The global economic crash is affecting many aspects of our lives; one aspect is our educational system. Corporations have been promoted as the saviors of our education system. This so-called salvation is being played out through reforms and reconstitutions. As we are introduced to these changes, many people within and outside of the educational
system are affected. Gustavo Lopez, a former teacher, interviewed Bernadette Hewson, a displaced teacher to better understand how these changes have affected her and the people around her. Bernadette Hewson is currently working as an elementary teacher in the City of Los Angeles.
Tribuno del Pueblo :
We understand that in the last few years there has been a large number of teachers in the LA Unified School District that have been displaced. Can you explain what that means and how this affects teachers?
Bernadette Hewson :
Displaced teachers are teachers who have a full-time job, but do not have a fixed school site. A large number of displaced
teachers tend to be experienced teachers 50 years of age or older. Some of the teachers who have been targeted are teachers who are critically vocal about various aspects of the running of schools. Test scores also seem to be a tool used to target who will be displaced. Every school year, teachers work with the fear of being displaced. This distracts a teacher from focusing on their students and their profession.
TP:
How does this affect the students?
BH:
This affects students because there is a lack of continuity. For example; when a school is reconstituted, at least 50% of its teachers are displaced, and new teachers from outside the school and community are brought in. The displaced teachers don’t return to the reconstituted school. Therefore, the relationships the students of these schools have had with their teachers are then broken. This creates an environment of uncertainty for the students because at least half the teachers of the reconstituted schools are brand new to the school.
TP:
How does this affect people’s morale?
BH:
The displacement of teachers affects morale because displacement de-professionalizes our working environment both for displaced teachers and for teachers who are afraid of being displaced. After years of service and hard work, teachers are yanked from their working group, causing major disruptions at schools. Teaching is about connections, and the displacement of so many teachers at once rips apart relationships that have taken many years to form.
TP:
What advice would you give to displaced teachers?
BH:
Teachers need to help their colleagues understand the context in which these displacements are occurring. Displacement is one of the weapons that privatizers are using to destabilize the teaching profession. Teachers have to stay together and stay in contact with one another. We have to learn as much as we can about the efforts to privatize public education, and we can only do that by staying together as a group and helping one another out. Solidarity is crucial!
