Coming Soon to Memphis: Teacher Town USA?

Posted on January 15, 2014

4


Dorsey Hopson and Chris Barbic today issued a joint press release outlining their commitment to making Memphis, Tennessee Teacher Town USA.  From the press release via Chalkbeat:

Hopson and Barbic said they both fully support the over-arching goal of Teacher Town USA: To strengthen the talent pipeline of teachers and school leaders in Shelby County who can achieve dramatic improvements in student achievement year after year.

Teacher Town USA will focus particular attention on retaining, developing, and recruiting talented teachers to serve “priority schools,’’ meaning those that rank in the bottom five percent in Tennessee in terms of student achievement. Currently, 68 schools in Memphis are in the priority school category.

On the surface I’m very excited by this announcement.  Sounds like our two district leaders are going to devote their time and energy not just to reforming the way we evaluate and test teachers but also focus on other strategies to invest them in moving to and teaching here in Memphis.  Much of their wording coincides with pieces I’ve written here in BCE about the need to recruit and retain the best teaching talent here in Memphis.  Their strategy is as follows:

The superintendents said they will work with Teacher Town USA to build a broad base of public and private support in coming months among philanthropic, business, community and political leadership. In addition the Teacher Town USA effort will seek significant national funding to retain, recruit and train top teachers for Memphis.

Looking forward to seeing what the future holds for Memphis, Tennessee, Teacher Town USA

Title picture from Choose901.com

Update: I’ve had a few communications from parties concerned that this announcement isn’t all it appears to be.  While I think that the language of the press release and the strategies outlined would lead to improved teacher quality and teacher job satisfaction in our city, they must be properly implemented to make them happen.  Here’s to hoping!

About these ads