The Life of a Long Island Teacher

By, Paul Romanelli

(Teacher in the Harborfields CSD, Former Suffolk County Math Teacher of the Year and Recipient of the 2012 SCOPE Teacher Service Award)

        As we see more and more Federal and State mandates being implemented, it is important to realize that everything rolls downhill, and the final resting place is the classroom.  This is a classroom in which the Secretary of Education and Governor Cuomo, would most likely never step foot.  District and school administrators are also left with tough decisions when it comes to cutting staff and saving programs crucial to the education of students in New York State.  When all of these decisions are finally made, the teachers in this state who are lucky enough to retain their positions are left with a laundry list of obstacles that they must overcome, such as increased class size and what seems to be a new way of life across our nation, doing more with less.

        Teachers are not selfish people.  We have dedicated our lives to the education of our students and have stayed driven with that goal always on the forefront of our minds.  We deal with many criticisms such as being overpaid, choosing the job because we could not succeed in another field, and even being lazy because we have the summer months off.  Recent studies have shown that teacher morale is at an all time low with anxiety (especially around budget time) and uncertainty about the future of the career being at record highs.  

        Teachers on Long Island, and across this country, are being attacked from every angle: government officials, parents, the press, administrators, and in some cases, even each other.  Helen Keller once said that optimism is the faith that leads to achievement, and that nothing can be done without hope and confidence.  Our teachers are losing hope in this system and in talking to educators all across this state, there is a fear that things are getting worse.   Educators that have become an essential part of the school and community are being let go due to budgetary cuts across this state.  In my district, teachers in their eighth year of service will be let go this school year, and teachers with a decade or more in the district will be in jeopardy of losing their job in the 2013-14 school year.

        This not only affects the teachers across Long Island, New York City and the rest of the state, but most importantly it affects the children.  The cuts have gone too deep.  With a higher emphasis placed on state testing, we are setting our state up for a massive financial obligation involving the Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) plan, data collection and analysis, and test administration.  Any strong administrator can identify the effective and highly effective teachers in his/her school without new APPR impositions, and those teachers can give you relevant data regarding each individual student in their classes.  Our money continues to be misdirected when it should stay with our students and be dedicated to the purpose of maintaining the strongest educational program possible. 

        According to recent census data, one of the most disturbing trends is that young families are moving off Long Island. There are fewer children enrolled in many of our schools which leads directly to teacher cutbacks.  The students that we have used our state tax dollars to educate are leaving as adults because they can not afford to live here.  This is truly an illustration of a broken model.        

        Now is the time to start taking a close look at many of the antiquated systems we see in the educational realm that continue as the status quo.  Rather than imposing reform, changes can take place in the classroom itself, through reflection and identification of successful practices.  We must embrace technology in the classroom, rather than deny it, and nurture an entire generation of creative thinkers.  Now is the time to move away from state testing and assigning a number to our students, teachers and administrators, and to move towards a strong educational program tailored for each individual student’s needs.  We must stop implementing ineffective regulations that carry financial burdens along with them and unfunded mandates that cripple our nation’s schools.  All teachers believe that every student can learn.  It is time that we all learn from the mistakes that have been made along the way and start to truly work together to find a meaningful solution.  The future of Long Island, the State of New York, and the United States of America depend on it.