Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for January 24, 2007 COMMUTERS IN THE CLASSROOM

COMMUTERS...not computers!

To answer the question raised by the headline below - "Can teachers living outside district be in touch with ... students?" - YES!

I chose the article below because the demographics fit our situation fairly well...and Cairo teachers have occasionally come under attack for the same reasons given below by people who want their teachers to live in the district.

Many students in Cairo assume that their teachers live out of town. They always seem shocked when they find out that I "stay in Cairo". On one hand, I guess that shows that they think about it. On the other hand...it does not seem to make one iota of difference in how they relate to me or to the "outsiders". That seems to rest totally on the actual day-to-day experiences in the hallways and classrooms...as it should.

Bottom line...the stereotype that teachers who do not live in the District cannot possibly relate to the children they teach is just that...a stereotype. While it may be true of some, it is far off the mark with others. AND...just because you happen to live in the same town as the children does not necessarily mean that you will automatically relate. In fact, past personal contact and/or experiences may breed discontent! So...for me, it's a bogus issue.

Couple of other observations:

• Funny how this concern - having local teachers for our children - does NOT seem to be raised when a school fails to meet AYP...and they want to fire all the local teachers...and bring in "hired guns" from wherever who will love, cherish, and teach our children.

• And...local residence does NOT seem to be a concern when it comes to hiring new teachers...local candidates often (usually) being passed over for applicants who reside outside the District. (Association leaders have often speculated about this hiring trend...coming to the conclusion that the administration WANTS "outsiders" - with no community ties - so that they will not have a public outcry should they decide to take negative action against that person or persons "unknown".)

Can teachers living outside district be in touch with Flint students?

By Bob Wheaton

FLINT - When school's out, seven in 10 Flint public school teachers and administrators head for homes outside the school district.

That's more than in suburban districts such as Davison, Grand Blanc and Lapeer, where up to half of all teachers and administrators live where they work.

Some say that means many of the people educating Flint's children don't have a stake in the community and can't really understand the culture of students who live in an urban environment.

"We've got people who come here, and they're getting paid, and they're taking this money to another school district, to another community," said Doris Jones, who has three grandchildren in Flint schools.

"When they're driving away on the expressway, they don't look back, because they don't have any connection here."

That's not a fair statement, says first-grade teacher Jerry Kennedy.

"If that's the case, why do I have some black children that call me Grandpa or Daddy?" said Kennedy, a former Flint resident who is white and now lives in Davison. He teaches at Potter Elementary School and said he's heard people say that white teachers and those who don't live in Flint can't understand black children who live in the city.

"Kids are kids," he said. "I don't think children feel (that teachers don't understand them). It's adults that have the problem, not so much children."

For now, there's not much that local officials can do about it anyway. State law says government employees can be required only to live within 20 miles of a jurisdiction's boundary lines, so school districts can't force employees to live within their boundaries.

But in schools and at City Hall, residency has been a sensitive point of contention in Flint - often colored by race in a community with a majority black population.

Mayor Don Williamson and the City Council have fought over mayoral appointees who lived outside the city.

And last year, the Flint Board of Education loosened residency requirements, allowing new school administrators to live as far as 60 miles outside the district instead of 20, and removing any residency requirement for current administrators.

"We have a cultural gap here," said Flint Board of Education member Herbert Cleaves, who has criticized employees for living outside the district. "They're missing out on understanding what's going on."

Steve Burroughs, president of the United Teachers of Flint and a district resident, disagreed.

"The majority of their lives are spent here in Flint," he said. "Most of our teachers work long hours. So they're involved, especially during the school year. So they're very aware of that community."

Parent Aletha Metcalfe, who has a daughter at Neithercut Elementary School, said she's much more concerned about other issues - such as school funding.

"I really don't care (where teachers live) as long as my child is receiving the best education possible and the teachers in their positions know what they're doing and are teaching them," she said.

Doyle-Ryder Elementary School Principal Shirley Henderson understands both sides of the argument.

She grew up in Flint and spent part of her adult life in the city before moving to Grand Blanc Township.

"It doesn't matter where you live," she said. "It's the commitment you have to the children that are living here. I have a strong commitment to the kids and I'd fight for that. It's where my heart is, and my heart is in the Flint School District no matter where I live."

But she said someone who has never lived in Flint might not understand its children as well as she does.

"Their mindset is a suburban mindset," she said. "As the old saying says, 'If you've walked a mile in their shoes, then you know where they're going.'"

Cleaves has raised concerns about teacher residency at school board meetings.

He said people are unwilling to discuss the larger issues.

"We live in a segregated community and the community doesn't want to discuss those issues of segregation and race," he said.

While 80 percent of Flint's students are black, 66 percent of its teachers are white and 32 percent are black, according to figures in a district report.

Raymond Hatter, another school board member, said it's not relevant where a school employee lives.

"We hire people to do a job, regardless of race or cultural background," he said. "We want to hire the best-qualified person. We want to hire the person that can get the job done."

Grai Joseph, a Flint resident who teaches at Holmes Gender-Based Academy, said being a local resident has advantages in the classroom.

"I wouldn't ask anybody to live where they don't want to," she said. "I don't know if I would say it makes me a better teacher, but I'm more involved in (students') lives.

"I live a mile from Atwood Stadium, so I go to the football games. ... I see them at the grocery store, so it does make me a part of their lives."

Scott Elementary School first-grade teacher Cecelia Caldwell, who lived in Flint for many years before moving to Grand Blanc Township, said it's important for teachers to understand their students' cultures.

But she said they don't necessarily have to live in the same city to do that.

"I don't think it would be that difficult," she said. "I just think you would try to acclimate yourself, to learn about the culture."

In Flint, 365 of 1,262 administrators and teachers live in the school district, according to employee address records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. That amounts to 29 percent.

District records listed post office boxes rather than residential addresses for a small number of employees, so those weren't included in the calculations.

The Journal obtained the same information from the three other largest school districts in the area - Grand Blanc, Lapeer and Davison.

Flint Superintendent Walter Milton Jr., Davison Superintendent Clay Perkins and Grand Blanc Superintendent Michael Newton all live in their school districts.

Lapeer Superintendent Debbie Thompson lives in the Grand Blanc area.

Among the six central administrators who make up Milton's cabinet, four live inside the Flint School District.

David Comsa, Flint's executive director of human resources and labor relations, lives in Shelby Township and Dana Simmons, executive director of secondary education in Flint, lives in Genesee Township in the Kearsley School District.