Opinion
States Opinion

Teachers, Don’t Just Shut Up and Teach

Our political system is out of balance
By John Waldron — July 12, 2019 4 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

This is the story of the way forward.

There’s a saying I read in an education manual that has stuck with me: The other side of the coin has another side.

Last November, I was elected to the Oklahoma state legislature as one of those angry teachers demanding better school funding. I was one of 24 Democrats working alongside 77 Republicans in my deep-red state’s House of Representatives. Some things didn’t go so well for me in this first session, as you may have read in the essays I’ve been writing for Education Week. I authored several bills. They all died. I debated against some pretty awful examples of cut-and-paste legislation from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a national organization that promotes conservative legislation at the state level. One such bill, for example, required doctors to notify patients of a scientifically unproven method of reversing the effects of “day after” drugs used in abortions. They all passed. We ended the session with an improved budget for next year, but the legislative leadership chose to deposit $200 million dollars of unallocated revenue into a state savings account—revenue that could have been used to fully fund smaller classroom sizes.

It felt lonely to be in such a small minority, kept out of the discussions that matter. In the minority role, your primary purpose is to call into question the wisdom of the majority. That’s an important function. History provides an example of American government under single-party rule: the Confederacy. Lacking a competitive party structure, it failed to build consensus and govern effectively. Individual party barons and interests obstructed the Confederate government at every turn, resisting policies to control inflation, enforce conscription, or finance the government.

More From This Author:
“I Was Tired of How Politicians Treated Teachers. So I Became a Politician”
“I Was an Angry Teacher Fighting for Better Education Policy. Now, I’m Shaping It”
“Who Shows Up for Teachers? Coalition-Building in the Era of Educator Activism”

A similar dysfunction manifests itself today in the kind of interest-group politics we see in deep-red or deep-blue states. It’s all too easy for powerful interests to push the policies they want with the ruling party leadership, because they know the opposition is too weak to stop them.

It’s not that the other side of the coin is evil. Our system is just out of balance. I learned that “the other guys” are for the most part good, honorable people. They just have a different point of view. But there are some who are in government chasing power and money, and it’s harder to constrain those individuals when a single-party power structure prevails. In states with de facto one-party rule, there’s no check on individual ambition, other than from within the ruling party itself. However, the party wants to remain united for the sake of holding on to power, leaving the minority party in the role of Cassandra—the Trojan priestess whose warnings about trouble ahead went unheeded.

In this environment, education becomes a battleground issue. Lobbyists for private interest groups can promote school privatization through voucher bills, call for tax cuts at the expense of public services, and suppress collective bargaining for teachers. All they have to do is leverage one party, whose lopsided majority allows leaders to favor narrow interests without worrying that their power might slip. They profit from the polarization of contemporary politics.

As teachers, we need to realize that teaching is a political act."

So, how do we as educators change the narrative? As teachers, we need to realize that teaching is a political act. It affects everyone, and therefore we need to advocate for good policies that invest public resources wisely in the common good. We can no longer shut up and teach. We have to speak out. We should do so politely, resolutely, and with the facts on our side. And we need to build bridges to communities that feel alienated by modern school bureaucracy. For example, we need effective strategies that combat bullying with restorative justice and by modeling civil society. And we need to provide effective resources for addressing this generation’s challenges in mental health.

Public schools need to reassert their role as a public square of American discourse—a place where citizens learn from each other and appreciate different points of view. By teaching good, old-fashioned critical thinking, we can prepare another generation to do better in the digital age. One of the reasons we have so many states run by one party is that we have learned to vilify the other side rather than listen to it.

This fall, for the first time in 20 years, I won’t be teaching in a public school. As a legislator, I cannot be on another state payroll, so I’ll look for jobs in private schools. It’s ironic that I had to give up the job I loved to try to save the public school system I love.

But I don’t regret the choice. I believe public service is honorable, and I look forward to coming to the next session of the legislature with more experience and a better sense of how to get things done. I believe that the fight for better policies, for public education, and a host of other issues, is a good fight.

And I believe it’s not too late to fix American politics. Most people in both parties recognize the need for a healthy public school system. And I need to assure colleagues on the other side of the aisle that I am not the enemy. I’m part of the solution—the other side of the coin.

Follow the Education Week Commentary section on Twitter.

Sign up to get the latest Education Week Commentaries in your email inbox.
A version of this article appeared in the July 17, 2019 edition of Education Week as We Can’t Just Shut Up and Teach

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Equity & Diversity Webinar
Classroom Strategies for Building Equity and Student Confidence
Shape equity, confidence, and success for your middle school students. Join the discussion and Q&A for proven strategies.
Content provided by Project Lead The Way
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Professional Development Webinar
Disrupting PD Day in Schools with Continuous Professional Learning Experiences
Hear how this NC School District achieved district-wide change by shifting from traditional PD days to year-long professional learning cycles
Content provided by BetterLesson
Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

States DeSantis to Expand Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' Law to All Grades
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ' administration is moving to forbid classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in all grades.
3 min read
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis answers questions from the media in the Florida Cabinet following his State of the State address during a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives Tuesday, March 7, 2023, at the Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis answers questions from the media in the Florida Cabinet following his State of the State address during a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives Tuesday, March 7, 2023, at the Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla.
Phil Sears/AP
States Here's How 4 States Spent Their ESSER Money
The Council of Chief State School Officers highlighted how state education agencies have used federal pandemic aid.
5 min read
States What the Education Secretary Said School Leaders Should Prioritize Right Now
Miguel Cardona, in a pair of speeches, urged K-12 leaders to lean into efforts to support student mental health and academic achievement.
5 min read
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona delivers a speech during the “Raise the Bar: Lead the World” event in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 24, 2023.
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona speaks at the “Raise the Bar: Lead the World” event in Washington, on Jan. 24, 2023. Cardona spoke to state superintendents and school district leaders in speeches at the Council for Great City Schools and the Council of Chief State School Officers on March 20, 2023.
Sam Mallon/Education Week
States Should Superintendent Salaries Be Capped? Some States Are Considering It
Superintendent pay is under constant scrutiny, and proposals come up occasionally to cap it. But they rarely gain traction.
6 min read
Photo of dollar bills frozen in ice.
iStock / Getty Images Plus