NEA

Background on the American Teacher Film Updated June 2012

American Teacher, a new full-length documentary film that opened nationwide on September 30, 2011, seeks to counteract popular misconceptions about the teaching profession by showing, in a style of close-up realism, what teachers actually do and what their lives are really likeand how continued neglect of the profession may be jeopardizing the nation's future. This document provides background information, along with talking points and other resources to assist NEA leaders and communicators in preparing responses to the film. Narrated by Matt Damon, directed by Academy-Award winning filmmaker Vanessa Roth and produced by Ninive Caligari and Dave Eggars, the film is part of the Teacher Salary Project and is based on the book Teachers Have it Easy: The Big Sacrifices and Small Salaries of Americas Teachers. The film portrays five K-12 public school educators from across the country as they navigate the daily challenges of balancing their teaching careers with their personal lives. NEA has encouraged its local and state affiliates, as well as members, to consider hosting community-based

screenings of the film, to be followed by a panel discussion or open forum on the important issue of teachers working conditions (which translate to students learning conditions). To organize a screening, visit: http://www.theteachersalaryproject.org/screening.php. You can also contact the Teacher Salary Projects Outreach Coordinator Emily Davis: Emily@theTeacherSalaryProject.org.
Key Film Reviews The Washington Posts Michael Chandler described the films timing as At a moment when bad teachers have been targeted as the biggest problem in public education and lawmakers are scrambling to find different ways to evaluate and fire them, a new movie now being shown in previews and premiering later this year takes a less punishing view of our 3.2 million public school teachers, focusing instead on the need to support and pay them better. The Education Week review of American Teacher can be found at: http://bit.ly/kHRhmc. Also check out The New York Times opinion piece by the films producers Ninive Caligari and Dave Eggars at: http://nyti.ms/mnkccj. The review of American Teacher, published September 20, 2011 by The New York Times Anna Phillips, came in advance of the films nationwide release on September 30, 2011. A complete copy of the review is attached to this document. The New York Times article cites a survey by the National Education Association in 2006, also mentioned in the film, which found 62 percent of American teachers have jobs outside of the classroom. They coach local sports teams, tutor high school students for the SAT, run after-school programs, and otherwise try to cover their basic costs. Because of the pay and poor working conditions, almost half of them leave the profession within five years.

NEA Talking Points on American Teacher (film) Most of the American Teacher film chronicles several very engaging teachers who face all sorts of problems because of low teacher pay (divorce, almost no maternity leave, second jobs) and the long hours required of teaching. The American Teacher film: communicates clearly the need to raise pay and improve working conditions. In general, American Teacher portrays teaching as a thankless profession that requires long work days with inadequate compensation and little or no support. profiles several teachers at various stages of their teaching careers. Despite the challenges, all of the teachers profiled find the profession fulfilling, but some choose to leave due to financial and/or family pressures. includes interviews from notable educators (Linda Darling-Hammond) and researchers (Eric Hanushek) and presents current and accurate data on various aspects of the teaching profession (recruitment and retention issues, teacher salaries, female dominated profession.) promotes merit pay and touts state and local efforts like Denvers ProComp and Washington D.C.s new teacher compensation system as promising practices in improving teacher compensation.

NEA agrees with most of the documentarys 75 minutes. However, five minutes, late in the film, in which solutions are introduced are problematic. Three key issuescharter schools higher pay, merit pay/using test scores in evaluation, and the firing of bad teachers, raise multiple concerns and deserve deeper debate than the film provides. Some aspects of American Teacher that are problematic and of concern to NEA: In one scene, a state education official from Utah says that final pay needs to be raised, not starting pay. (NEA would argue both are crucial, with an emphasis on starting pay/working conditions.) The film holds up an example of a NYC charter school that pays their teachers $125,000 per year. The movie says this is all public money, so we could assume that class size is huge, but that is not addressed. Denvers ProComp system is applauded because it links pay with accountability (in other words, pay for test scores.) This is only one part of the Denver program and it is too bad that this was the part the movie chose to mention. On the other hand, NEAs affiliate was involved in negotiating it, so we do support the program as a whole. An administrator from DC Public Schools talked about their new program that will exit bad teachers, (part of Michelle Rhees DC pay system, is based on merit pay, although the film does not specifically spell out it is a merit pay system, and it weakens teachers collective bargaining rights.) It seems clear, based on the Denver and DC examples, that the filmmakers believe that the solution to recruitment, retention, and teacher pay is to identify good teachers and pay them more.

Some things NEA we would have liked to see included in the documentary: A more detailed and accurate portrayal of alternative compensation systems (e.g. merit pay, pay for performance, and pay based on test scores.) NEA believes that the single salary schedule is the most transparent and equitable system for compensating education employees. NEA does not support merit pay, pay for performance, or pay based on test scores. Our policies do call for supporting our affiliates who have collectively bargained for alternative compensation (including pay) that is agreeable to both members and the administration.

The development of any additional/enhanced compensation system must include authentic representation and agreement from all stakeholders, especially those who will be directly affected by the plan. NEA support professional level starting pay (at least $40,000), quality base pay systems, movement through the pay system for things that matter, and enhancements to the pay system for those things that make a difference.

A broader list of solutions to improve teachers working (and students learning) conditions. Not every school can pay teachers a base salary of $100,000 as presented. A discussion of the lack of diversity in teaching, beyond the lack of male teachers, to include the lack of teachers of color in increasingly diverse settings.

NEA applauds, for the most part, the American Teacher NEA and its members can certainly support the filmmakers efforts to chronicle teachers poor working conditions, show what they put into the job, the cost it has on their families, how difficult their work is, and how little they are paid. Unfortunately, this is all a very accurate portrayal of the challenges American public school teachers face. There are some scenes of teachers in actiontheir working conditions, and the students learning conditionsthat will likely surprise much of the public who havent been inside schools for a while. NEA applauds the filmmakers efforts to present memorable and very likeable faces to highlight the problems that teachers live with every day. We encourage NEA state and local affiliates to host and/or participate in community screenings of American Teacher and initiate dialogue on the teaching profession through community-based panel discussions or open forums with real educators at the table.

The films web site is: http://www.theteachersalaryproject.org/index.php ##