United Teachers of Dade presents wish list to school board, administrators with eye on students' needs
MIAMI -- The United Teachers of Dade on Thursday presented a long wish list to the Miami-Dade Public School Board, saying the requests will help educators focus on what students need instead of political debates.
One teacher spoke to CBS 4 about her classroom needs, and how the lack of them are affecting her students.
"This is one of the pages of the math book," Catherine McKham said while holding up the copied pages to a reporter. "Can you see that? But these are copies."
McKham teaches fourth grade math, science and social studies at an elementary school in Florida City.
Her students are currently learning how to add fractions and the copied pages are posing a teaching hurdle.
"The book is in color," she said. "So they're not getting the color pictures or of what the book actually looks like."
Instead, her students have to learn from black-and-white copies.
"There were certain types of questions that they didn't particularly like that were in the book so a lot of the textbooks they eliminated them," she said.
The Florida Department of Education had rejected the math book she was using, so new books were ordered but they have not yet arrived, she said.
"It's better than me trying to explain to them (that) this part is supposed to be green, and this part is supposed to be red," she said. "If they see it, they get it."
Textbooks were one of the things the United Teachers of Dade said was at the top of their wish list, which was compiled after union officials surveyed educators in 400 campuses in Miami-Dade Public Schools.
"As we go on winter break, we want to make sure that our school board members also reflect on these wishes on these educators' wish lists," said Karla Hernandez-Mats, president of United Teachers of Dade. "So that when they come back, they can tackle these issues."
The wish list also include an adequate supply of laptops, electronic boards and substitute teachers, items they said have not been a high priority among administrators and the governor.
"Better mental health services for students and staff, funding for our Exceptional Student program," Hernandez-Mats said. "We want to not have classrooms that are politicized, we want to make sure that we stay away from that."
McKham said the lack of resources hurts students the most, particularly in the area of mental health.
"They have a certain timeline they have to have their child evaluated," she said. "But because of the lack of the number of psychologists that we have, we don't have enough people to meet that 120-day timeline."
McKham has been teaching for over 40 years because she said it's a passion, but adds that teacher pay has to change to meet the cost of living for new staff.
"I love teaching (and) I love seeing that light bulb go off with my students," she said. "But the financial part of it will motivate more people to want to this profession."
CBS 4 sought comment from every member of the school board but did not immediately hear back.