Leaders in Education: Dire
complaints from those that felt they were not getting an audience or were being ignored. Let’s
Talk! provides our constituents the opportunity to rate our response rate, which in turn gives us
important feedback in how we are perceived by our public. Good, responsive communication is
vitally important to any school district and something that cannot be minimized or overlooked.
We also understand the significance of having a social media presence, whether it is Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, etc., in providing multiple avenues of communicating with anyone that
might have an interest in what we do and who we represent.
Q
In your opinion, what are the top 3 challenges facing education in Tennessee?
A
Teacher Shortage - more so in the not-so-distant future; not just in critical need areas,
but across the board
Redefining accountability measures - move it from a “punitive” connotation to an
improvement effort
Creating a strong advocacy base for Public Education - we are seeing a well-executed
eroding of support for Public Education
Q
What are the steps the state and local districts need to take to address the challenges
you identified? And what impact will that have on classroom teachers?
A
We need to place greater emphasis and support (and value) on the role of the
classroom teacher. If we look at the negative publicity, in the last five years, aimed at
public education, we shouldn’t be surprised at the diminishing numbers coming out of
teacher preparation programs. We continue to present to the general public that our
students are not well-prepared (ie. college and career ready). This is entirely bogus, as
we continue to see each generation better prepared than the previous generation, but
we do nothing to support or give significance to many of the service industries that
are not being replenished with the workforce necessary to perform essential tasks
(electricians, welders, technicians, construction, etc.). This isn’t the fault of education,