Taxes and Tithes

Back when I was teaching, I worked for a couple of years at a church as a youth pastor. That title got me on the church board where I got to learn about the business side of running a church. Monthly reports showed when tithing was up and the church was in the green or when contributions were down and we had to dip into the reserve fund to pay bills. Overall things usually evened out over the year, but if contributions were down for two months, you could almost expect a Sunday with a sermon on tithing. I never really found those sermons uplifting or motivational, but from being at the meetings, I could see how the minister found them necessary. Tithing is optional, and people give different amounts at different times, based on personal preference and individual decisions. Unlike tithing, taxes are mandatory. They accomplish the exact same task. Money is needed to run the services for the group of people. One you do freely because you feel it is right, the other you do out of obligation.

I want us to start thinking of professional development in this same context. Our school (and district for that matter) takes a pretty unique look at PD. We offer choice based on what you need and change up other things based on school initiatives and what our data says that we need. What I hope is that everyone chooses to tithe of themselves the time and attention it takes to get better at the craft of teaching. Working through the PD challenges that Mrs. Garcia and Mr. Shaw send out or getting the most from in-house workshops by following through takes a contribution of your time and effort, and just like tithing, our organization is better as a whole. We are stronger and more purposeful about what we do. But just like a church, when everyone does not contribute, it takes more from the ones that do to make up what is needed. That's when tithing turns to taxing to make things fair for all. The funny thing is that we feel good about tithing, but we loathe taxes.

So this is me, encouraging you to tithe of yourself in the name of professional development and teacher growth. I want you to want to take initiative and personally, I think initiative should be rewarded. (Congratulations to the English department for earning the first department breakfast for the Objectives Challenge!) Personal initiative keeps me from being the tax collector, even if that means I just had to give a sermon on tithing.