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I think the money should be given to teachers so they can have direct control over what resources they purchase to address the instructional needs they know exist in the classroom. Grade-level teams of teachers can pool their money to buy materials or equipment.
Ike Nelson
Third-grade teacher
Bradford Primary School
Littleton, Colorado
- 1. Incentive pay for top-performing professionals
- 2. Management-skills seminars for administrators
- 3. Team-building retreats for teachers
- 4. One-to-one laptop initiatives for secondary schools
- 5. Tech-teaching boot camp for laggard teachers
- 6. Library resources
Neil Krasnoff
Librarian
Lehman High School
Kyle, Texas
In my district, quite a number of teachers have lost their jobs for next year. The money should be invested in people and to reduce class sizes. Adding money to special programs will not affect the classroom enough. We need enthusiastic, qualified, caring people in contact with children.
Cindy Dunagan
Technology facilitator
Mooresville Middle School
Mooresville, North Carolina
Short of restructuring -- a necessary effort that would take vision, dollars, and years -- let's first retrain teachers in the following things: how to deliberately teach to the core, how to add rigor to lesson plans, and how to actively move about and own the learning environment. It is all about teacher behaviors. Let's give them new tools, even if they don't believe they need them.
Kay Smith
English education
Utah Valley University
Orem, Utah
I believe it's key to spend federal stimulus funds on sustainable programs and materials. Providing training for existing personnel and adding new equipment and materials to the classroom to support teachers will create a long-term impact with short-term funds. The fear is that too many schools will spend the money on hiring personnel and that it will eventually become a burden on the district to find funds for those employees.
Eric Garner
Teacher
Stoneman Douglas High School
Parkland, Florida
We should use some portion of the funds to improve school libraries. Many schools need books, computers and other technology, and professional development for librarians and support staff. Libraries serve the entire school population, staff and students, in all curriculum areas. Studies have shown that well-stocked and well-staffed school libraries improve test scores and literacy across all grade levels and socioeconomic groups. Fund school libraries!
Cynthia Ortiz
Librarian
Hackensack High School
Hackensack, New Jersey
I don't need pencils; I need people and small classes. In order to best utilize the curriculum and meet standards, we need highly qualified help in our Title I public school classrooms. We need support, especially in grades K-3, to aid teachers in their efforts to provide effective interventions and enrichment. I'll buy the pencils.
Comments (2)
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Kid constructed proposals
Skip the teachers, and go to the consumers: teach kids how to reconfigure their classrooms and develop proposals to funders and policy makers to make more flexible configurations the rule rather than the exception. Teachers can then become consultants to their students, which is, in effect, what all good teachers have been all the time anyway.
Training - whether "in-service" or "pre-service" - is largely a lot of crap. Waiting for it, most teachers could find out what they need to know on the net right away. The kind of passivity they exhibit is a result of a very sick system, and, when people ignore their own symptomatology, they are not likely to become a cure.
How should federal stimulus funds for education be used to help
I see many comments about training for existing personnel, professional development, and qualified people. One of the best things my school district ever did was work with the HOPE foundation with our funds and I think now is a crucial time for everyone to work with them again. They are on the cutting edge of student success and learning communities. All the work they did was customized to our school and district based on our School Improvement Plan. It was awesome!