Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/882783
Article: Teachers Know Best - Page 7 Resist! The new administration's proposed education budget reduces spending by 13.5 percent and slashes $9 billion in grants for teacher training and summer and after-school programs, among other things. Make your voice heard and resist devastating cuts that hurt students, families and the profession. See page 44. S O M E T H I N G M A G I C A L H A P P E N S when you bring teachers together to learn from one another. Just ask any of the educa- tors involved in the Instructional Leadership Corps (ILC). "With ILC professional development, it's the give and take between teachers that leads to the 'aha!' moments," says Yolanda Muñoz, an ILC teacher-leader and United Teachers of Pasadena member. "We talk and grow collaboratively. We learn to see things and present things in different ways." ILC, a partnership of CTA and Stanford University's Stan- ford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education and National Board Resource Center, strengthens the profession by using educator expertise in professional development — specifically for the new state standards. ILC's "teachers training teachers" model has successfully grown educator capacity and leadership throughout the state and was recently funded through 2020. Read our story on page 52. Teachers can expand on what they learn and the networks they build through ILC with Collaboration in Common (CiC), a new online exchange that connects educators across the state to the best resource available to them: other educators. Learn more on page 60. Teaching the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) is particularly crucial when it comes to educating students about climate change, as our cover story "Hot Topic" (page 24) shows. Politics should not determine what is taught, says Rich Hogan, a high school science teacher and ILC member. "We need to teach students to wade through information and become independent critical thinkers and be socially aware of issues that will affect their generation." e story describes how educators are tackling the NGSS directive to teach not only the causes and impacts of climate change, but how science and engineering can help solve prob- lems and inform policy. Informing policy extends to supporting the hundreds of thousands of young people currently in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Some are our fellow educators, including high school math teacher Felicidad (not her real name). In "A Dream on Hold" (page 46), the proud educator is dismayed and frightened by anti-immigrant hatred she has seen and read. "DACA affects real people like me who want nothing more than to serve and give back to this country and to live our lives without fear." How can educators deal with hate in their classrooms? In "Tracking Extremism" (page 21), the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism's Brian Levin says it's important to promote First Amendment values. He advises teachers to converse with students with extremist views. "Hear what their aspirations and fears are, and then respond to ideas and concerns with facts and context, empathically, both personally and institutionally." When hate of a different sort resulted in an unspeakable school shooting earlier this year in San Bernardino, third-grade teacher Joyella Beuler instinctively helped shelter students from danger and saved a young boy 's life. In "Cool, Calm, Collected" (page 18), Beuler says she's no hero, she just did what she had to do. San Bernardino Teachers Association President Ashley Alcala observes proudly that Beuler and all the educators involved in the traumatic events that day stayed calm and professional. It's just what educators do, every day. Katharine Fong E D I T O R I N C H I E F editor@cta.org Instructional Leadership Corps teacher-leaders Al Rabanera, Robert Bassett, Allison Carey and Kristan Morales present at an ILC conference in September. Teachers Know Best 7 O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 017 E D I T O R ' S N O T E