Hey, Kansas lawmakers, these are the stakes: If teachers quit, our schools collapse
I visited the Kansas State Capitol in Topeka this week to hear teachers testify about the cascade of challenges they have faced since COVID-19. As I walked across the second-floor rotunda, I noticed two men in suits in an intense conversation.
“How do you give up on a game with such high stakes?” one asked. The other replied, “Yes, when the stakes are that high, you have to battle to the bitter end, no matter what.”
It was clear they were talking about the Chiefs losing the AFC Championship Game to the Cincinnati Bengals. But it would become my question of the day on education in Kansas, where the stakes are as high as they get.
I listened as current and retired teachers appealed to members of the Johnson County legislative delegation about impossible work loads, COVID-19 and what critics call “critical race theory,” along with the vitriolic attacks from parents, the undermining of public education by lawmakers and, because of it all, the threat of a mass exodus of teachers and administrators.
In ballgame terms, Kansas was facing a big loss. A rout, even.
And yet who was paying attention? One by one, legislators left the room until only three were left. Why? Were they not interested? Not a nail-biter?
These teachers were begging to be heard: “School today is different,” said Lisa Benge, who retired in 2020 from the Shawnee Mission School District after 38 years. “Teachers do more than help students learn information from a textbook and then test them on it.” Teachers work deep into the evening grading papers and answering parent and student emails. They have to be tech specialists and counselors. They need to build a relationship with each child to reach them. “That’s impossible to do with 185 kids. We have to do something to reduce the workload. We need smaller class sizes,” Benge urged.
Leigh Anne Rogers asked legislators to imagine the stress teachers felt having to pivot back and forth from online learning to in-person classes while the community was so divided over COVID-19 and masks. “Many worried about catching the virus or taking it home to their families,” she said. “Attacks on education shook the resolve of many who no longer want to continue in this career.”
Teachers leaving in droves have “left the state of Kansas in a crisis,” Rogers said.
And not just around here. A study released Tuesday by the National Education Association, the largest teachers’ union in the country, says teachers are burned out and “55% of them report they plan to leave the profession or retire early.”
Ken Thomas, who recently retired from the Blue Valley School District, said teachers need better pay, smaller classes and support. “Let us do our job,” he said. “We are not attempting to indoctrinate your children. We are trying to make them the best that they can be.”
The Kansas Legislature will consider at least nine bills related to how students are educated, granting parents more say on instruction, shifting public dollars to private schools and putting restrictions on testing. More proposals are expected, including a bill that would prohibit schools from teaching about racism and sexism. Education will likely be a significant issue in November’s contest for governor.
But any debate on education needs to be grounded in what is truly happening in Kansas classrooms and what is in jeopardy if legislators approve bills that undermine public education.
Public schools provide access to every child. They impact lives and create good citizens. A culturally diverse, educated and productive workforce spurs economic development. But we can only get there with teachers, who are the backbone of our education system. Without them, it all collapses.
These are high stakes. Is anybody listening?
This story was originally published February 3, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
