Teachers across the Twin Cities and the state are asking for something that could prove controversial with parents and administrators - slightly less time in front of students.
In an era of high-stakes testing, individualized student learning plans and teacher pay based on performance, educators realize more than ever that taking time to analyze data and learn new techniques helps students succeed.
"People assume that if teachers are not in front of students they are not working, and that is not the case," said Jane Berenz, superintendent of Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan schools, the latest district to consider adding more time for professional development. "We would like to have our teachers at their very best."
The proposed half or full day a trimester, up to three days a year, would be used to examine student data, attend workshops with other teachers and fine-tune teaching techniques. Community support is key to the board moving forward with the idea because students would need to be out of school and some parents would have to make other child care arrangements.
"I don't discount the burden," Berenz said. The board could decide the issue in the coming months.
Teachers across the state and the nation are finding new value in collaboration and professional learning as scrutiny of their jobs and student performance grows, said Doug Dooher, spokesman for Educate Minnesota, the state teachers union.
"The leading nations in education have a ton of time for it," Dooher said. "It is ironic: More and more is expected of teachers, but time is taken away from staff development."
State law allows 10 days for staff development, the majority of which comes at the beginning and end of the school year, but teachers and their advocates say time is needed midyear to redirect instruction. The state had required 2 percent of a district's budget be set aside for staff development up until the current budget year.
Jim Smola, Dakota County United Educators president, said as a teacher from District 196, he is confident the community would support such a proposal because it would mean better teachers.
"We have an outstanding community of parents who are involved and understand why this is important. I believe they will support it because it is better for their children," Smola said. "This has become an issue across the board in education."
Kelly Smith, president of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators, said districts must strike a balance between teachers' need for training and time in front of students. More class time often translates into improved student achievement.
"Everyone struggles with the issue," Smith said. "In a perfect world, teachers would be in class, but we know they have needs for professional development that cannot be met at other times."
As Minnesota moves to a state-mandated teacher-evaluation system that requires some measure of student performance, Smith expects there to be more requests from educators for time to fine-tune their teaching methods in the name of perfecting performance.
A number of districts across the metro area already have negotiated late starts or early-release days during which teachers can have time to review data and improve their teaching styles.
"We have conversations about time constantly," said Mary Cathryn Ricker, president of the St. Paul teachers union, which represents 3,000 teachers. "Teachers have this need to recalibrate more often now than they used to."
Professional development should be ingrained in every workday, said state Rep. Pat Garofalo, R-Farmington, and it shouldn't cost taxpayers class time or extra money.
"There are school districts right now that have longer school days, longer years and spend less money," said Garofalo, chair of the House Education Finance Committee, noting that charter schools with "at will" nonunion teachers often have a daily mix of intensive professional development and instruction.
Instead, the leadership of teachers unions has pushed for years to lessen the amount of time teachers are in front of students by shortening the school day, Garofalo said.
"Those are policies that benefit adults, not kids," he said. "Rank-and-file teachers are focusing on helping kids, and their leaders are focusing on consolidating money and power. They are saying two different things to the public."
For the first time, Minnesota schools have mandated the number of hours students must be in class each year rather than the number of days. Students in Rosemount already get 15 days or more of instruction beyond the state minimum, giving district officials a little room to find time for additional professional development.
Some school advocates believe districts shouldn't be debating about a handful of hours each school year. "If we had year-round school, it would be a nonissue; we wouldn't be fighting about a half a day," said Mary Cecconi, executive director of Parents United for Public Schools.
But changing school calendars would be expensive and require state lawmakers, school administrators, unions and teachers to make sacrifices.
"It would take more money," said Joann Knuth, executive director of the Minnesota Association of Secondary School Principals. "But where are our priorities? Education is the engine that drives our economy."
Christopher Magan can be reached at 651-228-5557. Follow him at twitter.com/cmaganPiPress.