Cruel Truth or Pointed Parody?

In going through some old files from school I came across the following memo. As the title indicates, the subject was "Excess Paperwork." I'll let the undated document speak for itself.

To: All Employees of Moore County Schools
Concerning: Excess Paperwork

It has come to our attention that a major factor in teacher/support personnel stress is the continually expanding avalanche of reports, checklists, referral forms, and other required paperwork.

We would like your school's input in seeking solutions to this timely concern.

Please follow these steps:

1. Present this proposal at your next staff meeting.
2. Have your staff nominate a chairman to coordinate the school-wide study effort and a recorder to document findings and recommendations.
3. Select from 1 to 3 sub-committee members for each grade span in your school (i.e. K-3, 4-6, 7-8)
4. Have each faculty member keep a log (to be developed locally) of required paperwork for his/her job description. Include such information as Source of Paperwork, Purpose of Paperwork, Number of Man-hours involved in filling out Paperwork, or other pertinent data.
5. On a bi-weekly basis have committee compile school-wide data and present to entire faculty for discussion.
6. At the end of two months prepare final report for submission to the Central Office. One copy of each sub-committee report should be retained by the appropriate sub-committee, and copies of the entire report should be kept on file in the school's office and media center.
7. After county-wide information is in, a Blue Ribbon Commission will be set up to determine how to proceed with the investigation of this insidious paperwork problem. At that time further information will be sent to local schools regarding nomination forms and questionnaires for potential Blue Ribbon Commission members.

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We look forward to your response and hope you find ample time to fulfill the primary duties of your particular job description (TEACHING CHILDREN). We wish you a successful year.

The names of the creators of this memo have been withheld for their own good.

Well friends, as you may have guessed by now, this entire letter is a fraud. It is a parody I wrote many years ago, seeking to draw attention to the overwhelming volume of non-instructional duties that were weighing (and wearing) our teachers down. The copy I found was typed on an old Apple IIe computer, so it must have been composed at least 15 years ago. It troubles me that, not only has the problem remained, it has actually gotten worse.

In fact, additional burdens have been added to the pile. Those who remain in the classroom could enumerate them far better than I. Checklists and required documentation of every conceivable type have proliferated. There is no doubt they deter teachers from their instructional duties to a high degree and render them less effective through depleting energy and eroding morale. While these negatives have long been recognized (North Carolina's Teacher Working Conditions Survey identifies the same problems each time it is administered), a bad problem continues to get worse. A teacher cannot do one thing without documentation of some kind. In a typical office job, where producing paperwork might be the major part of a worker's job description, this might be appropriate. But for a teacher, only the most essential non-instructional tasks (perhaps 10-15 %) should take him or her away from the face-to-face teaching that is so crucial.

Instructional days have been lengthened. Planning time has been shortened. But in the midst of this illusion, teachers have less time for instruction than at any time in my 33 year career. It is a tragedy that is depleting our corps of dedicated professional teachers at a time we can ill afford to lose them. And many young people who may have a gift for teaching see that they would have the albatross of excessive and unreasonable documentation around their neck from day one. They often choose to direct their talents in another direction.

What could be eliminated? What tasks could be stream-lined? Teachers, what would YOU suggest. What truly helps you accomplish your stated goals and what serves only as an intrusion and an interference? Step up and let your leaders know! That, too, is one of your professional duties!