Guest Post on National Board Pay

It took me close to ten years to feel I could make the commitment to tackle the National Board process. Each year I received e-mails from the district office and from my principal encouraging me to participate in the process. I was afraid. While I already had my masters, I knew that National Board required intense work over a three year period. As a single mom I questioned how that much time away from my children would impact them. For some reason....I guess the girls were older....I decided to try. The process took one year and a half for me. I started early to get a leg up on things before I enrolled. It was very difficult and demanding. Yet, when I finished and before I was certified I ALREADY DEEMED the process worthwhile. I decided that even if I did not achieve certification, I was glad I had gone through the process. National Board is ALL ABOUT HOW TO INCREASE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND MAXIMIZE LEARNING. The program teaches you to look at your own methods and assess your own strategies each and every day in order to be the best teacher you can be. There is absolutely no,"Oh well, that child does not want to learn." There is no, "Oh they are just a bad class." Instead you ask yourself, "What else can I do to make learning more interesting for this child." I use the self-reflection process daily. It makes me a better teacher. An example: I have a class of students right now who are less "motivated" than most. I was very frustrated the first couple of weeks trying to decide how I would teach them. After stepping back and thinking I decided to begin with higher interest assignments. I decided to forget trying to follow the path I had always chosen. It might have been working for my other classes, but for these students it was a disaster. After perseverance on my part, things slowly turned around. Now the class is working on age-appropriate and standards-based assignments. I had to first help them feel successful in art. They had to believe that I wanted them to learn.

In addition, National Board was an outstanding program for me because it focused on my field of expertise: art education. Most courses offered by the district are more general. Returning to school to take more art ed courses is just not an option with the price of tuition.
National Board provided me with a means of growing as a teacher and advancing in my area that I could not have otherwise experienced. It is a good feeling to know that I have a Masters Degree and I am Board Certified. Most of the folks who supported me had a masters first too before attempting National Board.

While I understand that these are very difficult days for those making decisions about finances, I do hope that National Board teachers will not be singled out to bear more than our share of the financial deficit. In my case, if the district and state did not support National Board financially and with two days of furlough, I will bring home at least $10,000 less in future years. The "extra" money for our family simply pays bills and should allow me to feed some money into the education plan for my children. Dare I ask what it would say to suddenly decide to not pay any teachers for advanced course work such as a master's degree or a doctorate? We could do that and generate a lot more income but would that be right????

The vast majority of teachers are hard workers. This is no less true of National Board people. I believe the gift in Board Certification is allowing teachers to "do more" in a profession which has limited options for teachers to advance once they receive their masters.

It has always been my impression that our district is committed to the National Board program. I hope that we will not falter in those commitments as we face difficult financial mountains.

Thank you for your time.

Susan Barnette
Art Education at Sullivan Middle School