My NYC colleague Stephen Lazar has published a thoughtful response to the US Department of Education’s (ED) Project RESPECT proposal in SchoolBook: In new federal program to reward teachers, flawed assumptions. ED has been holding teacher roundtables across the country to share and receive feedback on the proposal, which calls for a transformation of the teaching profession.

I had the opportunity to participate in such a roundtable at my school, which was great in that it pushed my colleagues and I to begin important conversations about the future of our profession that we probably wouldn’t have had otherwise. I applaud ED for starting these conversations across the country—and for ensuring that they are teacher-led (all were facilitated by ED’s Teacher Ambassador Fellows). The proposal suggests many steps in the right direction, but I am concerned about some of the same assumptions that Stephen points out in his article. It’s well-worth the read; I hope ED is listening.

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Ariel Sacks

Ariel Sacks began her 13-year teaching career in New York City public schools after earning her master’s degree at Bank Street College and has taught and coached in grades 7-9. She is the author of Whole Novels for the Whole Class: A Student Centered Approach (Jossey-Bass, 2014) and writes a teaching column for Education Week Teacher.

Ariel’s work as a teacher leader with the Center for Teaching Quality involved her in co-authoring Teaching 2030: What We Must Do For Our Public Schools – Now and in the Future. She was also featured in the CTQ book Teacherpreneurs: Innovative Teachers Who Lead Without Leaving.

She is currently working on a book about the role of creative writing in equitable, 21st century schools, and she speaks and leads workshops on the whole novels approach.

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