| 04.15.08|
Keeping The Teacher Poll Fair
At first glance the "Best Teacher" poll is a great idea, in practice however I think there are some important issues we have to consider:
1) I am assuming the overwhelming majority of our readers are well above the poverty line, have access to a computer at work which they can use to access the Long Beach Post and interact, or they have home computers with internet access. I suspect a very small portion of our readers are using public access at the library to read our posts.
2) Because of this I would further assume that most of our readers who are parents who will be voting will be over represented in schools in the higher socio-economic areas of our school district; i.e. my presumption is not as many parents from International Elementary or Roosevelt read the Post as parents from Newcomb, Naples or Prisk (already with two votes). This would mean those teaching in schools in central, Westside or north Long Beach will probably not have as many parents participating as their brothers and sisters teaching in the Eastside, Bixby Knolls, Belmont Shore or Heights.
3) I will further assume that those who teach in the areas of our city with the highest gang activity face much greater problems than those teaching in areas with little to no gang activity; primarily single parent households and significantly lower parental involvement. Yet their efforts are no less meaningful or admirable because the parents of their students either do not have access to or do not read the Long Beach Post. Despite their significant achievements with the students year in and year out the recognition, acknowledgement and appreciation for what they do is not as likely to be public as it is in other parts of the District.
4) As seen by the votes already two schools in Lakewood, two schools in Los Altos, two votes each for schools in the Heights and Los Altos and an expensive pre-school are already showing the advantage to being labeled “best teacher” to those teaching in the higher priced neighborhoods.
One might, and I will, argue that a teacher influencing one child to stay out of a gang, forgo the path chosen by his family and get a good education and a good job is immensely more valuable than a teacher who assists a student into getting into Stanford instead of Arizona State—but that teacher may never get the same recognition.
I feel that LBUSD has thousands of outstanding teachers and hopefully every student and every parent feels the teacher(s) they have this year, and next, and the year after, are the “best teacher” in the district. Unfortunately some of us have much better opportunities to let our favorite teachers be known than others—and that does a disservice to those who face perhaps more trying circumstances but love their students and desire their success no less.
Having the students and parents at LBCC and CSULB picking a favorite or “best” professor is at least a level playing field; similar popularity polls for LBUSD teachers however is not. As we wind down the school year let us recognize every teacher for their effort on behalf of our children and our community.
