Should teachers at schools destined for closure double down and teach with greater vigor -- or slouch into oblivion? An article by Jennifer Medina in today's Times highlights the apparently contradictory (and surely embarrassing) fact that the DOE gave significant cash awards, linked to the school progress reports, to teachers and administrators at five DOE-designated 'failed' schools.
The core question -- how can DOE both reward and punish the same schools? -- is well worth asking. And some of the players, notably John Hughes of the newly-renamed Hunts Point School (which was, last year, MS 201), do force questions of ethics and judgment. But for a moment, consider the teachers, the folks in the classrooms, and recognize the dedication that keeps them coming back, despite a school being shuttered around them and the pressure to find a new job.
Teachers who help students learn are to be celebrated. Teachers who help students learn even when the school they share is on the DOE chopping block deserve medals -- and loud praise from the communities they serve.
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