US Secretary of Education meets with top Valley principals

Top valley principals met with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on Wednesday to talk about ways to generate more teacher empowerment.

It’s called teach to lead, where teachers would have more control of what’s taught in the classroom — and how it’s taught.

“So traditionally, teachers, to make more money, to advance in the profession, literally had to leave the classroom and leave what they love most and did best in order to move up,” Duncan said.

The majority of administrators would have stayed in teaching if they could have made more money. That’s where their hearts were, said Duncan, who added that there needs to be more hybrid teacher/administrator roles.

“Master mentor/teachers, where they teach two or three periods a day and spend two or three periods helping younger teachers and mentoring them,” he said.

It is also important to attract better talent and hold on to it, Duncan said.