Do teachers really want the work that goes with managing a school? Don they just want to teach?
Teachers may not all love the administrative work, but some teachers are willing to collectively accept it and to do it (or hire/arrange for someone else to do it) if that is what’s required for them to get the authority and responsibility for the school, the freedom to organize the school, and the opportunity to have a truly professional role. The teachers officially involved with TPPs are not alone. There are others willing to do this, too. The potential was underscored by the finding from Public Agenda’s survey of teachers in 2003. The question to a national sample of teachers was: “How interested would you be in working in a charter school run and managed by teachers?” The question asked respondents to affirm an interest in coming into the charter sector in order to express their interest in teacher professional partnership (which of course is not necessary). Still, the interest is startling to most people: 58 percent of teachers said they would be somewhat or very interested; 65 p
