Many people assume they understand what it means to be a teacher simply because everyone has had a teacher in their lives. The reality is, one can only grasp the challenges and responsibilities of teaching by experiencing the job firsthand.
When I taught second grade, I experienced students with various learning needs.
A teacher’s role is to meet students where they are, and it can be difficult when every single student is different.
I had students who were reading chapter books and others who were still learning to read. I had students who were struggling with addition and subtraction, while others were speeding through multiplication and division.
Learning is not a one-size-fits-all system. It’s different for every child.
This year, as most of us are aware, the legislative session has kicked off, and changes are being made across all sorts of areas, including education.
I was reading an article in the Kentucky Lantern titled “Kentucky education commissioner will focus on school accountability in budget session,” by McKenna Horsley. I encourage you to read it to better understand my thoughts.
The article discusses the areas that Education Commissioner Robbie Fletcher had the opportunity to influence, and I will focus on two: school accountability and teacher pay.
House Bill (HB) 257, introduced by Representative J. T. Payne, proposes changes to Kentucky’s assessment and accountability systems.
The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) wants to encourage districts to work with their communities to determine what is expected of graduates. Local voices can shape what success looks like post-graduation.
This immediately makes me think of the Corbin Independent School District (CISD) with the Portrait of Learner initiative.
The CISD launched the Portrait of a Learner initiative, which included a survey completed by 2,435 community members. The survey asked, “What skills do you expect of graduates?” The survey results indicated that community members wanted to see a strong work ethic and effective communication among students.
Additionally, HB 257 would reduce time spent on state testing and focus more on how much progress each student makes over the course of the year, particularly in reading and math.
This new system asks the important question, “Did the student grow?”
To show students’ grade-level proficiency, after students answer a question on an assessment, the next question would be of a different difficulty level depending on whether they answered the previous question correctly. The test meets students where they are, rather than setting them up to fail.
The system rewards growth instead of punishing schools for where students start.
Another focus area was teacher pay. Fletcher noticed that a Tennessee state law is set to take effect in 2026, raising the minimum teacher salary to $50,000. In order for a Kentucky teacher to make more money for doing the exact same job, all they have to do is cross state lines. According to the National Education Association, Kentucky was ranked 48th in starting teacher pay, with an average of $40,161.
The bottom line is Kentucky is losing teachers, and I was one of them. If we don’t pay teachers what they deserve, they will leave or go to another area that will pay them what they deserve.
We can’t say “teachers matter” and then pay them as if they didn’t.
As the legislative session continues, I encourage readers to look into these bills and stay educated on what is happening in Kentucky.
One can do so by going to https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26rs/house_bills.html.
