Marlowe: School District seems to be on the verge of collapse

Letter to the editor

While apocalyptic language is usually not helpful, it does seem that our School District is on the verge of collapse. We can’t keep up with the books: the audits keep revealing that. We can’t keep up with the buildings: social media keeps revealing that. We can’t keep a Superintendent: the Board keeps proving that. We can’t keep teachers: the overcrowded classes and growing list of kids with long-term subs keep proving that. We can’t keep the students: the mass exodus to charter and private schools keeps proving that.

There is no reason to believe the next Superintendent will fare better than the last seven. Every year we fail to keep up with our infrastructure needs, the cost of those needs increases. Every year we give educators 1% raises, it is harder to catch up to inflation the next, and we signal to every existing teacher and every college student that Alachua County doesn’t value teachers. Every year we fail to get behavior under control, we lose more teachers who can no longer take the verbal and emotional abuse and more students whose parents take them to those same charter or private schools to escape.

It is scary, and it is depressing. We seem to be locked in a cycle, a carousel with no stop while our children wait in line for us to figure it out.

So, what are we to do?

We are past the point of making minor tweaks, and at the end of the day, if the Board is truly in charge of the vision, policy, and direction, then the Superintendent counts as a minor tweak. We can’t put all our hope in one person.

When there is no reason to believe that the next Superintendent will be given more than two years to implement any changes, the bureaucratic army that exists in this District has no real incentive to invest in those changes, especially if there is in-fighting and vying to become the next Superintendent.

In short, when there is no reason to believe that a three-person majority on the Board will last more than two years, there is no stability, and as educators all know, one of the most fundamental elements to effective education is stability: stability in the home and stability in the classroom.

Every week, we read another headline that calls into question the motto of this District (“We are committed to the success of every student”). How could a District that was truly committed to the success of every child so consistently put students’ needs second to the politics of the moment? And, it may be generous to identify our students’ needs as coming in second place.

We need bold strokes.

We need to reevaluate how much of the $600 million budget is being spent downtown and how much is being spent in our children’s classrooms. That doesn’t mean we need to terminate positions immediately, but we could immediately identify administrative positions that won’t be re-filled and pledge those savings to increased teacher pay. We have to send current teachers and potential teachers a signal that they are being moved up the priority list.

We need to work with the communities in this District, but that means that the Board has to shift their thinking from “having power” to “sharing responsibility.” Empowered communities are partners, and partners are allies, with the same incentive for success.

We need to get serious about behavior and discipline. We need our students to know that school is a safe place where they are physically and emotionally protected. We need our teachers to know that school is a safe place where they are physically and emotionally protected. We need our District to stand up to parents who stand in the way of that goal.

We need the courage to do what needs to be done. We need the foresight to see it before it’s too late. We need to model, for our children, that we still possess the ability to rise to the challenge.

This is a dark moment. It is hard to see how we break this cycle, but I know we can. The days ahead are going to be hard, but the days behind us have also been hard. We have to pick our hard. I know I can endure hard times and hard days, but I need a District that inspires me to believe in a future where that work will have meant something.

For now, like most teachers in this District, I get that inspiration from my students, but that isn’t their job: it’s ours.

Jordan Marlowe, Teacher

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