need concrete strategies to use during an incident.

Be sure to involve all school staff in the development of a comprehensive school-wide prevention plan as well as in all training. ESP-specific resources are also needed.

If your teaching involves a lot of sitting in front of a computer these days, it’s wise to take some steps to protect your back.

Extended time at a desk can wreak havoc on your back, neck, wrists, and fingers. Here are some tips from the Mayo Clinic to safeguard your ergonomic health: • Keep your monitor an arm’s length away.

• Adjust your keyboard height so your wrists are at or below your elbow level.

• Adjust your chair so your thighs are parallel to the floor.

• Rest your feet flat on the floor or use a footrest.

• The top of your monitor screen should be at or slightly below eye level. (If you wear bifocals, it should be 1–2 inches lower.)

Make sure there’s clearance for your knees under the desk. If you don’t have an adjustable desk, use blocks under the desk’s legs to raise it. And don’t forget to stand up, stretch, and walk around as often as possible.l

Bullying is a social justice issue. NEA and VEA’s vision and mission statements are rooted in social justice. Social justice includes a vision of society in which all members are physically and psychologically safe and secure. Bullying and sexual harassment are behaviors designed to oppress another person.

It is our duty as educators to assure a safe learning environment and social justice for all students.l

Nice Move, Montgomery!

“That has been the saving grace for every teacher in the county. If it were not for that, I would seriously have been thinking: Is this sustainable for me?”l — Montgomery County Education Association member Josh Thompson, on his school division’s designation of Wednesdays as teacher and student workdays

VIRGINIA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION | APRIL 2021

Illustrations and photo by iStock

You Can Be an Advocate for Students Who are Bullied

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INSIGHT ON INSTRUCTION

COVID-19 Teaching Self-Check “Questions to ask yourself about how well you’re reaching individual learners during COVID, from the U.S. Department of Education:

Why Do We Call Them ‘Standards’?

solutions that have to happen together.”l

• How am I basing learning personalization on data, and what is the source of these data?

“Standards” they might be. But not all Virginia public schools and school divisions are meeting them.

It’s long been a sore point: Virginia is not fully funding the standards that its own education experts say are necessary.

The Standards of Quality set minimum standards—what the education department deems is absolutely essential for students to know in today’s world. Although schools are welcome to go beyond those minimums, the floor set by the SOQs are intended in part to ensure that every student gets not only an effective education, but also has a fair and equal chance at that education.

Every two years, the education department reviews the standards to determine if revisions are needed. That review last occurred in 2019; General Assembly did not fully fund them when they came before that body in 2020.l

— Travis Bristol, assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley’s Graduate School of Education

• To what extent is research available to support the efficacy of the personalized learning tools that I am considering using for my students?

— from an editorial in the (Charlottesville) Daily Progress in February

Planning and Assessment

“This idea is that in schools, right now, teachers learn by themselves and principals are by themselves. But...in order to have a coherent sense of moving a school forward, an organi-

•

Have I reviewed the learning strengths, weaknesses, and needs of my students— both academic and technological—to understand and prepare content, tools, and supports accordingly?

•

In making instructional plans and selecting curricular materials, to what extent am I making decisions to empower all students, while keeping the most vulnerable in mind?

principals that are learning alongside each

• How does my district account for the digital delivery and support of legally required needs, goals, and services for students with disabilities?

other so that they can understand how each

Teaching and Learning

zation forward, you have to have teachers and

other might be seeing the problems and the

Traffic Tie-Ups Outside the Office?

U.S. school counselors have a caseload of about 430 students to advise, according to a recent survey by the American School Counselor Association. ASCA’s recommendation is 250 students. l

• Do I have a student or students who I think should be assessed for extra services, special education needs, or both, and if so, how do I ensure that happens?

• What additional supports or resources are available for my students to address any learning loss that may have occurred and to mitigate future learning loss?

Seen on Twitter

Communication

Civic education, like all education, is a continuing enterprise and conversation.

Each generation has an obligation to pass on to the next, not only a fully functioning government responsive to the needs of the people, but the tools to understand and improve it. In our age, when social media can instantly spread rumor and false information on a grand scale, the public’s need to understand our government, and the protections it provides, is ever more vital.l

They Gotta Let It Out!

• How can I work best with my students’ families to exchange best practices and resources regarding personalized learning? My colleagues? My school leadership?

