The following is the fourth in a five-part series, in which candidates for seats on the North Penn school board answer questions from the AAUW Lansdale Branch. For more information and their full voter guide visit www.aauwlansdale.org
Question four: Teaching certifications issued by the state are at an all-time low. Current teachers are leaving the profession. What would you do to increase the teacher retention rate in North Penn schools?
Elisha Gee: As an educator, I am invested in advocating for practices which will increase our retention rate at NP. We can do this by recognizing that our teachers are highly trained professionals who should be respected and supported. I would advocate for continued meaningful professional development opportunities, ensuring that teachers have the time they need to plan and execute instruction and collaborate with their colleagues, and looking for opportunities within the Collective Bargaining Agreement to identify areas where we can support creating a work environment that will attract teachers to our district. Finally, we can mitigate teacher turnover by listening to our teachers through gathering data through surveys and focus groups and continuing to cultivate a positive relationship with our teachers’ union. It is critical that we have a shared open communication that can lead to increasing teacher success and creating an environment where teachers and students can thrive.
Tim MacBain: Teaching as a profession has always been a difficult one for folks who take up the work, and comparatively downward trends in higher education funding along with recent attempts to politicize public education classrooms have not helped. The cost of earning a bachelor’s or master’s degree in education from a state university here in Pennsylvania has tripled over the past 20 years, creating tremendous financial barriers for the families of would-be educators. At the same time, some national media personalities continue their attempts to spread a culture of distrust for teachers – attacking the vital alliance between families and teachers that is essential to student success – even after witnessing teachers’ herculean efforts to educate our students through the pandemic.
Here in North Penn we trust and value our educators as we do all members of our educational community who provide our students with safe, equitable, and meaningful educational experiences. This continues to guide our work, and our steps to attract the best new educators coming out of universities and colleges. We have taken new steps to attract diverse teaching candidates for employment, drastically increased substitute pay rates, and created a medical center to provide employees with access to convenient and high-quality primary care close to home. We have also welcomed and supported efforts by North Penn and North MontCo Technical Career Center educators to modernize, diversify, and expand our curricular and extracurricular offerings for students.
Juliane Ramic: As the daughter of a public school English teacher and who later served as a middle school librarian, I know our North Penn school personnel deserve our full support and respect. To help address teacher shortages and staffing shortages within other positions within our school district, it is important to first make efforts to support and care for our current team by evaluating salary and benefit structures, creating innovative programs such as the Health Center to respond to their needs, and ensure School Board policies do not foster undue burden. We can all agree that the job of our North Penn educators is not an easy one but the work they do is invaluable and critical for the success of our community’s children. School personnel are our district’s greatest asset and we must work to treat and support them as such.
Once we have taken care of the needs of our current North Penn school personnel, we can begin to frame efforts for attracting new employees. Critical to this effort is partnering with key federal, state, and local partners to fund and create apprentice programs, offset the cost of education and training through college loan forgiveness, and ensure opportunities for mentoring and growth upon hire. At present, teaching apprentice programs that include on the job mentoring, student loan assistance and other supports are being piloted. North Penn, a community known for innovation, would be a prime district to pilot such a program.
In addition to working to attract and support new hires by looking at services provided by the district, we must also look at programs and services that a new hire might need within our broader community. If a new teacher accepts a position at North Penn, they are accepting that position while also looking to make our community their new home. We know they will be considering whether North Penn or Montgomery County has available, affordable housing. They will be looking for roads and infrastructure to support their commute and they will be looking for resources and services that are indicative of a balanced and rich quality of life. This effort requires that the School Board and the administration are ready, willing, and able to partner with state and local elected officials and those who are working to support key services within our North Penn community and beyond.
Kunbi Rudnick: To address the declining teacher certifications and retention crisis in NP schools, I propose a multi-prong approach, but first, the good news is that NPSD has a lower attrition rate (~4.7 percent) than the state and national average. It is also lower than most neighboring districts, which indicates that our educators look upon the administration favorably.
To sustain and improve the trend, I would emphasize creating a positive work environment through collaborative engagement with the administration and staff. This could include establishing mentorship programs and professional development opportunities to provide ongoing support and foster a sense of growth and belonging.
In addition, we should find opportunities to enhance overall teacher compensation to attract new educators and retain talented educators; this should not be limited to base salary.
Finally, as we address retention, we must look to the future. We should focus on attracting new educators to our district by launching awareness campaigns about the impact of teaching and its role in shaping society. We need to inspire middle and high school students and those looking for a career change to consider teaching as a meaningful profession,
This integrated strategy can revitalize the teaching profession, boost certifications, and stem the outflow of experienced educators.
The pandemic made it apparent how much we rely on educators. Every industry has a war for talent, and we must be proactive in this space.
Cathy Wesley: I believe in regular conversations with our teachers to ask what they need, communicating how important they are to our district and students, thank them and celebrate them. Possibly, the School Board can plan a a celebration where, during an in-service day, we bring lunch to thank them.
Vince Altieri: I base my answer from input from my wife, an elementary school teacher of 27 years and from working in the trucking business for well over 30 years. As a Director of Operations, I am proud to be part of a Company that does not have a driver shortage. My experience in solving an industry prevalent driver shortage runs parallel to eliminating NPSDs teacher shortage. “Teachers need to be SUPPORTED, as opposed to being REPORTED on”. Instead of hiring $160,000 administrators and others with questionable qualifications, NPSD needs to dramatically improve its teacher to student ratio. Furthermore, while pay is clearly important, nobody in any profession wants to come home with a feeling that they’ve accomplished little. Instead of hiring more administrators, focus resources on hiring teacher aides that have opportunities to better their career – “Hire for attitude and train for experience”. And in terms of the special needs community, these teachers and parents are the salt of the earth – MORE needs to be done to support them, not because it is an election year, but because it is the RIGHT thing to do.
Diana Blystone: The retention of all staff needs to be a priority. Every employee plays an integral role ensuring our kids are safe and learning. common concern I am hearing from teachers in North Penn is they feel overwhelmed with all the responsibilities. They are involved with Social and emotional well-being, behavior management, and making sure children are prepared for standardized assessments. I will work with teachers, parents, staff and administrators to ensure everyone is actively involved with supporting the child. The outcome is to ensure students can maximize their potential in the classroom where academic excellence can be achieved.
Liz Vazquez: Teachers should be given the opportunity to effectively teach all students. They have to be given the proper supports when needed. Teacher shouldn’t be given more then they’re able to teach. Leaving politics and personal beliefs outside of the classroom. Their focus being academic excellence and positive outcomes for all students.
This is the fourth in a five-part series presented in partnership between the AAUW Lansdale Branch and The Reporter; for more information visit www.aauwlansdale.org.
This article appears courtesy of a content share agreement between North Penn Now and The Reporter. To read more stories like this, visit www.thereporteronline.com.
See also:
North Penn School Board Candidates Answer Questions from AAUW Lansdale Branch: Part 3
North Penn School Board Candidates Answer Questions from AAUW Lansdale Branch: Part 2
North Penn School Board Candidates Answer Questions from AAUW Lansdale Branch: Part 1
