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Class Act
Connecticut's Teacher of the Year reflects on public education in the 21st century
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Business New Haven
8/5/2002
By: BNH
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Marian Galbraith, a reading and language arts teacher at West Side Middle School in Groton, was named Connecticut Teacher of the Year for 2002 and was one of four finalists for National Teacher of the Year. BNH spoke with Galbraith as she prepared for her 27th year in the classroom.
Who was your favorite teacher when you were growing up and why?
I actually had a couple. I had a kindergarten teacher named Mrs. Moses. I remember being very upset about a mistake, and she said it's okay to make mistakes as long as we learn. That was a very valuable lesson. I had four teachers in high school and I was very fortunate to invite them to the Teacher of the Year ceremony. Kay Santoro, Alice Strauss, Charlie Felt and David Micali taught me lessons about teaching that I hope I will never forget. They taught me that good teachers teach far more than subjects. We teach children about the passion for learning and we teach children what it means to be successful and teachers can love children who are not their own and they loved me and showed me and took great care of me. I hope I will carry those lessons with me always.
What is involved in being Teacher of the Year?
I've had the opportunity to speak with so many different people - teachers, parents groups, business people - it's been really wonderful to be able to talk about school and what goes on with learning and kids and teaching, and that's been a really nice opportunity. I've been able to participate in the program for National Teacher of the Year and I've met other state Teachers of the Year. I'll be going to space camp next week, and that's exciting.
What do you talk about with these other teachers, parents and businesspeople?
I talk about the value of teaching, the work that I do with students and what I learn from students and what I've learned about the difference that we can make in students' lives when we work together and truly love kids and commit ourselves to children. It is easy to say that we love children and we care about kids, but it means so much more to really be able to give yourself to those kids in a way that you would give to your own children.
What is the demographic profile of your district, in Groton?
Groton is a pretty diverse district in that it covers different socioeconomic groups. We have the submarine base, so there is a large Navy population. We have a wonderfully rich and diverse group ethnically.
Is your district hiring or laying off staff?
We're holding pretty steady. Like many towns, we've had some serious budget cuts that the district had to deal with this year, but it hasn't meant having to lay off teachers. We didn't seem to have many retirements this year, either, so we're holding.
Do you think the state places too much emphasis on test scores such as the CMT?
I'm not so sure it's the state so much as the localities. You have to look at what happens from system to system and town to town and what they do with those test scores. Standardized tests are a way of us measuring learning. I'm a teacher and I understand assessment. Sometimes we run the risk of overemphasizing the importance of test scores. Test scores can only assess a narrow portion of learning. When we put too much emphasis on standardized test scores, we run the risk of limiting learning. I think that we start limiting our scope to what's on the test and we start limiting our teaching experiences to what would be beneficial to the test and that can be damaging in education. Certainly the state, by putting [tests] out there, is comparing. And the towns are compared by some extent by test scores. That does create some of the problem, but it's more at a district level.
At both state and federal levels, school vouchers are a polarizing issue. Conservatives say all teachers union members are opposed to them. Do you think that's true?
I can't speak for all teachers unions, but I am opposed to them. I think that they drain resources from our schools. I was very disappointed in the [U.S.] Supreme Court decision. It took a real swipe at the nose of the separation of church and state. I think that if you look at the area [Cleveland] where the Supreme Court decision was based, a lot of that voucher money is going to parochial schools, so I think it has undermined the separation of church and state. I think it's a very unfortunate decision and I think there is definitely a precedent for unfortunate decisions in education.
What are some of the most pressing issues in Connecticut - salaries, budgets overcrowding?
Testing and the overemphasis on testing is one. That is a large concern for Connecticut teachers. What I love about teaching is the wonderful enthusiasm there is to learning new things - the ability to spark kids' interest and watch them just fly into learning. I worry about that being diminished when we try to narrow our focus. What's happening with budget cuts and the economy is always an issue for us. I've taught for 26 years and we've had these periods where the economy can really take a swipe at us. When I read about towns that have had to lay off teachers and cut down on programs, and have pay-for sports and pay-for play, those things are big issues for teachers. I think the ESEA [Elementary and Secondary Education Act] has the potential of having an enormous impact on teaching and I'm interested in seeing what will happen with those regulations.
School-choice options - magnet schools, charter schools - have grown, albeit slowly. Is this good
or bad?
I think that we have some choices in Connecticut that have been good. We have a magnet school in our area and I continue to hear very good things about it. When kids leave my school, kids have the choice of going to the high school, the vocational technical school or to a vocational agricultural program in Ledyard, and I think those kinds of choices are appropriate in the public school system. We have a pretty good charter law in Connecticut, too. It stays within the public school system, and it's designed to give people choices within the public school and I think that's appropriate.
How do you see public education changing over the next ten years?
I'm interested to see how technology will continue to shape schools. We in Groton have been very fortunate to have technology and to have had it early on so that technology and the ability to access information has really changed the way I teach. It has given us the ability to allow students to produce work in real ways and make an impact in what they do. I teach language arts and sometimes combine that with social studies. My students interviewed World War II veterans and created Web sites for these veterans. When they are learning, they are also producing something that has an impact on our community and can be seen by people everywhere. When you can do things locally and can have a global impact, I think that's important.
I'm also interested to see what it going to happen with distance learning and the ability to offer things, especially in smaller communities, that you would not have been able to offer before.
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