Teachers Weigh in on District's Climate and Culture, part 3 of 3: Solutions?

[XLFD]

In part 1 and part 2 of this trilogy, we looked at the first 14 questions of a recent teacher survey on satisfaction with the current culture and climate in the Ludington Area School District (LASD).  Tomorrow, October 17th, there will be a candidate forum at WSCC that will feature the five candidates for the two spots on the LASD Board, we hope that each of those candidates have heeded the survey results and incorporate this knowledge into their answers, likewise we hope that those who ask questions to these candidates consider the state of the current climate and culture.

As an overview, the school board did not fare all that well in the assessments, and usually it was in regard to how they handled administrative staff.  The 'heavies' in the survey were to a small extent the principals of the schools, assistant principals actually were rated much higher.  But many teachers indicated that the big problems were perceptions they had with Superintendent Kyle Corlett's empathy and communication skills.  

The first three questions measured satisfaction like the earlier ones, we will briefly summarize the results and three answers reflecting the consensus will be shared.  The latter three were more open-ended, the last offered a chance of an essay.

Question 15:  Are you satisfied that your workplace is safe?

About 1 in 3 teachers were satisfied that their school was safe, over half felt unsafe.  The reasons varied for the most part, some were centered on deficiencies in the new elementary or ones due to construction issues in the upper levels, some were unspecific, but felt overall there were issues:  "Our school is still vulnerable to outside threats." (# 11), "We had a high school shooting and safety threat this year and the admin swept it under the rug.  When a student threatens another student with bullet shell casings and only gets a slap on the wrist, that's wrong." (#47).  "If the public knew about the lack of preparedness and liability concerns, we would be shut down."  (#6)

Question 16:  Are you satisfied with the district's student discipline policy?

Four in seven were dissatisfied, with only two in nine satisfied with the policy.  Many respondents were not aware of a policy or just didn't see a policy that was standard or fair.  "We need a complete overhaul." (#30), "What is the policy?  There doesn't seem to be any consistency."  (#37), "I handle most things in class and the few times I sought outside help, I was told there was nothing to be done.  There's no place to put a student and no one to supervise."  (#25)

Question 17:  Are you satisfied with the vision and direction of the LASD?

Only one in five were satisfied with the vision and direction to some degree, more than two in five were not, with over a third in between.  Those dissatisfied expressed a variety of concerns indicating vague visions and lack of direction in the current district.  "I do not know what our strategic plan is or what our vision is for moving forward.  It is not clearly communicated." (#33), "Do more with less is not a vision I can get behind... employees feel completely defeated." (#29), "Seems like we are losing real good people due to the leadership of our district." (#12).  

Question 18 had teachers rank five factors that have the biggest impact on C&C, the above graph that shows the average ranking, with respect/empathy in front averaging around second place just under scoring four.  That area was actually at the top of more than half of the lists, indicating that the teachers feel a bit of disrespect and their feelings are not being considered.  Communication came in a close second, which also shows the same feelings.  Conversely, while one in ten teachers rated respect lowest on the list, nobody placed communication last.  

Question 19:  Have you ever considered changing jobs or going to work for another district?

This was the survey's only yes/no question, and survey takers were welcomed to elaborate on their binary choice.  Over 70% (66 of 91) voted that they had considered changing jobs, of those who explained their choice:  "Daily, my family has given me permission to walk away.  They are sick of seeing the aftereffects of a teaching day." (#40), "Unfortunately, yes!  And I am in the middle of my career.  I was just looking at job postings the other week." (#67), "Whie losing sleep and developing ulcers since the hiring of the new super the last couple of years I have increasingly thought of leaving this district.  I have watched countless other employees leave and learned of almost instant relief and happiness."

Question 20:  What solutions would you suggest to improve the climate and culture of LASD?

The long answer, open question that 88 of 94 respondents answered, most able to answer in less than a paragraph, #11 was especially in depth with five developed solutions for five problems.  We offer four of the better ones here, but encourage perusal of the other 84 to see potential solutions to all of the problems indicated over the rest of the survey.

In conclusion, it's unfortunate that it takes a survey like this to expose that our school district is not firing on all cylinders.  We can go to school boards and get a tilted view of reality where the district tries its best to choreograph for an hour that everything is running smoothly, proudly showing where the teachers are content, and administrators are loved.   This is not reality, there is dissension in almost every classroom, with the district, administrators, and even the board. 

One wonders whether there can be a great way to find the best board trustees after one or two simplistic questions held at a candidate forum, as the candidate's answers are usually simplistic in themselves, not to mention safe and non-committal.  Gravitate to those candidates who operate out of the safe zone in their answers.  Parents and other interested parties: go to the school board meeting this coming Monday (most candidates should be there) and assert yourself into finding any answers or solutions which fail to be offered at the debate forum at WSCC and which matter to you.  

