This is Teacher Leadership

In a new post to her blog Brighton's Hope, former National Teacher of the Year Betsy Rogers despairs over the futures of rising sixth graders at Brighton School in Birmingham, Alabama.  Rogers, a member of the Teacher Leaders Network Forum, has worked as an instructional leader and improvement coach at Brighton for the past four years. Despite great strides made in grades K-5, which resulted in the school meeting Adequate Yearly Progress goals for the first time in many years, Rogers is bitterly disappointed over a school system decision to leave the school's roughly 100 middle school students in place, rather than transfer them to larger nearby schools. Indeed, the system is spending $10 million to build a new K-8 building, when the transfers would result in a K-5 building with a price tag of only $5 million.

Our middle school population -- 111 students -- is so small that we can only offer one sport, boys' basketball. We did not even have enough girls sign up to have a team last year.

So in my mind, (the construction) outside my window represent(s) the destiny of the 111 middle school students who will not have the same opportunities children in other neighboring middle schools in our system enjoy. These 111 children could be the "before" picture on a No Child Left Behind campaign poster.

Rogers is also concerned about the quality of education being offered in grades 6-8 at Brighton. A history of desultory teaching has been difficult to overcome, and the current 7th grade class -- which excelled on state math tests two years ago as 5th graders -- turned in a depressing performance on a recent math benchmarking test.

Many years ago, I realized as a teacher in a Title I school that as much as you have the desire to, you cannot change the world the students live in. What you can do is provide the best education for them in a haven of safety. I wish I could say (this year's) fifth graders will receive this type of education for the next three years, but our data does not insure or even suggest this will happen.

Rogers, to her lasting credit, refuses to quit — and refuses to "be silent about things that matter."

I work in the second largest school system in our state, with about 38,000 students in our district. I realize that in the large scheme of things, these 111 students are not a critical issue. But how many other powerless children do they represent? How can we knowingly deny these students when our district motto proclaims to be, Committed to excellence in teaching and learning for all.

It is true that Rogers' standing as a former National TOY (2003) offers some extra protection as she challenges the decisions and the consciences of local and state leaders. But how many state or national TOYs have shown this kind of courage?

In my mind, it's the ultimate expression of teacher leadership.