A Great Question from an LPS Teacher

The LPS superintendent travels around the district to meet with teachers and staff members regularly. Teachers from around the district have been reporting that in his meetings he has been commenting multiple times per meeting that teachers should be against charter schools. The message they've been getting is that since they're LPS employees, they have an obligation to politic against school choice.

Teachers are smart, though. They know that the kids of Lincoln will still be educated by teachers regardless of the organizational structure of the public schools they work for. Teaching jobs are certainly not in danger, regardless of the legalization of charter schools. Teachers also know that fewer demands from out-of-touch administrators would make their jobs more pleasurable and less constrictive. Many of them have looked to the states around us and seen that charter schools are often listed on the best places to work.

Would the CEO of Target tell all the Target employees that they should be "against" Wal-Mart? That they should lobby for policies that would hurt Wal-Mart's chances of competing? No. If Target wants to capture more of the market share, they just improve their products and services.

It seems that all the time and resources LPS is spending to knock down competition that doesn't even exist yet could be better spent in improving education. When competition arrives, as it surely will, many parents will continue to choose LPS, and that's great! Traditional public schools work well for many students. Why disparage alternative schools that are the perfect fit for other students? Why treat the teachers as if they can't think for themselves?

And if the superintendent gets to use his platform and our tax dollars to try to sway people toward his personal political opinions, why are the teachers held to a different standard?