[Willy]

Thanks for these articles regarding school teachers morale. I know you put a lot of work into it explaining why the teachers are not happy. But I still don't understand what the problems are. Did anyone give specific instances of what ails them. Why isn't the union taking care of this. Is this a case of people just whining or are there real problems? What exactly are the problems and doesn't anyone complaining have any solutions on how to solve them?  What organization doesn't have manager/employee problems and complaints?  If I had a job whose benefits are a 9 month work year, a 3 month summer vacation, a 2 week Christmas vacation, a one week spring vacation and a huge amount of sick leave, I would love it. And how about that generous pension and education loan forgiveness teachers receive.  I would spend more time being thankful that I had a good paying job in a geographical area of low wages. Try being a roofer during the heat of the summer or breaking your knuckles after your wrench slips while laying  under a car, or working asparagus fields while laying on your belly for hours or any number of back breaking difficult jobs the average person must do to put food on the table. Try working in a business or company with a tyrannical boss and having no union to back you up.  Nothing is perfect and life's not fair.

[Freedom Seeker]

Good questions, Willy and perspective on reality of comparative job benefits.

[XLFD]

These culture and climate surveys remind me of end of semester teacher evaluations I used to receive the results of from students when I taught as a graduate assistant at MSU and as an associate professor out at WSCC.  Some of the critiques of my teaching or curriculum were probably driven by the students' final grades, but most of it was constructive even if not totally civil, and I was able to learn and adapt using the reasonable criticism.  

Having seen these and having looked at other C&C surveys, I saw a lot of concern in the overall responses of this one.  Sure, some of it is likely due to factors not necessarily brought forth, but I think it's more than that based on a few observations.  The criticism is mostly general, but it is widely dispersed and directed more towards those highest in the food chain.  Asst. principals are mostly satisfactory, principals are meh, the school board is less than satisfactory, and the superintendent is very unsatisfactory.  Such assessments may seem reasonably placed, but they go against what used to be the case with Superintendents Kennedy and De Kuyper and the school boards of yore. 

But the board and superintendent seem to have dismissed this survey as meaningless and nothing to work off of to learn and to adapt.  Teachers recognize that, and it becomes an issue with merit during an election year with two seats on the LASD Board coming up.  It's a good reason why five serious folks are running for two seats.  These often go uncontested.  

[Rom TottaM]

You’ve done an excellent job digging into the survey results and bringing attention to the real issues facing LASD. I really appreciate the way you’ve used the teachers’ own words to paint a clear picture of the challenges, especially with safety and leadership. Your writing brings a sense of urgency without being overdramatic, and your call to action is spot on. It’s the kind of piece that makes people think and, more importantly, want to get involved. Keep up the great work!

[XLFD]

Thanks, Rom, I appreciate your validation, even though I admit some limitations to the analysis that were pointed out by Willy.  Conservatively, I would say about 2/3 of the teachers are mostly dissatisfied with the status quo, and yet the people of the district see nothing reported in the news, and even those who go to meetings see only contented teachers attending and speaking.  I want to hear from the other side, but they don't want to mosey up to this debating table.  I will challenge them tonight, but these are all politicians who realize that dodging is easier than throwing their honest opinion out.

This is the same ground game that the Ludington City Council and city hall run.  If you're expecting the city council to go into their meetings without a certain amount of choreography and tons of makeup on, you will be disappointed.  To get either boards or councils to face the problems we have in reality you have to get on stage, throw down your bag of marbles to disrupt the dancing, and wipe away the mascara covering up all of those blemishes underneath the foundation.  They start believing their own fictions and falsehoods if you don't, and they ignore you if you don't shake things up just a little.

[Willy]

Did I miss something? Did the teachers have anything to say about the kids. Was anything mentioned regarding the sex training books that were being promoted. Those books about gay sex and masturbation?  Or the woke agenda that's creeping into school systems. Was anything brought up about  what history is being taught or about how the idea that white people are  the evil race. Was anything mentioned about the awful affects of closing schools during Covid, the masking of children, the false information regarding the lock downs and how that type of situation will be dealt with in the future? Was anything at all said regarding the children or was it just a bunch of adults worried about their own concerns and not the children they are entrusted to look after.

[XLFD]

The kids are mentioned at times, but they were not the primary focus.  This link explains what a culture and climate survey is, and it does have its limitations when given to teaching staff and the majority of questions relate to the overall C&C of the school, where the students and curricula are not a big influence, especially when you have a survey created by the teacher's union to give to teachers.  Such surveys can also be given to students and if LASD teachers have done that, it may have uncovered some of the topics you mention, but this survey by its nature avoided those controversial issues and few volunteered to get beyond their own concerns and the conflicts between them and administrators.