How can we best support our teachers?

Everyone knows that teaching is not a lucrative career. Those of us who have chosen this profession know that we chose it because we love sharing our knowledge with students. We love that “aha!” moment when the light catches in a student’s eyes and we know that they get it! We love seeing the success they find and the confidence they build when they achieve a difficult task or finally understand a challenging concept.

So how do we best support these amazing instructors who help shape our children’s lives? These selfless men and women who enrich our students’ knowledge and understanding, and help prepare them for their future?

The formula is easy to define, and yet many school districts struggle to implement it. Teachers need smaller class sizes, adequate supplies for their classrooms, a laser-like focus on education with quality, evidence-based curriculum to teach from. They need clear, concise, content-centered standards, and academic measures with which to evaluate their students. Any training or collaboration must be worth the time away from their students, so it needs to be professional, evidence-based, and easy to apply.

Parents sending supplies or donations to the classroom should be an extra, not a necessity. We defeat our teachers if they don’t have the basic supplies to run their classroom for a full year, and it’s terribly unfair to ask them to supplement those needs from their already meager paycheck.

I believe we can solve these issues for Davis School District, and ask for your vote to help me help our teachers!