Michael Giardi

[Jen @jenteach13]

You want to fix education?

Fix #14: Count the administrators in your district. Then count the teachers. Then ask who is in the room with your child.

Let me break down Fix #14.
Pull up your district's organizational chart. Count every assistant superintendent, every director, every coordinator, every specialist, every instructional coach who does not have a classroom. Then count the teachers. Then ask yourself which number has grown faster over the last ten years and which one has not kept pace with what the kids actually need.

What does it mean in practice?
It means every dollar that funds a coordinator of academic services is a dollar that did not fund a teacher, an aide, a reading interventionist, or a classroom library. It means every central office position added is a decision about priorities, and that decision has consequences inside every building in the district. It means the people closest to the kids have the least power and the least resources, and the people furthest from the kids have the most of both.

How does this help kids?
A child is not educated by an organizational chart. She is educated by the person standing in the room with her every day. When we fund the room, staff the room, and support the person in the room, kids learn. When we fund the office instead, kids wait. The bloat at the top does not show up in test scores with a label attached. It shows up as thirty-two kids and no copy paper. It shows up as a teacher buying her own supplies in February. It shows up as the gap between what we say we value and where the money actually goes.

How do we make this happen?
We need district budgets that are transparent and readable by anyone who wants to look. We need school boards that ask hard questions about the ratio of administrators to teachers and demand honest answers. We need communities that understand the difference between a principal who is in the building every day and a director of curriculum alignment who has not been in a classroom in fifteen years. And we need to stop assuming that adding a layer of management above the teachers is the same thing as supporting the teachers. It is not. It is often the opposite.

The goal is not to eliminate every administrator. The goal is to make sure the people closest to the kids are the priority, not an afterthought.

#YouWantToFixEducation

[Fixing Education @FixingEducation]

House Speaker Mike Johnson says Congress 𝐂𝐀𝐍’𝐓 𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐕𝐄 on $174k annually because of inflation since they haven’t had a raise since 2009.

Congress members work about 147-165 days a year.

Meanwhile, the avg teacher makes about $72k annually and works 188 days a year.

[Jermaine Curtis @JermaineCurtis]

I just watched the sandlot again a few days ago.

Remember Smalls?

Smalls couldn’t catch the ball.

Didn’t know who Babe Ruth was.

The kids laughed at him and called him a “goofus.”

He was embarrassed.
Uncomfortable.
Out of place.

But he kept showing up.

There’s a scene where his mom asks him if he made any friends yet…

Imagine if she stepped in and told the kids:
“You HAVE to be nice to him.”
“You HAVE to let him fit in.”
“You HAVE to make him feel comfortable.”

What would that have taught Smalls?

Without the struggle:
• he never improves
• never builds confidence
• never earns his place
• never builds real relationships
• never discovers who he is

And honestly…

he never becomes part of the group.
That’s what made the story powerful.

Sometimes kids need the chance to struggle, fail, feel uncomfortable, and figure out they’re capable of more than they thought.

[Michael Giardi @13rocco]

https://t.co/vfMaVRkHJP

[𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐝 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 @DrBradJohnson]

There should be a teacher on every school board…
and at every table where education decisions are made.
Because right now, we’re making policies for classrooms
without the people who actually live in them.
You wouldn’t design a hospital system without doctors.
You wouldn’t build a plane without pilots.
But in education…
we leave teachers out of the room

[Fixing Education @FixingEducation]

We’ve created a school system where the students who follow the rules get the least attention… because all the energy goes into managing the ones who don’t.

[Fixing Education @FixingEducation]

Many people genuinely believe teachers have an “easy job” with short hours, summers off, and great benefits.

And yet, over the past 7 years, we’ve seen record numbers of teachers leave the profession while fewer people are choosing to enter it.

Why leave such an ‘easy job’? 🙄

[Brian Tolentino M.Ed @TolentinoTeach]

Much of professional development in education is built on the illusion that teaching is more complicated than it truly is.

Instead of simply asking students to read, write, think, and discuss, we bury ourselves in jargon, acronyms, data charts, and endless protocols.

[Fixing Education @FixingEducation]

What are the costliest areas of WASTE in school district spending?

1. 𝗔𝗱𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗮𝘁. Growth in non-instructional roles often outpaces classroom needs.

2. 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀

3. 𝗜𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀. Schools often buy expensive or quickly outdated technology without a clear implementation plan, resulting in wasted funds.

4. 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗧𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 & 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀. Districts overpay for resources that are underused or replaced too frequently.

5. 𝗜𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗣𝗗

6. 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗘𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝘀. Districts frequently implement new initiatives without properly assessing their effectiveness, leading to repeated cycles of expensive but ineffective programs.

7. 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗮𝘄𝘀𝘂𝗶𝘁𝘀. Many districts face high costs from lawsuits, often due to poor policy enforcement, special education disputes, or mismanagement.

8. 𝗣𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗿 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘀. Mostly due to poor regulation.

[missy purcell @MissyPurcell]

“Fifteen years. Thirteen million students. Not a single high-quality, independent study showing i-Ready improves learning.”

And in Georgia? We kept it on the approved list…because it’s widely used.

That’s not evidence-based leadership.
That’s lowering the bar for kids.

We should demand better.
@georgiadeptofed @GwinnettSchools @DDGA13
https://t.co/cPEqmvRWkC

[Fixing Education @FixingEducation]

How did we get to a point where students can miss 50+ days, struggle with basic reading and math, and still get promoted? Then we act surprised when they’re years behind.

This didn’t happen overnight…it’s been building for decades.

[Help A Teacher @HelpATeacher]

Truth.

[Marc Porter Magee 🎓 @marcportermagee]

Public schools: “But how will we enforce this cell phone ban?!”

Private schools: “We saw you using your phone in hallway. We will give you your phone back next month.”

[Brian Tolentino M.Ed @TolentinoTeach]

Can we please stop “modeling” classroom strategies during professional development as if teachers are students in the room?

Do we really need to find our “sole partner,” complete another icebreaker, and pretend we’re in a simulated lesson?

[The Helpful Teacher @HelpfulTeacher_]

How did we mess it up?

For starters, we let people with no classroom experience have an increasing say on how schools are run

We let behaviour slip in a big way

And we overcomplicated something which in it's purist form is really very simple

Can we fix it?
#Edchat #edutwitter

[Fixing Education @FixingEducation]

Common Outcomes of PBIS in Schools:

•Students behave for rewards, not internal motivation. “What do I get if I behave?” becomes common.

•Chronic disruptors stay in class, impacting everyone else.

•Teacher exhaustion from tracking behavior, rewards, data, and meetings.

[Brian Tolentino M.Ed @TolentinoTeach]

Facts.

[Jonathan Alsheimer @mr_Alsheimer]

Yep