Glendale Unified School District in California named math teacher Win Saw its teacher of the year. The son of two teachers in Burma, Win Saw never expected to be a teacher. But while in college at Santa Barbara, he realized that was his calling. He has been inspiring students for more than 20 years.
With all the attacks on tenure and experience, it is easy to forget that teachers like Win Saw are the heart and soul of the teaching profession. They deserve our respect and our thanks for doing what they love and ignoring the reformers as the gnats they are. Crickets in the field, complaining about those who do the work on which our nation’s future depends.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Respect for experience and the leadership value it can share with young teachers is too often ignored. As a teacher who chose teaching after a career in Nursing I entered education at age forty. I then had the privilege of 21 years in Special education. I learned early the value of collaboration and that never ended during my tenure. Now as a board of education member in my district I still enjoy helping to support education in our district. I see myself as a catalyst to help humanize the board. Frequently I find myself advocating for students, teachers and parents when the main focus seems stuck on finances. I hope NYS will return our gap elimination funds and foundation aid before our schools suffer irreparable damage. We must value experience to continue to grow.
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I wish my district had board members like you…
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Congratulations!
@Judith Malys, good that you are the voice of reason. About the finances what is interesting is, districts don’t have the money for public schools, but they sure find the money for charters and vouchers, don’t they?
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Crickets?
I understand that crickets make noise, but the fake education reformers are more like ticks, and ticks, like these corporate hacks, carry horrible diseases that devastate the lives of those they suck blood from.
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YES…ticks make far more sense in this instance. They are deadly.
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