A Student’s Perspective

Parkway says they care about their students. They say they value the importance of education. So why does it appear that Parkway is screwing over our educators? Why are they taking away plan time? Why are they not listening to the teachers who are being negatively affected? If Parkway cares so much about their students, will they listen to one? I am a senior at Parkway Central, and the cuts in plan time are negatively affecting my education. I want change. I want my teachers’ time back.

This past semester we have been practicing the new plan time policy. Teachers are spending more time in the hallways in order to keep students in class. But by keeping teachers in the hallways to focus on students outside of class, time and feedback is being taken away from students in class. I very rarely find myself wandering the hallways of the building because I care about my time in my classes. I want to learn from my teachers. I am taking a heavy course load my senior year because I want to get the most out of my education in high school. How is it fair that my education is being diminished to police the students who don’t value school as much as I do? Or even deeper than that, how is it fair that my education is being diminished because Parkway wants to uphold the image that they are helping lower-income students by keeping teachers in the hallways? What data supports the idea that keeping teachers in the hallway benefits lower-income students more than giving teachers time to plan lessons that are targeted towards students who struggle with learning as well as balancing school and their home life? If I, a student who has grown up in an environment that has encouraged higher education my entire life, feel as if I am missing out on valuable parts of my education, I can’t even imagine how students who have never been encouraged to reach higher-level education are being affected.

I have received the least amount of feedback on my writing, tests and other assignments this year due to teachers not having enough time to sufficiently grade. I have the privilege of being able to maintain good grades even under these circumstances. What about the students who can’t maintain good grades without extra attention from teachers? Our class sizes are already so large that teachers can hardly get to every student, so how is taking away their plan time benefiting the situation? I am missing out on important parts of my education, alongside every other student in Parkway, whether they realize it or not. This is not because teachers are not teaching well or not grading to the best of their ability. My teachers are trying as hard as they can to maintain Parkway’s “quality education” while the district-level administrators sit in their office and watch their schools burn to the ground. If you want “quality education” you need quality teachers. But hey, according to Parkway “the numbers” show that both grades and attendance are increasing, so who am I to say that the system isn’t working?

Due to the so-called solution, our teachers do not have sufficient time to help students learn most effectively. I can’t improve my English grade if my teachers don’t have time to teach me how to write a better paper. I can’t meet with my math teachers during Ac Lab because the room is full of students who don’t understand the material due to vague and limited lessons. If school is about learning, why is Parkway cutting the time teachers have to plan proper lessons? I would love to see a district administrator come down to Central and teach a class. But you may be thinking, it would be ridiculous to ask a district administrator to come down and teach a class because they haven’t had sufficient time to plan a lesson. I agree, it’s completely ridiculous to ask someone to teach a class without adequate time to plan.

When we pull teachers from their grading and planning time in order to regulate the students who wander the halls, we are also punishing the students who remain in the classroom. It’s not fair to take away time and feedback from students who come to school every day prepared to learn. I agree that it is important to keep students in class and give every student an equal opportunity to learn, but I don’t believe that we should be hurting both teachers and students in the process. There are better ways to help students feel encouraged to learn. For example, if we give teachers more plan time they will have more time in class to work individually with students. In what world does individual help from educators not benefit students? I have classes this year with over 25 students in the room. What chance does every student have at improving if we take away teachers’ plan time on top of that? I want one-on-one time with my teachers. I want proper feedback. I want my teachers to come to school thinking of teaching, not the stack of papers they have sitting on their nightstand at home. Why am I begging Parkway, of all school districts, to give me a better education? Isn’t this supposed to be the better education?

Parkway claims that there is plenty of evidence to prove that having teachers in the hallways increases both attendance and grades. I would like to see this evidence. In 2019, gse.harvard.edu wrote an article addressing how to get the most out of educators. Nowhere in the article does it say that giving teachers tasks outside of teaching or supporting students benefits the education system. In fact, the article says the exact opposite of that. It advises that schools should not force teachers to participate in administrative tasks such as supervising restrooms. It is very difficult to find evidence online that supports the elimination of teacher plan time, because there is none. Some people, who are most likely not teachers, argue that other school districts have less plan time than Parkway, therefore it’s an issue that teachers will adjust to with time. Parkway is supposed to be better than those other schools. Our district is supposed to be a model for education. How is following the status quo of every other school in the area benefiting our flawed education system? Our teachers are the foundation of Central, so the first step to building a healthy and effective school is giving teachers time to educate their students in the best way possible. It’s extremely disappointing that Parkway appears to be not willing to do this for our educators.

I applied to all of my colleges under the majors of English or Comparative Literature. I am very aware of the likelihood that I may become a teacher. The foundation of our entire world is built on teachers. We need them in order to make change, expand our knowledge and to be the best people we can be. Teachers can’t teach most effectively if they do not have adequate plan time. Parkway has the privilege of being able to remove plan time because we have outstanding teachers. Our teachers are determined to make sure that the plan time cuts do not affect our education. I am getting my first English paper back later than I normally would, but I’m still getting it back. My teacher understands the importance of feedback and one-on-one time, and I am extremely lucky that he has made the decision to put my education before himself. We have great teachers at Central. We have teachers at Central who are passionate about keeping plan time because they have to make a choice between their students and themselves. The fact that our teachers are having difficulty choosing between the two proves that we have something really special in our school.

It is necessary that I address not only the privilege of having quality educators, but also the privilege of going to school in a higher-income area. Our teachers are able to put their kids in daycare for an extended period of time, or buy their teenager a car so they don’t have to drive them around. We are lucky that we have teachers with the resources to put extra time into school. Our teachers use what they have to make our education better. They give up important parts of their own lives for their students. When I picture a future as a teacher, I don’t want to see myself not spending time with my family or sitting in a hallway forcing students to get back to their classes. I want to teach, not monitor the halls. These cuts in plan time are not encouraging students to become teachers. If Parkway continues to go in this direction, I would not want to teach for our district.

I am aware that I am not the first to speak out against the cuts in plan time, and I won’t be the last. I am also aware that I am certainly not the most affected by the new policy; however, Parkway is arguing that more hallway monitoring is benefiting students. I, as a student at Parkway Central, am telling anyone who will listen to me that these cuts in plan time are not benefiting students. I want change, and I encourage students, teachers, parents and administration to continue to advocate for it. Parkway has teachers that are willing to do anything for their students. Parkway is well aware of that fact and they are using that against them. If Parkway is the kind of district it claims to be, they will read this article and make a change. But, if they are the district I fear they are becoming, the district administrators will be the kind who will not read this article even if it hits them in the face. I challenge Parkway to prove me wrong.