Learning often is thought of as getting new knowledge and skills into the brain, but in fact durable learning comes from practice at getting knowledge and skill out…

Students learn best when they construct their own understanding by wrestling to make the unfamiliar coherent. The teacher can help, but by providing challenges that enable students to work it out rather than by working it out for them.l

• Have I communicated and connected parents and families to additional supports or resources available for my students to both meet their different learning needs and to address any learning loss?l

“Schools are the place where children and families meet each other, make friends, create understanding, and ultimately value rather than shun differences.”l

— Henry L. Roediger III and Peter C. Brown, co-authors, Making It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning

— Deborah Fallows, co-author, Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America

VIRGINIA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION | APRIL 2021

It’s a Form of Civil Defense

— U.S. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.

SCHOOLS MAKE IT HAPPEN

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“A double negative is when both Mom and Dad say you can’t do something.”

VIRGINIA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION | APRIL 2021

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Photos and art by iStock

Another Level of Collaboration?

FIRST PERSON: NARRATIVES FROM THE CLASSROOM

— Courtney Cutright

When I was a teenager, I envisioned Virginia being one of the last states to accept same-sex marriages – and only then with heels dug into the dirt. Some rural parts of the state were not the most progressive when it came to civil rights matters of sex, race and religion – even in the 1990s; sexual orientation was taboo.

Long live the South, y’all. We see its remnants in this year’s General Assembly session as state lawmakers endorsed a proposal to repeal Virginia’s 2006 definition of marriage as between a man and a woman. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2015 lifted the ban on same sex marriages in all 50 states, so Virginia recognizes same-sex unions even though the state’s constitution does not reflect it. In order to update the constitution, the endorsed amendment would have to be approved by future legislatures in order to even make it to statewide referendum.

Alas, change takes time. It was only last year that LGBTQ+ employees in the commonwealth received legal protection against discrimination in the workplace after the Supreme Court added gender identity and sexual orientation as protected categories. Also, in 2020, state legislators directed the Virginia Department of Education to develop standards for the treatment of transgender public-school students like Adam, a 13-year-old in one of my seventh-grade English classes.

Adam was born female. With family support, Adam began to transition outwardly as male between sixth and seventh grades.

Even if you don’t teach the middle school age group, you probably remember the experience when you yourself were in the middle grades. Those pubescent years are among the most stressful, challenging, and at times embarrassing as hormones rage and identities are developing, regardless of sexual orienta-

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VIRGINIA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION | APRIL 2021

Cutright (courtcut@gmail.com), a member of the Roanoke County Education Association, teaches English at Northside Middle School.

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Photos by iStock

Love and Respect for All, Regardless of Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity

tion or gender identity.

Yet according to the 2018 LGBTQ Youth Report produced by the Human Rights Campaign, more than 75 percent of LGBTQ students surveyed reported feeling depressed or down and 95 percent reported having trouble sleeping.

School is a safe place for Adam. There’s been a bit of the typical middle school melodrama, but for the most part Adam is accepted by his classmates. The kid is amazing; he is probably the most introspective student I’ve taught. Sometimes in his writing, I feel like I am reading the thoughts of a wise old man – certainly not your average middle-schooler.

Adam’s pronouns are he, him, and his. One of Adam’s older siblings recently had a baby, making Adam an uncle.

Adam’s name isn’t changed legally, so school records and technology accounts all bear his birth name. He became upset at one point when a student referred to him by his birth name. While I don’t think it was malicious, I understand Adam’s reaction. In the transgender community, what happened is known as deadnaming, and it can be a sort of open wound for individuals who have assumed a different gender identity.

Adam was comfortable enough to report the incident to one of his teachers. Adam’s family is supportive, but I have others who are not as accepting. I teach two other students, both born female, who identify as male. Their parents have allowed these students to use preferred names at school, but neither family supports changing from female pronouns or using anything other than given names for the yearbook.

Model policies for protecting transgender students are coming down the pike from the Virginia Board of Education.

School boards later this year are expected to adopt local policies in line with the board’s recommendation.

As a teenager, I had plenty of strong role models, including teachers, but none identified as LGBTQ+. I can say that it would have been helpful, encouraging, and uplifting to know that I had allies outside my family and close friends as I understood my sexuality.

I don’t disclose much about my personal life to my students; they don’t know I am a lesbian. I go back and forth on how much to share with 12- and 13-year-olds – and remember the part I mentioned earlier about not being legally protected in the workplace? I’ve had my reasons to refrain from sharing. It is refreshing to be around a brave kid like Adam who is not afraid to be himself.

It takes time to change hearts and minds. I am proud of the protections that will be put in place to make sure that public schools will be places where transgender students can learn without facing bullying, harassment or discrimination. That is the opportunity we owe every public-school student.l

A publication of the Virginia Education Association 116 South Third Street, Richmond VA 23219 veanea.org

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