By Kelly Franti, Piñon Pines

I attended the special ETUSD “Goals and Objectives” board meeting June 25. While listening to a discussion about possibly adopting a new model for evaluating our students, I was quite surprised and confused to hear from school board president Paula Regan (not one, but two times) that the teachers of this district are resistant to change. In fact, at one point, her exact words were, "Our teachers don’t like change. That’s the bottom line."

Really? Can this be true?

Is Ms. Regan actually speaking for the majority of our teachers? The minority of them? Any of them?

Does anyone else find it troubling that a statement like this was even spoken aloud? If Ms. Regan is correct, then we have a much bigger problem in our district than the current budget crisis.

My husband is a 23-year union member and my fatherin- law taught high school for 40 years. I have the highest respect for those who choose to serve our kids and am in full agreement with the current opinion that our teachers are overworked and underpaid.

I find statements made by some of the members of our school board that our teachers will not—or cannot—change some of the ways they are doing their jobs in order to better educate and evaluate our kids almost impossible to believe.

So, what about it, Mountain Teachers? Are members of our school board truly speaking for you when they say you won’t or can’t change some of the ways you’re doing things?

How does it feel to know that this is one of the perceptions some of them have? I for one will refuse to believe it, until I hear it from you myself!

Franti is a parent of two children in the El Tejon Unified School District.

This is part of the June 29, 2012 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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