Tim Farmer is a Teach for America alumnus and current Membership Director for the Professional Association of Colorado Educators.
School choice is a hot topic in Colorado, especially as our great state is viewed as a national leader in education reform. School choice is usually discussed in terms of policies that provide families with options, but we often overlook the fact that teachers are likewise given options for their profession. The fact is every educational setting is a choice. In creating a profession for the 21st century, teachers across the country, and here in Colorado, have begun to take advantage like never before of the possibilities offered by new school environments.
When I think of school choice I think of my own experience, growing up in a backwoods Louisiana town with limited options in high school for courses in advanced sciences or foreign languages. I wish I’d had the ability to access virtual classes that would have better prepared me for college. I think of my eventual choice to become a teacher, and being just a signature away from switching from a traditional school to teaching in a charter school in New Orleans before deciding instead to get involved with the non-union teacher movement. I sought out a charter school because I was attracted to the better pay, dedication to student success, and freedom to teach diagnostically without a mandated curriculum.
Some try and promulgate a myth that teachers are not in favor of choice policies, yet thousands of teachers across Colorado not only support this new direction, they are teaching in choice schools every day. According to the membership survey of PACE’s national partner the Association of American Educators (AAE), which is the largest national, nonunion teacher association, teachers polled in all 50 states agree with laws that are advancing parental and student choice.
Specifically, 76 percent of survey respondents agree with a robust virtual education law in Utah that allows students online access to Advanced Placement courses, any foreign language, and high-level STEM courses. Another 78 percent of those surveyed agree with an Oklahoma law that provides a tax credit to individuals and corporations that donate to organizations providing “Opportunity Scholarships” to students in failing schools. Clearly, educators are pressing toward policies that give children and parents options.
Here in Colorado, we are seeing Innovation Schools open new doors by supporting greater school autonomy and flexibility in academic and operational decision-making. These new plans are creating custom schools that allow educators to again select which environment best aligns with their own unique vision for education.
We’ve all heard varying opinions about specific school choice policies and their impact on students, and strangely some try and paint this as a threat to teachers, but really it is a revolution that promises unlimited potential for the profession. As the future of education is being built around choice and technology, teachers are embracing this future.
Take for instance Crystal Van Ausdal, a virtual school teacher at an online public charter school. Crystal, a new mother and former traditional public school educator, now teaches online; all from the convenience of home while her newborn son sleeps.
While personal circumstances may have changed her priorities, Crystal and teachers like her are finding that they are not only able to continue their career, but develop skills in ways they never could have imagined. As the system evolves, flexibility and options will continue to attract and retain some of our nation’s best educators.
This week is National School Choice Week and as an educators’ organization, the Professional Association of Colorado Educators is celebrating all teachers and their professional choices. We will also be premiering a new, short film titled Teacher’s Choice this Saturday morning, January 28th (more details on event here). As education reform advances, it’s important to remember that change is bringing with it exciting opportunities and endless possibilities that will benefit our communities and profession for years to come.
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First Person is where Chalkbeat features personal essays by educators, students, parents, and others trying to improve public education. Read our submission guidelines here.
