Teachers need support, not more burdens

Teachers are quitting in droves all over the country because they are overburdened, under supported and underpaid. Now we have four Minnesota legislators with no educational background (I checked) sponsoring a bill that adds to teachers' burdens.

The proposed "Minnesota Parents' Bill of Rights" would require teachers to send parents their teaching syllabus two weeks in advance and update it if anything changes ("Bill wants parents informed of studies," front page, Feb. 15). Never mind that Minnesota already has a law allowing parents to come and see any learning materials they wish to see.

As a retired educator, I stopped substituting when teachers were required to teach online two years ago. Since then their plight has only worsened, with mandates to teach in person no matter their health risks, and to be ready to switch to online teaching, depending on COVID numbers, not knowing from week to week how to plan their lessons.

Some parents in the school district where I live, which did not mandate masks, want the teachers to give online instruction to students exposed to COVID, in addition to teaching those in their classrooms. That takes two teachers.

Most teachers have always taken work home, and most use private time on weekends and summers for planning curricula, correcting papers and even going out to purchase needed supplies. They are not paid anything extra for these additional hours.

The proposed law also requires that parents be given a list of all the books in the school libraries. Books are always in a state of flux and new ones come in and others are replaced daily, so many more librarian hours would be needed.

Teachers and schools are tired of being used as political fodder. Is it coincidental that the Minnesota Parents' Bill of Rights is almost identical to similar bills introduced in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina and West Virginia? We've watched these same politicians use warnings about critical race theory to get parents verbally threatening school boards, banning any books on topics of race or gender, and use other divisive tactics just for their own political gain.

I have taught in both private and public schools and have sent my four children to both. My choices. No one in this country has taken away anyone's right to do the same. Parents have another option: Keep children home and teach them exactly as you wish. Materials are furnished free to use or reject.

When my children were in school, I spent many hours volunteering, which not only helped the teachers who needed to give more one-on-one to some students, but also let me know exactly what was being taught in the classroom and how it was being presented. I was always impressed. Parental involvement is readily welcomed in schools; it also sends the important message to your children that you support their learning.

I'd like to ask these legislators, "When was the last time you have been in a classroom?"

We don't need to legislate solutions in search of a problem for our Minnesota schools. We need instead to support those schools and the teachers who have dedicated their time and energy to try to keep the students up to grade level during these challenging times.

Imagine what could happen if legislators asked the schools what laws they needed to make schools safer and better equipped to allow for the best education possible for all the children there.