My Comments at the Township High School District 113 Meeting Discussing Budget Issues and Consolidation of the High Schools

Here is what I said to the Township High School District 113 Board at the meeting on October 19 regarding budget issues and possible consolidation of Deerfield and Highland Park High Schools. I have also included the video of the entire meeting below if you want to hear the entire meeting. 

Good evening.  I am David Hirsch. I joined the District 113 family in 1986 when I was hired to teach theatre and English. I met my wife at DHS and our two children went first to Deerpark and then returned as DHS students. 

The district had inspiring leadership in my first decades: Jim Warren, Linda Hanson, and Anne Reibock held the same value that was repeated constantly: first and foremost, we do what is best for kids. 

I am here to ask the board of education to make doing what is best for the children of District 113 the most important criteria when making all decisions, but especially when talking about consolidating schools, calling for referendums, and dealing with difficult and painful budget issues. 

In education, smaller is better: smaller class sizes, smaller schools, smaller systems. We want our students to be seen, known, and get what they need – before they have to scream for it. We want our schools to be supportive, nurturing, and safe communities. 

One more thing: I am a 1982 graduate of New Trier High School. Mine was the first class after New Triers East and West merged. I participated in the consolidation of the two schools. It may have saved money, but it was not what was best for kids. 

Four years after I graduated high school, I taught at a DHS that had fewer students than my entire New Trier class. Students thrived! Kids were on sports teams and in theatre. Leadership opportunities abounded. Students and staff knew each other even when they didn’t share classes or activities. There was a tight and supportive safety net below every child. 

During that time, our board of education and administration made choices, sometimes difficult and expensive choices, to do what was best for kids – FIRST! 

So tonight, I am asking three things of you: 

First, put the best interests of our children ahead of all other concerns. All decisions must pass the “is this what is best for our children?” test.  If the answer is anything other than a clear and resounding yes, then please find another way. 

Second, clearly and definitively take a stand that consolidating the two schools is NOT good for kids and unequivocally state that no such plans will move forward. 

Third, closely collaborate with your best resource for doing what is best for kids: your staff. The board of education, administration, faculty, and staff must be trusting allies, not adversaries. 

This collaboration has not been nurtured. Jim, Linda, and Anne were experts at bringing everyone together. They were dynamic and skilled teachers, administrators, and team builders. They are the reason we are the only non-union high school district in Illinois. We need that kind of leadership now. 

Glynis and I did not want our children to be swallowed by Stevenson or get lost at New Trier. We loved what we saw where we worked and we wanted it for our children – and yours. 

Do what’s best for kids. Strongly reject consolidation. Engage and embrace your staff as partners. 

Thank you. 

Strike Out For Reform

A teacher strike is different than most other types of union job actions. Teachers are fundamentally different than most other unionized groups. The teacher strike in Chicago was as much for the benefit of the children as it was for the teachers themselves, maybe more so. And while the breakdown in communication and relations that causes a strike is never a good thing, the fact that teachers have come together to advocate for students and schools is critical to the health of our educational system.

No one goes into teaching for the money. While there may be a misguided few who think that children will worship them, prestige isn’t a perk of the job either. And don’t get me wrong, I love my summer break, but the hours and work the rest of the year more than balance out the time; most teachers are ten-month employees anyway. People don’t become teachers for summer vacation.

Given the state of education and the mistrust of teachers right now, there must be something really wrong with a person who wants to get in the middle of this mess – or that person is really dedicated. Why are we beating up the few who are willing to spend so much time, education, and effort to work with children? Why have they become the national scapegoat? And if we continue down this path, will others be foolish enough to become educators?

In the City of Chicago, class sizes vary between large and way too many. Most schools are not air-conditioned. Teachers are fighting poverty, violence, and a host of social ills. How can kids learn in those conditions?  

And then we are going to evaluate teachers and students based on standardized tests. We started using these types of high stake tests way back in the 1980s after the publication of A Nation at Risk. We have spent more than thirty years testing children and beating up teachers about the scores. And look at the wonderful changes such a policy has brought!

If you were ill and your doctor gave you medicine that didn’t help, would you take more of it? If your doctor kept increasing your dose and you felt even worse, what would you conclude? Of course! The medicine is aggravating the problem and we need a different approach. Why can’t policymakers think that way?

Do we build an entire reform system around the few teachers who are below par? What do we do if mass testing is not the answer? Our politicians have failed us. Charter schools and corporate education have created as many problems as they have solved. That is why teacher unions may be our best chance at real educational reform. That is why the Chicago teacher strike was so important.

As a teacher in the only non-union high school district in Illinois, I am not likely to strike. I work at one of the highest achieving and most affluent schools in the country. So I can sit back and let the politicians do what they want and it won’t affect my children or my school. Right?

Wrong. The way we treat teachers is wrong. The way we are using testing is wrong. The way we are approaching educational reform is more than flawed, it has become as much a problem as any of the social ills plaguing Chicago schools.

I salute the unions and hope that this strike will help turn our educational ship on a better heading. If not, education in the United States will continue to develop into a two-tiered system: one for those who can afford better and one for those lost in the tests. And who is going to want to teach or learn in the second system?