Unions Should Not Provide Job Security for Bad Teachers and  Education Reformers Should Stop Bashing the Profession

MIAMI, FLORIDA – If America wants to reform public education and regain its status in the world it must start valuing teachers and stop the present policy of commissioning study after study and revising measurement tests every few years.

That assertion is made by author Caroline Lewis who outlines reform in her new book Just Back Off and Let Us Teach (ISBN 978-1-4575-3460-7, Dog Ear Publishing, 2015, 128 pages, $16.99, Available on Amazon and at: www.CarolineLewisEducation.com).

Both descriptive and motivational, Lewis' book defines five skills distinctive of effective teachers called SCOPE Skills. Lewis encourages all teachers to self-examine and grade themselves on their own effectiveness using SCOPE Scores. She also encourages teachers to seek student feedback using the same SCOPE Skills system:

1. Sensitivity
2. Communication
3. Organization
4. Professionalism
5. Enthusiasm

Lewis explains what effective teaching looks like, and how to champion teachers who are super heroes. Her call to reform includes:

• Recruit, Retain, and Encourage Effective Teachers
• Weed out bad teachers
• Put a screeching halt to the negativity about teachers that exists in America today, and
• Attend to all THREE legs of the stool that support education reform

According to Lewis, "We seem to skim over the fact that successful public education requires development of three key pillars or legs of a stool: (A) the readiness of the learners to learn; (B) the readiness of the teachers to teach; and (C) the culture and tone of the school (leadership, resources, parental involvement, etc.)"

"The single most important thing we can do in America today," says Lewis, "is to take the money we spend on education reforms at the federal level and invest it in school leadership and teachers' salaries and professional development. This will help attract the brightest young minds to the teaching profession, keep effective teachers in the classroom, and properly reward those who have the greatest influence on our future."

Lewis points to the Finland model for education which ranks among the top nations in educational success year after year. "They attend to all three legs of the stool, and they value teachers and pay them top salaries," adds Lewis. "Imagine what would happen if we worked toward paying our teachers $75,000 a year as starting salaries instead of wasting millions and billions of dollars in federal reform projects."

The author calls upon teachers unions to be an active partner in the ongoing effort to champion effective teaching in the public schools. "Our unions do the best they can negotiating for salaries, benefits, and conditions in the classroom," stresses Lewis, "but more must stop providing job security for bad teachers. These teachers need to be identified and coaxed or escorted out of the profession, not protected by their union."

Bad teachers really don't want to teach, says Lewis, and should receive career counseling to find the right job for them because our schools cannot tolerate keeping teachers who are not able and motivated.

While there will always be poverty, we must continue the war against poverty and strive to help children who come from disadvantaged families succeed in their education. Lewis believes we need to give qualified educators a better chance to teach all of America's children and raise each of them to their highest possible levels of achievement.

In her book, Lewis also calls on effective teachers to do their part to make the teaching profession noble again, to seize opportunities to elevate teaching, and to be fully aware of their ability to impact learning and learners.

An important way to keep effective teachers in the classroom is to make them feel valued and respected by lowering the volume of criticisms directed at them. "We must stop putting down teachers if we have any hope of reforming education and elevating student performance," concluded Lewis.

"Just Back Off and Let Us Teach," recommends a teacher self-evaluation scale, called SCOPE:  Sensitivity, Communication, Organization, Professionalism and Enthusiasm in the classroom. These areas are explained and explored in intricate detail and insight and mixed with examples of Caroline's own personal experiences mentoring students.

Through these self-evaluations and anecdotes, Lewis shows time and again her own true passion for teaching and issues a clarion call for education reform. If God is in the details, this is, indeed, a heavenly guide." John J. Kelly

About Caroline Lewis

After spending 22 years as a science teacher and school principal, Caroline Lewis became director of education for Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden and developed the award-winning Fairchild Challenge to engage students in environmental issues. As founder and CEO of The CLEO Institute, she applies her educational leadership skills to promote solution-oriented approaches to address climate disruptions. A native of Trinidad, she earned an MS in Educational Leadership in 1999 and is committed to elevating and celebrating the teaching profession. www.CarolineLewisEducation.com   

Media Contact: For a review copy of Just Back Off and Let Us Teach or to arrange an interview with Caroline Lewis contact Scott Lorenz of Westwind Communications Book Marketing at scottlorenz@westwindcos.com or by phone at 734-667-2090.