Politicians and unions, districts and parents, editors and readers - all have strong opinions about education reform, by which generally they mean teaching. Finally, someone neutral asked the teachers. Not through associations, representatives, or their bosses, but teachers directly.

"Primary Sources," the largest-ever teacher survey, 10,000 nationwide pre-K through 12, builds on a 2009 survey of 40,000 teachers. Both were conducted by Scholastic and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; results were released two weeks ago. Here's a partial synopsis of findings, busting a few stereotypes.

* Evaluations - They want them, and how. No, really; how is the important part. They want more formalized and thoughtful evaluations, more often, especially by principals and district officials. They also want their knowledge of the subjects they teach to be assessed and they don't want standardized tests to be the only measure of their worth.

* Student growth - This is how they want themselves and their students' achievement measured: Growth during the school year (not meeting specific numbers, but individual growth in those numbers).

* Standardized tests - In short, they and their students have little faith in them. Only 26 percent said the tests accurately measure student achievement. Worse, less than half believe students take the tests seriously or perform their best on them.

* Pay for performance - Only 16 percent believe linking student performance and teacher pay is important or essential to retain good teachers. They ranked it 15 out of 15 items, behind factors such as supportive leadership, parent involvement (ranked first, but occurring less), and more support for high-needs students. Also since 2010, 11 percent fewer teachers said higher salaries affect retention of good teachers (currently 75 percent believe it can).

* Tenure - They may want to keep it, but they rank it low; 92 percent said tenure should not be a factor to protect ineffective teachers. Nine out of 10 say tenure should reflect teacher effectiveness.

* Longer school day - Only 6 percent say it would have a very strong impact on student achievement. It's at the bottom of the list of reforms they'd like to see, preferring to focus on work in the classroom, more flexibility and less pressure to teach-to-tests.

The survey also revealed that the average teacher workday is 10 hours and 40 minutes long and 89 percent of them are satisfied in their jobs. Most (56 percent) also see increased poverty among students' families. They're very concerned about kids coming to school hungry and other effects of poverty on students' abilities to learn.

Hopefully this will have a positive impact on state and federal debates. Above all, the focus must stay where it belongs: that little light of learning, which responds differently from child to child.

"Working with students brings a new environment every year, every day, every hour. There's nothing better than watching the light bulb go on." - Middle school teacher, "Primary Sources" 2012 report.

The full report is at Scholastic.com/primarysources.

Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Email sholehjo@hotmail.com.