Survey: Morale of Maine’s teachers highest in nation

PORTLAND — A nationwide teacher survey found that Maine teachers are far more satisfied with school reform efforts than their counterparts elsewhere in the country.

A report by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching concludes that seven years after the federal government’s call for school reform, U.S. teachers generally feel uninvolved in key decisions, dissatisfied with working conditions and unimpressed with the reform effort.

But Maine teachers gave a different view.

While only 48 percent of teachers nationwide said they had been more involved in curriculum decisions since 1983, 68 percent of Maine teachers, the highest percentage in the nation, felt they were able to give more input.

Maine also was first in general teacher morale, with 53 percent of the respondents rating their morale as good or excellent compared to 39 percent nationwide.

State education officials pointed to the results as heartening evidence that school reform is working in the state.

“We ought to feel very good about this because it indicates that Maine is taking the proper steps in making long-term improvements that will improve student outcomes,” said Loren Downey, director of professional education development for the University of Maine System.

Higher teacher morale is a signal that the system is improving because “the hardest thing for a teacher is to live with students who are not learning,” Downey said.

Maine officials cited other factors that might have affected the survey results.

The state is not beset with inner-city school problems that may depress morale in other states. And Maine teachers historically have had more autonomy in the classroom, which most experts believe leads to better morale, Commissioner of Education Eve Bither said.

She said the state’s approach to school reform also is contributing to better teacher morale. Rather than requiring local school systems to adopt certain programs, the state sets specific goals for student improvement and lets school districts chart their own course to those results.

The state has not mandated any education programs since February 1987 and instead is focusing on programs that help schools improve themselves, Bither said. She cited restructuring grants given to 10 Maine schools, along with innovation grants of $2,000 to $5,000 to teachers.

The Carnegie report indicated that some of Maine’s mandates stemming from the Education Reform Act of 1984 had made an impact.

Maine had the third highest percentage of teachers reporting improvement in counseling and guidance services and the third highest percentage reporting improvement in programs for gifted children. The reform act required school systems to add staff or programs in both those areas.

The report also showed Maine leading in efforts to involve parents in the schools. Bither credited private efforts, including the formation of the Maine Development Foundation and its program to bolster the aspirations of Maine students and community involvement.

Some Maine teachers expressed surprise at the Carnegie results.

“Every single school staff I’ve talked with since October says they want more input on decision-making,” said Bill Nave, Maine’s 1990 Teacher of the Year. “Teachers still feel the reins from above.”

But he said the restructuring grants that promise to give teachers more influence on curriculum and scheduling are among the changes that are making a difference.

“No doubt there is momentum here and what it’s doing is whetting the appetite for carrying it through to completion,” Nave said.

John Nelson, a science teacher at South Portland High School and president of the South Portland Teachers’ Association, said teachers are being heard at the state level, but he said the state must spend more on education if it is serious about improvement.

He said the Maine Educational Assessment test is resented by most teachers as “a political tool,” a way for the state to say “we’ve done something.”