OPINION: We teachers believe in our students

Heather Melo lives in Patchogue.

Teacher accountability is a much-discussed topic these days. But why is it that the only way we teachers can prove we're willing to accept accountability is to agree to be fired should our students not perform well on a state assessment?

It's time to look into what's really going on in the system. For instance, school districts are required to identify and serve students who have disabilities. As a special-education teacher myself, I have seen that most of the students who are in special ed-only classrooms are functioning two or more years below grade level - yet they are expected to obtain the same level of achievement as the general education population on the statewide assessments.

Most of the non-educators I speak with aren't aware of this, or of the fact that special-education scores are a part of a whole school's average. A school with multiple grades of special-education students of testing age could be found to be "in need of improvement" if the special-education students don't perform well.

Special educators need to focus on individual growth. We receive these students after they have been classified with a disability - after the delay has been identified. Now, it is up to us to remediate, teach and help them achieve as a general-education student would in a matter of eight months.

And what about the fact that English language learners are expected to achieve at the same level as a native English speaker on the English Language Arts Assessment, starting after their first year in the country? There's a big difference between social language acquisition and academic language acquisition.

The people who want to fire teachers would also benefit from doing some research on the correlation between socio-economic status and academic achievement.

The next time test scores are published, notice which towns boast the higher scores - and then flip to the real estate section and check the prices of the houses in that town. It simply can't be the case that the teachers in those towns - who are undoubtedly hardworking and well qualified - work harder than those of us in lower socio-economic districts.

I am in no way saying that all teachers are "good" teachers. But I do know I work with amazing teachers who participate in staff development, work as a team, and consistently look to implement strategies that will increase skills in our particular population of students.

We provide for our students, we stand by our students, and we believe in our students.