Still Dreaming

     When I started teaching in 1980, something occurred in my district on a regular basis that I thought was a requirement.  School board members actually visited our teacher workrooms during lunch and our classrooms during our conference periods to see how everything was going and if there was anything they could do for us. As it turns out, it was our trustees' way of seeing for themselves what had been entrusted to them by law.  Most of the time they were accompanied by our principal or assistant principal who served as a kind of tour guide.

     I don't think I appreciated this act of good stewardship enough.  First of all, I didn't have to leave my three small children and husband at home to attend a board meeting to answer the question they always asked: "What can we do for you?"  The fact that they were visible and accessible to me and every other school employee during our regular work hours was a sign that somebody "up there" cared about what I was doing.  As the years went by, boards and superintendents changed, and so did this kind of involvement.  I have been told of late by school employees and former board members that this is frowned upon by administration.  Why?

    Most school employees don't even know who the school board members are.  Some district websites offer short biographies of these folks but hardly ever provide contact information.  As a result, most school employees rarely contact them unless something is already really wrong. 

     For example, my school was in a dire situation in the 1990s when gang activity was blossoming in the restrooms, the out-of-sight nooks and crannies, and even in the halls during passing period, and we could not get administration to nip it in the bud.  Unfortunately, the teachers were forced into doing the job by using detective tactics to get these kids under control.  We did not like being police officers.  We did, however, love being teachers.  In a desperate move to return to that status, we asked a board member to meet with us privately in my home where we voiced our concerns.  We felt like criminals, but we feared addressing the board publicly for obvious reasons.  The next day, this trustee walked into our school and saw for himself that we spoke the truth.  One of our little darlings responded with a string of profanities when this board member asked him why he wasn't in class.

      So, I am asking a big "what if" today.  What if school board trustees took the time to be accessible to school employees and community members outside of the board room?  If this occurred, I suspect that http://www.texastransparency.org/local/schools.php would not have to exist.