The Cleveland Plain Dealer...
Rose-colored lenses on teachers
By Sharon Broussard
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 

Last year, the documentary “Waiting for Superman” came to Cleveland with tales of public schools so out of control that youngsters were desperately trying to win a lottery to attend elite charter schools. 

When some of those bright-eyed public school students were rejected because of space limitations, sniffles could be heard among the movie patrons at the Cedar Lee Theater. 

Last week at the Capitol Theatre on West 65th Street, fans of “Waiting for Superman” got a dose of kryptonite by way of “American Teacher.” The documentary, directed by award-winning filmmaker Vanessa Roth, is based on The New York Times best-selling book “Teachers Have It Easy: The Big Sacrifices and Small Salaries of America’s Teachers” by Daniel Moulthrop, the curator of Cleveland’s nonprofit Civic Commons, Ninive Calegari and Dave Eggers. 

The film extols the dedication of four standout teachers, one of whom left the profession because of the poor pay, who give their hearts and souls to teaching public school students. It is a powerful plea for higher compensation to attract the next generation of teachers. 

Pay is a problem. It was appalling to learn that teacher Erik Benner in Texas earned so little that he took a second job in a flooring store. Underpaid Rhena Jasey, a Harvard University graduate, left her public school for a position at The Equity Project, a New York charter school that pays teachers $125,000 a year. 

Here in Cleveland, teachers with a bachelor’s degree start out at a mere $38,534 and top out after 30 years or so at $81,734, if they have a mas ter’s degree and 30 graduate credits. However, the average Ohio teacher earns just $55,958, according to Michele Prater of the Ohio Education Association. 

It’s no wonder that great teachers, the most important component of a successful classroom, flee to administrative jobs in search of bigger paychecks or that top-ranked college students balk at joining the ranks. 

Still, it’s hard to figure out how cash-strapped public school districts could afford bigger salaries. 

After the screening, Cleveland Teachers Union President David Quolke said during a panel discussion that the movie should start conversations. 

“It tells an accurate story -- not just what occurs in the classroom, but what occurs in people’s lives,” he said. 

Well, up to a point. And that’s the problem. Both documentaries are so busy praising their respective superheroes that they fail to look at the significant amount of clay clinging to their feet. 

For instance, “Waiting for Superman” raised the banner high for charter schools, but said little about the awful charter schools that lie in wait for naive parents desperately seeking safe educational homes for their children. 

Just last week, the Ohio Department of Education blocked nine charter sponsors that currently oversee failing schools from opening any more schools. They ought to be out of business entirely. 

Meanwhile, “American Teacher” gives a standing ovation to its own superheroes while barely acknowledging that some American teachers aren’t making the grade. 

The documentary skates over underperforming veteran teachers who hang on to their jobs because of antiquated seniority rules that put good, new teachers on the pink-slip list. 

Calegari said there is nothing to gain from attacking teachers, and that fewer bad teachers will exist once higher pay attracts new teachers into the profession. 

But there’s plenty to gain from an open, honest discussion with a public that is well aware that some inferior instructors are hiding behind union rules -- a problem acknowledged by Moulthrop, a former high school teacher who called for wholesale changes in public education. 

Teachers deserve respect and higher pay. 

I wouldn’t have this soapbox except for my first-grade public school teacher in Alameda, Calif., who didn’t hesitate to push me far past “Dick and Jane” books. 

But teachers won’t get much respect or anything else unless they are willing to respect the public enough to talk about not-so-great American teachers and not-so-stellar public school systems and how they’re working to change them. 

Now that’s a conversation worth having. 

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