Hey Gang here is a great column John Lucas had in the paper early this month….for those of you who may have missed it here you go…………I agree with him 100%!!!! PLH-ELB Treat our teachers as the class of Society (John Lucas Evansville Courier & Press 08-12-13) Not enough people are standing up for public education. So here goes… In the mid-1960’s, there came to our little high school in Western Kentucky a teacher ‘who wasn’t from around here.” That was a long time ago, and my recall of details now is hazy, but he didn’t do things the way they’d always been done – and he didn’t stay real long at our school. But he made an impression while he was there. I suppose in today’s nomenclature, he was a liberal – probably a flaming liberal – and wouldn’t be a good fit even today in rural Kentucky. Rather than the usual grid of neatly aligned rows of student desks, I seem to remember those in his room were arranged in a large circle around the room. Most notably, he painted the walls of his classroom a dull, flat black, and set to work challenging students’ centuries-old attitudes about race relations and how we interacted with people different from ourselves. He tackled the job of prying open little, closed minds and stuffing new ideas and information into them. At the time, neither he nor his new ideas were well received by most who encountered them. But now, years later, I’ve come to understand that what he did pretty well defines what a teacher is supposed to do. As students begin returning to the classrooms from summer break, let me say up front that I believe public education is the backbone of America. The quest to educate the masses is what led to widespread literacy in the country and fueled the rise of the middle class. And teachers are the backbone of public education. Teaching is a hard job, but I was fortunate over the years to have had several teachers who were up to the task. I’m grateful for another from that same school whose enthusiasm for Shakespeare and other English literature presented a glimpse of a world far removed from the one we inhabited and stimulated an interest in language that has endured across the years. Others made the dull, dry pages of history texts come alive, showing us where we’d been so we’d have a better understanding of where we are. The best teachers that I’ve encountered over the years have forced their students to think for themselves, to question, to analyze and come to a conclusion, explaining that more often than not, there’s more than one “right” answer. The very best of them inspired their students. They demonstrated that teaching is, indeed, a noble profession. That’s worth remembering as turmoil roils the waters of public education this fall. The current revelations regarding former Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett reveal how specious much of the “reform” pushed at both the national and state levels really is. That’s not to say public education doesn’t have problems. But the public schools remain the best and usually the only choice for most students. The problems of public education need to be fixed rather than exacerbated by federal and state legislators pushing a social agenda. The diversion of money from public education to fund vouchers and charter schools by the legislatures of not just Indiana but many states serves only to diminish the quality of offerings available to the kids I see on the big yellow bus that passes my house each morning. Most of the problems with public education are created in those state legislatures. Teaching as a profession needs to be respected and the pay needs to be such that it can compete with industry to attract the brightest and best to the field. The layers of bureaucracy in the public schools need to be eliminated. Private and parochial schools operate efficiently with far fewer administrators. Of course, most of those bureaucratic positions have been created in response to programs passed by federal and state legislatures. Discipline needs to be returned to the classroom. Teachers need to know that unless they have truly done wrong, they will have the full force and support of their principals, superintendents and school boards behind them when little Johnny’s parents complain. Likewise, failure needs to return to the classroom. It’s no shame to attempt something and fail; it’s a learning experience. The shame is for mediocrity to be rewarded. Without the instruction received in the public schools, most of you couldn’t read this today, and I couldn’t write it. Public education is a force for good, and we need to stand up and say that.
Posted on: Sun, 01 Sep 2013 14:41:12 +0000
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