Let's Get Honest About Our Systems in NH

While Ryan Terrell makes some good points in his recent essay "Teachers Do Deserve More, but NH Schools Aren't Underfunded," many of them are without full context and miss the mark. And, similar to his uncouth assessment of a professional educator in the Manchester School District, he offers no solutions except to simply ignore realities such as systemic racism and our current system's structure.

I'd like to offer a new conversation, an honest one, that doesn't ignore the lived experiences of our community members. Let's earnestly look how our system functions and consider how structures are hindering everyone from making real educational progress. 

First, we have to be willing to do an honest assessment of where we are and where we hope to be. Honestly, we need to recognize systemic racism and stop trying to hide it under a rug. 

The truth is, interpersonal racism still exists and most NH teachers don't have the skills to address it in their schools, in part because they've had the privilege not to have experienced racism themselves.

This interpersonal racism is exhibited in many ways including use of derogatory words, slights, as well as implicit bias we all hold and explicit bias that some extreme members of our community hold. If a student is receiving these negative energies from others on a daily basis, whether it's intended or not, that student is not being afforded even an adequate learning environment. 

When this interpersonal racism overflows into policy and practice, we see systemic racism and discrimination. 

Need some evidence? It exists, but we don't collect it. When a kid uses the N word in casual conversation, they might get a consequence, but it's not necessarily recorded or recorded in such a way that we could understand how many times derogatory language is used in a school. At best, that data collection would be based only on what teachers witness anyway.

All to say, when folks say systemic racism doesn't exist in our schools and BIPOC students say "Yes it does", the next logical step would be to collect data. 

That is part of the work of our DEIJ professionals. Local school districts who have introduced these positions are responding to data they've received from current learners, alumni and teachers. Their work is to help name the injustice and educate their school community so that each NH child has access to a free adequate education. 

The long term goal should be that everyone has the skills, knowledge and will to recognize and address injustice when they see it, and to help repair the harm. I think DEIJ directors would actually prefer a NH where their role was no longer needed. That's just not where we're at in most NH schools and so we need folks to lead this work and be the educators that our educators never had.

We should be lifting up and supporting change ideas, not knocking them down before they have a chance. These positions are new in NH. Let's give it a few school cycles, allow folks some freedom to have difficult conversations and collect some data before we start critiquing the efficacy or worth of these positions. 

A second critique I have of of Mr. Terrell's argument is on teacher salaries compared to Massachsettes. The numbers may be right, but Massachusetts is a completely different system soup to nuts. 

Based solely on their numbers their teachers unions are stronger and have more bargaining power. If NH had ten districts instead of over one hundred, our teacher salaries would look a lot different. In fact, our insistence and pride around local control and our school funding formula has ensured salaries stay low and communities are pitted against one another. 

And if Mr. Terrell wants NH teachers to be more like their Massachusetts peers, perhaps we should also take a look at the conversations they are having. Teachers there have a level of competency and comfort with conversations about implicit bias and systemic racism far above that of NH educators because they're facing their truths. I'm not saying they're perfect, but they've been engaged in some real learning and don't have laws that create barriers to honest conversations. 

Finally, when talking about schools in New Hampshire, we can't use one broad stroke. No two districts are alike. Yes, some of our superintendents are making more than they should, and some probably aren't making enough. But honestly, with a shortage of administrators, they have negotiating power. In a country that celebrates a free market economy, this should be no surprise. Unfortunately, this supply and demand issue will not affect the teacher salaries in some districts and the support salaries in all districts. And it won't affect salaries, because of the NH school system's structure and that it is indeed underfunded.

Miss America? What?

If you asked me three years ago what I would be doing this week, I can guarantee that I would not have said “Attending Miss America with my kid.” But, like a lot of things, the pandemic forced the universe to shift in unimaginable ways, and here I am watching the sun rise over the river at Mohegan Sun after the first night of preliminary competition.

I’ve been a “pageant mom” for a hot minute. It was actually my idea, influenced by a series of events…the universe made me do it! First, I met this rockstar teacher through my assessment work with New Hampshire educators…that was before the pandemic even hit. We connected on social media, so a post about her daughter’s experience piqued my interest.

And it piqued my interest because I needed a place where my daughter could perform the songs she had been practicing during her private vocal lessons. Private lessons she took as part of her 9th grade homeschool curriculum, a choice we made because of the pandemic. 

Our journey to Miss America 2022 was also influenced by the film Dumplin, which I made my daughter watch with me during the first few months of the lockdown. The movie satisfied all the stereotypical expectations of the pageant world, but also held space for girls to bend those stereotypes. The movie’s protagonist, Willowdean, ends up turning a local pageant into something meaningful for her and the experience gives her a new perspective on life.

I’m not sure my experience watching these talented young women perform has changed my life perspective, but it has changed the way I view pageants, at least for teens and adults. It’s hard work, especially for young women who compete in multiple locals. My daughter did four competitions this season before being named Miss Winnipesaukee’s Outstanding Teen in August each time getting better with her talent performances and on stage questions.

It’s important to note that the Miss America Organization is shifting language from pageant to scholarship competition, and from contestants to candidates. The young women participating aren’t just hoping to win a sash and crown for scholarship money, they’ll have a job to do and the competition is really an elaborate job interview.

And as interviews are concerned, it is entirely performance based, which is why I am compelled to write about it.

That’s right, Miss America and all the state and local competitions that lead up to it are elaborate performance tasks that, crown or not, help young women develop skills that are necessary for success: communication, empathy, self-direction, reflection, creativity and self-confidence. Each candidate must also develop a social impact initiative which requires quite a bit of marketing and civic engagement. In my work talking to communities about their hopes for learners, these are the skills they hope for all kids. 

And, while I think I’ll always wrestle with how much time, effort and money is spent on getting glammed up for one show, I get it. In order for people to do their best work, they need to feel good about themselves, and presentation and self-expression through clothing, make-up and hair can do that. It’s not my cup of tea, but it doesn’t have to be.

Onward to day two.