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As I listened to the State of the Union the other night, one thing I was curious about, namely what were Obama's plans for public education.
At first, I was pleasantly surprised with Obama's seeming backing of teachers, telling the public that teachers deserved more respect(note though, he didn't say anything about more pay). But shortly afterwards, he didn't fail to disappoint, calling for replacing NCLB with legislation similar to his Race to the Top initiative.
My heart sunk on that one. More RTTT means that the war on public education is continuing. RTTT means that there will be more testing, merit pay based on those tests, and more, more, more charter schools. It means that we're going to continue down this same path of failure, and continue to allow our public education system to be dismantled and destroyed.
I also, as one who graduated with a couple of education degrees last spring, had to laugh at this statement of his: "In fact, to every young person listening tonight who’s contemplating their career choice: If you want to make a difference in the life of our nation; if you want to make a difference in the life of a child -- become a teacher. Your country needs you."
I followed that call in '06, dropping a comfortable career in the nuclear industry to go into teaching. I saw the need back then. Yet when I, and thousands like me, graduated from college four years later, there was no money to match that need. Last year the Obama administration withheld the last of the stimulus money that was designated for education spending, withheld it all summer while he peddled his Race To the Top program to cash strapped states. Desperate, grasping for any sort of cash, state after state got sucked into RTTT. It was only after all the hiring and firing decisions were made, last September, that the President finally released the stimulus money, too, too late.
You want bright new teachers Mr. President, then stop jerking us around on our careers. I watched the brightest minds in my education class have spent this year outside of the classroom due to your actions. The fact that you played games with education funding last spring means that this fall, classrooms were overcrowded, teachers were laid off, and the quality of education suffered.
You are determined to press this RTTT programs of yours, it is a mistake. Constant testing only makes students proficient in testing, not the curricula. Merit pay, based on those tests, leads to several unexpected consequences, including getting rid of good teachers who happen to teach difficult students. And opening up our education system to unlimited charter schools is going to lead directly to privatizing education and corporate control of education.
If you truly believe Mr. President, that we need bright teachers, that we can't continue to travel the path that we're on, then stop playing politics with education, stop kicking education around like a political football. That is what has done the most harm to public education, it's use as a political football by politicians wanting to score some cheap, easy political points.
Instead, make sure that education is fully funded, that every school is in good shape and up to date. No more yanking of 16 billion dollars for school construction and repair in favor of tax credits. No more RTTT games, no more NCLB. Instead, put a real, live educator in charge of education policy. Pay teachers like you respect them. Don't yank the rug out from under an entire year's worth of graduates, just so you can force your pet project upon states.
And one other thing. Yes, we need an emphasis on math and science. But we also need an emphasis on History, English, Civics, all of those subjects that help our society make informed decisions, that preserve and enrich our culture. Otherwise, we wind up with an ill-informed society composed of individuals who are ignorant of history and don't know how government works. You know, like the Tea Party folks. Is that what you want?
I was hoping that Obama might actually change his course on education, but I should know better than to foster such hopes. The bipartisan war on public education continues unabated. I hope and prey for our children. Worse yet, I want to get into the classroom and help our children. Hopefully that will happen this year, but given the course our president is charting, I'm not getting my hopes up too high. Sadly, I and thousands like me, could very well be the latest casualties in this war on public education.
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