Department of Education plan shows faith in professionalism of career educators

The U.S. Department of Education (USDE) has released its finalized plans for teacher stipends for self-selected professional development, according to a press release from the Texas Classroom Teachers Association (TCTA). 

TCTA said a number of the organization's suggestions were incorporated into the final plan.

"TCTA believes that, as professionals who have received extensive training in a discrete body of knowledge and skills, teachers should be entrusted with professional judgment and discretion in determining their own continuing learning needs," TCTA said in the press release. 

Yet, other teacher groups took a contrary stance, the release states. In fact, 37 of the 89 commenters on the plan opposed teacher-driven professional learning stipends.

Those in opposition included the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, according to the release. 

"Fortunately, USDE largely disagreed with these views, noting that teacher have a vital role in professional learning decisions, and that the program focuses on enhancing the ways in which teachers are involved in identifying professional learning opportunities," TCTA said in the press release. 

Among the priorities that TCTA advocated for was the requirement that grant applications demonstrate teacher involvement in the application and in the decision-making process for developing the program, according to the release.

While the USDE did not implement the TCTA suggestion to permit teachers to replace a majority of mandatory professional development training with teacher-directed learning in full, the final version of its plan did include an allowance for teachers to replace a "significant portion" of mandatory training with teacher-directed learning, according to the release. That portion would be no less than 20%.

Yet, some commenters who opposed emphasis on teacher-directed learning indicated that educators don't know what they need to know, according to the release. Those commenters stated that teachers needed to receive guidance from school and district leaders to know what kind of training they would need to grow.

"Fortunately, in response, the department noted that it 'highly respects the teaching profession and teachers as professionals. As such, we believe that the teachers who request a stipend are likely to be individuals who are reflective practitioners eager to continue to hone their craft in a way that best supports the students they teach," TCTA said in the press release.