The Not So Secret (But Still Widely Unknown) Lives of TK-12 Public School Teachers
This Week: Nancy Burton
By Brian Lees
Nancy Burton is a TK (Transitional Kindergarten) teacher who has worked in the district for 28 years, 26 of which have been at the same school. Transitional Kindergarten is a relatively new public elementary school phenomenon. Although our district has offered it for years, the state did not mandate that a Universal TK program exist everywhere until last year, and the deadline for compliance is the 2025-26 school year, when the program must be available to all 4 year olds that fit within the required birthdates (they turn 5 after September 1st and before December 3rd) at no cost. In order to teach TK, teachers have to have special certification that goes beyond their regular elementary multiple subject credential (at least 24 units in Early Childhood Education or Early Childhood Development or both). In addition to Transitional Kindergarten, Nancy has also taught Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, multiage 1/2/3, and 4th grades. She has been a rare highly vocal advocate for teachers from the elementary ranks, bringing concerns to our district’s school board itself on more than one occasion.
Transitional Kindergarten is supposed to have its own curriculum that is a “stepping stone,” so to speak, from preschool to Kindergarten, but this is something that has been lacking, and for most TK teachers, this means they must spend many hours outside their own school day and money from their own pockets to create their own curriculum to satisfy those transitional standards to get their students properly prepared for Kindergarten. TK teachers are also often forgotten about when it comes to other aspects of the school that involve all other grade levels, such as planning time and decision-making.
Many of the TK teachers I have known or crossed paths with are expressing concerns that many other teachers at other grade levels are also expressing about the district’s recent adoption of an “Inclusive Practices” policy that is the district’s interpretation and response to a state law requiring changes to how students are taught and processed through special education programs. Many feel that this district policy was rushed and hurriedly pushed out before it was truly ready for implementation, as there was very little planning, training, preparation, securing of resources, or hiring of support staff to help teachers implement the program and help the students involved who have been placed into the program as the “least restrictive environment” according to their IEP (Individualized Education Program, which is the legal document that dictates the services the student will receive and what the teacher must do to provide those services).
Many teachers, such as Nancy, feel that they are caught in the crossfire of the implementation of this program, as the district has moved forward with it without what many teachers feel are the proper training, resources, and support, all while promoting the program to parents with a public relations effort that often does not capture the true struggles the teachers face, especially in light of the escalation of extreme and violent behaviors that some are experiencing and/or witnessing on a daily basis, as many teachers feel students with specialized needs have been pushed into a classroom setting where their needs aren’t being met, leading to a sense of being overwhelmed for both the student and staff. Some teachers are concerned for their safety, as they have been hit, kicked, had objects thrown at them or classroom items destroyed, or been verbally assaulted by these students, all while wondering how they can help ALL of their students to learn, and if the student with specialized needs is in the correct classroom setting that best fits their individual needs.
I have worked with Nancy Burton at my school site the past three years. Below is Nancy’s perspective on this and the other questions I usually ask in this series.
What has been your biggest challenge in your teaching career?
By far the most difficult challenge in my career has been the district's implementation of its version of inclusive practices. The lack of planning, training, preparation, resources, and support for our special needs students has resulted in children experiencing stress, anxiety, and other behavior challenges. Our students and teachers continue to struggle greatly as we also experience the stress and anxiety and approach the end of year three of this attempt at implementation.
What role has our union, PFT, played in supporting you, and if a new teacher came to you and asked you if they should join the union and if it is worth it, what experiences would you share with them to help them decide?
The union has not been very successful at supporting our staff with inclusive practices. We were met with pushback, and we were discouraged to address the superintendent and board about our concerns. Despite multiple requests, we were not offered an opportunity to complete a survey to provide district-wide feedback on this model. There appears to be a lack of transparency at the site, district, and union levels regarding how inclusive practices is truly working throughout our district.
All of that said, although I'm not happy with the union overall, especially in the case of the implementation of inclusive practices, I would recommend a colleague consider joining. In the case of a personal issue (illness, legal, etc.), it is helpful to have representation.
What has been one of your greatest successes as a teacher?
One of my greatest successes as a public school teacher has been in my ability to connect with children and their families. Strong relationships and a positive rapport are key in education. I have also strongly advocated for my students and colleagues to my principal, LSS (Learning Support Services, a department within our district, which determines a huge amount of what is actually taught in our schools or what resources are provided to do that teaching), special education, PFT (Poway Federation of Teachers), the School Board, and the Interim Superintendent. TEACHER VOICE NEEDS TO BE AT THE FOREFRONT!
Brian Lees is a 28-year veteran public elementary school teacher currently teaching 5th grade at a school in the Sabre Springs neighborhood of the Poway Unified School District. During his time as an educator, he has spent 25 of those years as a school site union representative, the last five years as a delegate from his union to the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council, many months as a key organizer of frequent food distributions in conjunction with the Labor Council and Palomar College during the height of the COVID pandemic (June 2020 to November 2021), and most recently was appointed as the Secretary of the COPE Committee for his union, the Poway Federation of Teachers (AFT Local 2357). The son of two retired teachers who also volunteered their time as union leaders, one as a site rep in San Bernardino City Schools and the other as an executive director in Associated Teachers of Metropolitan Riverside, he comes from a long line of educators and active pro-labor advocates. He lives in northeast Escondido with his two dogs and 8-year-old daughter, and his hobbies include reading, writing, composing music, and photography, the last of which he hopes to share in future issues of The Jumping-Off Place, in a photo essay series called “My Esco.”