Why and How to Save Great Teachers

Living in Ohio and working in education make for a tumultuous time of employment. Our governor has proposed a radical state bill (SB 5) that has come under serious fire. It's filled with some radical ideas as to how to save money and reform education (among other things) in the state in order to bring about change and save money in an economy that is wrecked.

He has a done a horrible job communicating the values/ideas behind the bill. I think he thought he was going to ride the coat tails of New Jersey and Wisconsin who have passed some radical legislation as it pertains to education and unions. Along the way he's said some stupid things that have infuriated people and have blocked them hearing some of the honest, necessary change that parts of this bill really propose (and that we need).

In light of the bill and other budget cuts, school districts across the country are forced to lay off amazing teachers in the name of an asinine rule: Last In. First Out. After watching Waiting for "Superman" last night and visiting its website and StudentsFirst.org, I truly believe that this practice must go now!

Here is a video that does an amazing job of communicating values and vision behind one component that could help save great teachers and put students first in our mission to help them achieve academic success.