“If a seed of a lettuce will not grow, we do not blame the lettuce. Instead, the fault lies with us for not having nourished the seed properly.” – Buddist proverb
So it is with a community that does not nourish education. The seeds of learning do not grow. The community does not prosper. And the fault lies with us.
That’s why Tucson Values Teachers was created, said Jacquelyn L. Jackson, executive director of the group that was organized by the Southern Arizona Leadership Council.
TVT members are dedicated to nourishing the seeds of education – by helping all Southern Arizona K-12 school districts recruit, retain and support top-quality teachers for every classroom, Jackson said.
These goals are supported by bringing positive recognition to edu- cators at all levels, improving teacher capability through summer intern- ships and advanced degrees, by assist- ing teachers with classroom supplies and extending their paychecks with significant discounts in the business community. “All in all, TVT seeks to make Southern Arizona an educa- tion-first community,” she said.
The organization was created in 2008 with the support of SALC. As of November 2010, TVT was granted its own tax-except not- for-profit 501(c) status. TVT now has its own board and execu- tive staff, yet remains a key education partner with SALC
“TVT is a centerpiece of our education strategy,” noted Ron Shoopman, president of SALC. SALC is a business organiza- tion, and businesses – especially in a knowledge-based econo- my – require a good education system capable of supplying a trained workforce for the future, Shoopman said.
“My hope is that we will see TVT become a uniting educa- tion organization here in Southern Arizona, raising the profile for teachers and also showing the commitment of the busi- ness community to support teachers,” added Colleen Niccum, president of the TVT board and a founding member of the organization.
“It is important for business owners to play a role in educa- tion to ensure the success of their inpidual business. They are so interconnected.”
Jackson said, “There are statistics that show that if a child should get a low-performing teacher in the first, second and third grades all in a row, that student will never catch up.”
That puts a lot of pressure on schools to provide top-drawer educators.
Community support is needed to make the teaching profes- sion attractive to highly qualified people. It takes a community to make sure there is a strong pipeline of talent in the future.
“If we are not getting involved with education early on and making sure we develop that talent, our region might not succeed, and we will con- tinue to face the problems we see to- day,” Niccum said.
Some businesses see the writing on the wall, and for their own sake and the sake of the next generation, they are stepping forward.
“The businesses we partner with are phenomenal. They don’t see educa- tion as someone else’s problem. They see the benefits to them and they see there is a relationship that has to be there to create the future workforce,” she added.
“It’s a long-term vision to make this happen,” said Niccum, whose day job is serving as director of community and gov- ernment relations for Raytheon Missile Systems. Raytheon’s community outreach focus is on education – especially science, technology, engineering and mathematics, often referred to by the acronym STEM. “We are very concerned about the qual- ity of education in our region, particularly in the STEM areas. TVT is very much aligned with Raytheon’s workforce develop- ment efforts.”
Leslie Tolbert, University of Arizona senior vice president of research and graduate studies, also is skeptical about the chances of Tucson growing a strong economy without a strong K-12 program.
“It’s really critically important. There is little more important than making sure we have a strong K-12. If we don’t have a strong K-12, all the rest of the talk is for naught. I feel that very strongly.”
While there remain great challenges to bring about strong com- munity support for education, Niccum said TVT has already made progress.
“It’s been a two-year startup for TVT and we are proud of what we have accomplished. For now, our primary mission is supporting teachers – recruiting, retaining and recognizing teachers. We see the importance of high-quality teachers in the classroom because of their influence on students and the direct correlation between good teachers and student achievement,” Niccum said.
TVT has six programs designed to get the word out on how valuable teachers are and, at the same time, positively impact the economics of teachers during the summer. Those include an in- ternship program, a teacher discount card, a classroom supplies drive and teacher recognition events called Teacher Voices, Toast to Teachers and Teacher Excellence Awards.
At the Biz Tucson CEO Leadership Summit, Bonnie Allin, head of the Tucson Airport Authority, praised TVT and urged local firms to join in helping teachers. “This is for people in this room – if you’re looking for highly educated qualified interns, consider placing teachers in your businesses,” Allin said. Business leaders can learn from teachers, and teachers learn from business leaders. “They take that experience back to their classroom and help prepare students for the workplace,” she said.
“TVT is an outstanding program – other areas of the state are looking to copy TVT. It’s important to recognize teachers for the professionalism they bring to the table and the value that they bring to the community,” Allin said.
“We have to recognize the prestige that goes along with being a teacher,” added John Pedicone, a TVT board member and new- ly appointed superintendent of Tucson Unified School District. “That means the community recognizes them not just with salary, but also the site and school cultures needed to provide them with the authority to do their work.
“The problem is that we keep moving back and forth on policy decisions at the legislative level that really change the way we do schooling. We’ve gone to an assessments agenda,” Pedicone said. “And that creates an environment that is not pleasant, it’s not re- warding and it’s not enriching for that person who gets into the teaching field. The result? We are losing the best people.”
Studies show that 50 percent of teachers leave the profession within five years of starting their careers in education, Jackson said. Some of those return, but most do not.
“So in the ideal world, you pay them decent money, you give them the authority to do their work, and they are honored as the professionals they are,” Pedicone said. A salary schedule that would lure highly prized educators into the classroom would run about $40,000 annually for beginning teachers, and up to $80,000 for talented, hardworking, seasoned teachers with ad- vanced degrees.
Unfortunately, beginning teachers in Tucson area earn from $28,000 to $32,000 annually. Jackson said TVT advocates for more nationally competitive salaries for teachers in the Tucson region.
This effort has a very real and present influence on business and business success in the community, said Roger Vogel, a member and treasurer of both SALC and TVT. He is chair- man, president and CEO of Vante Medical Technologies. “The reason we created Tucson Values Teachers is to retain and attract the best teachers we can. It’s shameful, if you ask me, how we support our teachers in our community.
“If we are going to continue to do that, not have outstand- ing teachers in the classroom, we are not going to get the edu- cational product at the end of the pipeline that we want,” he explained. “And that product is important at two levels. At a parochial business perspective, it’s important to have kids come out of high school and go to college. That’s important. But on a bigger level, in a democracy, we need educated citizens. If we want to be economically prosperous in this country, we have to be educated,” Vogel said.
“So when you look at that, you say, Wow! Let’s look at what we are doing in Arizona. We have low economic activity in the state, low tax revenue, low education spending, and we attract low economic activity,” Vogel said. “Somehow we are going to have to break that cycle and figure out how to begin to improve things. That’s the leadership TVT is trying to provide.”
“If you can get a great teacher in the classroom, one that can reach out and touch the students, we can be successful, despite all the challenges. Then we work on a bigger level to see if we can improve the education climate in the country as a whole.”
TVT Widely Supported
In addition to support from SALC and the business commu- nity, TVT partners with a range of educational and business organizations and works closely with the superintendents of all area public school districts, administrators in private and charter schools and these organizations and agencies:
Arizona Business Education Coalition
Community Foundation for Southern Arizona
Expect More Arizona
Helios Education Foundation
Marana Chamber of Commerce
Office of the Pima County School Superintendent
Pima County Business and Education Roundtable
Rodel Foundation
Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce
Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities
University of Arizona
Voices for Education
For more information on TVT,
visit www.tucsonvaluesteachers.org
