Finding Time for Training Can Be Tough on Teachers

Even if Gov. Gray Davis’ proposal to spend $115 million for more teacher development programs is approved, some Ventura County teachers say that with their already heavy workload, finding the time to attend training workshops and seminars will be tough.

The reason is that the governor’s proposal--the result of increasing emphasis on teacher accountability--does not provide for additional staff development days. So teachers must seek additional training on their own time.

“If they want trained teachers, when do they expect them to get trained?” asked Lori Kissinger, a reading specialist at Conejo Elementary School in Thousand Oaks. “If they think it’s that important for teachers to be on the cutting edge with the research, how else are they going to learn about this unless they have an opportunity to do it?”

Martha Mutz, director of curriculum for the Conejo Unified School District, said teachers are often too tired to attend workshops after school.

“It’s hard at the end of the day,” she said. “At 3:30 p.m., they are all exhausted. Imagine teaching 8-year-olds all day and then getting your energy up to participate in a workshop.”

Even when teachers decide to get substitutes so they can attend workshops, they can’t always find them. Districts throughout the county hired substitutes to fill spots left open by class-size reduction, leaving a small pool of qualified subs.

“Substitute teachers are like moving targets,” said Diane Dempwolf, director of curriculum for Ventura County schools. “Good ones get trained and get hired. So then we have to train new ones.”

Teachers said they want the governor to consider their dilemma.

Take Camarillo High School English teacher Linda Valdez, for instance. When Valdez wants to improve her skills, she juggles her schedule to attend workshops after school or on the weekend. Or she scrambles to find a substitute to take over her classroom. Or she gives up time with her family to attend staff-training seminars during the summer.

So Valdez had one question when she heard about the governor’s proposal to increase funding for professional development: When are teachers supposed to do this training?

In 1998, schools were required to increase the number of days that students are in class to 180. So most districts had to eliminate professional development days. Before then, districts scheduled 180 days of school, but could include eight staff training days in that total.

With the change, districts received extra funding to pay for three training days, but had to offer the workshops outside of class time.

“It’s a balancing act to work in staff development whenever we can,” Dempwolf said. “But since ongoing training is essential, we figure out a way to do it. It requires some creative scheduling.”

School districts pay teachers to attend Saturday seminars and after-school workshops. Administrators bring instructors on campus and pull teachers out of class for an hour or two at a time for training. Staff development coordinators provide videotapes of workshops and encourage teachers to watch and discuss them with their colleagues.

“I’m not saying it’s easy,” said Mike Johnston, director of staff development for the Oxnard Union High School District. “But you make the most of it. Our creativity has been challenged.”

Districts may have to continue coming up with creative solutions under the governor’s new state budget.

Davis proposed $115.5 million in new or expanded professional development institutes for teachers in kindergarten through 12th grade. The programs would serve more than 70,000 teachers in the 2000-01 school year.

Of that money, $28 million would be used to expand reading workshops for elementary school teachers, $10 million to train teachers of students who speak limited English and $17.5 million to train teachers in math. There is also proposed funding to establish math and English institutes for high school teachers.

Yet Davis did not propose adding more staff development days.

Ventura County educators say they appreciate how much money Davis has proposed to spend on education. And they agree that teachers should always be looking for new ways to instruct their students.

But they are frustrated that teachers don’t get time to attend training workshops during the school year.

Although Camarillo High’s Valdez has been teaching for 33 years, she knows that there is always something new to learn. So she tries to attend as many professional seminars as she can. Yet she hates to miss school and leave her students with a substitute.

“It’s sweet and sour,” she said. “I appreciate the opportunity and that there is funding there, but I don’t want to shortchange the kids.”