Self improvement would beat forced improvement

     Plans for more administrator walkthroughs in the classrooms. Making all school personnel including teachers and principals clock in and clock out. Threats about getting tougher with use of cell phones on campus. Write-ups for not being at your duty stations.
     Seems like teachers will soon be watched more closely than the students, but a minority of teachers abusing their independence has made it necessary. To me, the motivational speaker at the district-wide assembly hit the mark in urging educators to “do the right thing even when you’re not being watched.”
     Because some personnel took advantage of not being constantly watched, we’re all getting an overload of oversight both in and out of the classroom.
     Recalling the speaker’s words -- There are three kinds of people: 1’s - who always do the wrong thing. 2’s – who do the right thing as long as they’re being watched. And 3’s – who do the right thing even when not being watched.
     We heard a lot of praise and congratulations from the superintendent about how well our district fared in the accountability ratings. So, we applauded ourselves, and now we’ll get back to work with the goal of improving even more. Those improvements would come more easily if all district employees would be 3’s.
     EPISD has a few slackers, like any employer. People come late, leave early, take long lunches. Some people use their phones in the classrooms, give their students very little work, don’t record grades as often as required, and act inappropriately toward students of the opposite sex.
     We have some aides who go through their days without anyone really knowing where they’re supposed to be and what they’re supposed to be doing. Sometimes people treat trips for school business as personal vacations. Some people don’t dress professionally.
     These things happen because the nature of our organization prevents everyone from being constantly watched. Then, as part of human nature, some people try to get away with whatever they can. So, everyone gets treated like they’re a “2” because everyone has to be treated equally and not everyone has reached the third level.
     As we heard, wouldn’t it be wonderful if our students would all be 3’s? But how can we expect them to be if the grownups around them are not? How can we expect students to abide by a cell phone ban when some teachers are there at their desks for half the day using their own? How can teachers who are always running late insist that their students be in class on time?
     Abuses and problems are not widespread, but they exist, and the effort to eliminate them inconveniences everyone. If we cannot improve on our own without threats, reprimands, and increased monitoring, then the district will eventually just impose a suffocating level of supervision.
     We all need to start challenging ourselves to always do the right thing, even when we don’t have to, even when a wrong action has no negative consequences. It would improve us, it would lead the students to improve themselves, it would improve our schools, and as time passes, it would leave our district with nothing to hide, so Eagle Pass could be even more proud of what we have.