Schools

Around the education blogosphere, there's a lot of clucking about the nine southeast Michigan schools that paid $25,000 apiece to be named "The Best Schools in Michigan" by WXYZ, Channel Seven.

So--I spent Tuesday up in Lansing, attending the annual conference of the Network of Michigan Educators and I also got to shake the Governor's hand. I admit that I acted like any other garden-variety citizen meeting a Big Famous Person: I smiled and made inane chit-chat with the gov. Here is the sum total of that conversation (bear in mind that we were instructed to tell Governor Granholm why we were members of the Network):

Me: How do you do? I'm Nancy Flanagan, and I was the Michigan Teacher of the Year--umm, well, a long time ago.

I’m not a math teacher, but I played one in a middle school, not too long ago. I was surprised to find myself teaching 7th grade math, a few years back, in order to balance class sizes. The parents of my math students were surprised, as well, when they discovered that the teacher who had been directing school bands in their community for decades had suddenly become their child’s math instructor. The concept did not compute, so to speak.

Six more strategies--plus a bonus, #13. And an invitation to post your own suggestion for saving money or saving public education. These are a little more controversial...

#7) The well-known single salary schedule for teachers has to go. Stop paying people for collecting graduate credits and remaining in the same job for decades. Start looking for new ways to use and reward the diverse skills and talents of teachers.