LETTER: Veteran educator sees need for more, not fewer, teachers ahead

March 16, 2021  |  By Dorothy Goff Goulet

To the Community: 

I live in Waterbury, but I am a veteran educator in another district. Education anywhere is important to educators everywhere, so I want to express my relief that the new Harwood Unified Union School District School Board voted to rescind its decision to cut teachers for next school year. 

Recovery Plans will be submitted by every Vermont school by the end of May, in which we school-types detail our plans for restoration of lost learning, social and emotional wellness, and the rest of the whole child. This recovery will likely include the addition of school staff, as it is a given that this support will be needed. Reversing the decision on March 10th was the right thing to do. 

I am also compelled to urge caution to any and all who care about education when research is mentioned, but not used, for major decisions. The initial decision to cut staff was made, in part, behind a screen of class-size research. Those without access to research at their fingertips to counter a claim have no choice but to buy it wholesale... or call it out immediately. 

We have a triple-whammy of economic, healthcare, and educational disasters, each with extraordinary complexity. No research exists on this. 

Consider that this is not the only year that cuts will be considered against a backdrop of disaster. Recovery over the next school year will not be a one-off effort wrapped up in June of 2022. Fewer students per staff member means more care for each child and that will continue to be true. For the foreseeable future, it will be All Hands on Deck, and thanks to the government (I don’t say that every day), get more hands. 

I suspect the next several years will require tremendous efforts to restore students’ pre-COVID-19 trajectories in socialization, mental health, and learning. It is imminent and it is serious and it is going to take a while. You might say it is going to take all of us in this village. 

Dorothy Goff Goulet, Ph.D. 

Waterbury