Yes! Contracts!

I am very excited! The Mandan Education Association and the Mandan School Board have come to an agreement on contracts for next year. The School Board and MEA have yet to ratify the agreement, but this is according to an article in today’s Bismarck Tribune. Many of you may wonder what the big deal is. The big deal is that we will have a contract prior to school starting in the Fall and we will not end up going to impasse. The big deal is that no one – not the teachers or the board members – have ended up feeling slighted. The big deal is there was no resorting to hurt feelings, name calling, accusations of hidden money, or arguing across the table. The biggest deal is that teachers will go back to school this Fall with very positive attitudes towards our employer and towards education. In some years past, teachers have felt under-appreciated by the school board. The attitude at the start of school has sometimes been hurt or anger on the teacher’s part, feeling like they are only going to work the hours they are paid for and whatever gets done, okay. If it doesn’t get done, well, the students will wait. (Yeh, I know, not a real professional attitude!)

The biggest deal is that if teachers feel they are being paid what they are worth and that they are appreciated, they are more willing to look at making changes. Maybe these changes have to do with a more constructivist approach to learning. Some teachers may wish to explore more inquiry directed learning. Teachers might be feeling so good that they want to revamp their lessons to include more critical thinking skills or revise their questioning strategies.

Students can only benefit from these great attitudes and happy feelings from their instructors. Students will pick up right away on the positive attitudes of their classroom teachers, and positive attitudes are usually catchy. Maybe students will feel more positive about the work they are doing. Students’ attitudes may be affected for the better as well. They may be more excited about coming to school, more excited about the material they are studying, and willing to work harder as a result.

Settled contracts going into a school year is a definite win-win for everyone. The going gets tough soon enough as we settle into winter (especially if we have a winter like the last one). With everyone willing to give a little more, our educational success should be a given.