The enduring image of 19th century educator Mark Hopkins on one end of a log and his student at the other reduces education to an appealing essence: a wise and knowledgeable teacher working closely with an engaged student. As nostalgic as this may be, for me it represents an ideal of enthusiastic give and take between teachers passionate about the material that inspired them to teach and students eager to learn.
Smart, well-educated, skilled, happy teachers and motivated students are the heart of a successful school.
In Glastonbury we work hard to attract and are fortunate to have many superb teachers. I believe we can attract even more high-caliber people to teaching and to Glastonbury if teachers have more opportunities to be compensated for outstanding performance. I am interested in exploring with the teachers and unions the potential of incentives to better reward exemplary teaching.
I also encourage the innovative use of technology for teaching and learning, which Glastonbury schools has well begun. As surely as technology will never be a substitute for good teachers, it is increasingly embedded in everything we do. Students enjoy it, and to the extent new technologies help them engage and master their studies we need to make the investment.
Unfortunately, as we approach another tough budget year, our biggest challenge will be to protect class size and preserve resources essential to our core mission.
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