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National Council on Teacher Quality President Kate Walsh on the impact on schools and student’s education of teacher absences.
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Teachers missing in action your child's teacher.
Taking up -- record amounts of days a year and it's costing school budgets big time joining me now.
Kate Walsh she is president of the national council on teacher put it while our quality that -- K thanks for coming on the show it's it's great to have you with us you know this is one of those sleeper issues -- a lot of people don't pay attention to.
And I -- from you know the -- -- -- together for this that one in three teachers -- ten plus days in a 180 day school year.
-- to -- sounds like a big number what's going on.
That is a lot and this goes back.
Decades in -- districts made bargains with teachers that -- given them big raises say give them lots of time off.
Well do you think and does anything for students' performance -- what's the impact of the end of the day.
Will the real harm is on student performance we know that way and teachers are absent from -- class sermon anyone has ever been to school won't be able to tell you that when you have a substitute teacher very little learning ethics class F.
I seem to remember that myself apparently this cost schools four million dollars a year and why hasn't this issue really.
What made its way to have to the front though this classroom when it comes at things we need to solve.
In education why -- people ignore this.
Any superintendent who took the song it would probably not be a superintendent for very long it's it's a very tough issue this is something that -- agreed to.
Like it or not hand them.
Super Tennessee's days have.
A lot more serious issues when it comes to like how teachers are evaluated how we're gonna assess student learning and teacher performance.
That are pre occupying.
Districts these days so this is -- -- this is a no win situation for any super wow.
Just don't have the political will to -- to do it.
I want to turn your attention for just a second to another topic we are Anderson today in education and that's the president's plan to start well near universal pre K.
He he wants to have a ten billion dollar plan to get younger kids.
Into school.
What -- sounds like.
Why would you add another program in the schools we have have so many problems as it is.
-- That is -- that there is tremendous benefit from putting children who are living in poverty in too.
Early.
School we know that -- kids -- again.
At kindergarten.
That they are already so far behind the middle class -- it's it's very very hard for them to catch up so this idea of providing school to young children who live in poverty makes all the sense in the world.
Where I don't agree the president and I think a lot of people take issue with his view is that all children need that access.
We need to have instead look at giving poor kids access not just of age four but -- just three and even -- -- out boy that's the -- that it sounds really expensive it.
You know I've looked at some other research -- on what's happened it had started seems like it's mixed a lot of the benefits go away by the third grade and it's not sustainable.
Why throw more money at this we don't have a paradigm the works right now anyway.
Well you're absolutely right that.
Preschool effects don't have long lasting impact when they're not high quality preschool.
And a lot of the programs we have in place in this country are not there are not high quality preschool.
They're not attending to children's real academic deficits that.
-- that need to be addressed.
So when you look at headstart which has had a long history of really not -- a whole lot of attention -- academic deficits of children.
It's no wonder that there impact does not last through later grades but more importantly has.
You can't expect a great pre school to compensate for a very poor elementary school so no matter how great the preschool is.
You also need great elementary schools -- sure dale and I hope we get closer to that every day I think all of us.
Fascinating conversation really appreciate your time.
