The Education Nation For All?

     Having been an educator for the past 40+ years I have learned a thing or two.  You are never to old to learn is one and that " you get what you pay for" is another.  Right now and for the last 100 + years we as a people have either predicted the demise of public education or listened to those who have never been in the classroom except as students pontificate on how to improve it.  Our great grand parents predicted that the pencil would ruin education as we knew it, our grand parents predicted that radio and television would ruin education and our parents predicted that the personal computer would be a bane on society and just a fad like Rock and Roll.  But, none of those things happened and in fact, all those things have enhanced education, especially public education.
     In these hard times a call by our Secretary of Education is rallying for more privatization of public schools, voucher systems for parochial and private schools, tougher graduation requirements, charter schools and a host of other options to improve education in America.  President OBama campaigned on just such a platform so his opponents in the next election should oppose them.  Just kidding.
     While I will stipulate many areas of the country have schools that are less than successful my contention is not to paint all public schools with the same brush.  Enacting laws and policies that do not recognize that we are all different and making good schools diminish because their funding is tied to those laws and policies to help poor schools is not very smart. "No Child Left Behind" was such a policy.  My colleagues had many derivative names for it as those of us actually in the classroom knew it wouldn't work.  Testing our children ad nausea has only improved the coffers of testing companies and not improved education.  Blaming teachers and their unions is not working either and in fact caused many competent, enthusiastic college students to stay away from the profession resulting in teachers who may be dedicated but lack the skills to be innovative and creative.  And lastly, yes you heard it here, throwing money at the issues has not worked either.
     So, let me tell you what I think after 40 years of teaching in a public school works.  Typically, no one ever asks the experts in the field, the people actually doing the job what they think.  Instead governments look at Doctoral theses from people hoping to publish a book or move up the administration ladder.  Just an aside, I have friends that have worked for many Phd candidates and they tell me that often data is "adjusted' to assist in proving a thesis"  just a tidbit to ponder.  What will work is a 3 pronged approach.  One, you need children eager and prepared to learn.  That all happens in the primary grades, but by the time those students become teenagers something went wrong and the opposite is true.  We need to find out what happened to asking a Kindergartner if they can dance with an enthusiastic answer; YES to a teenagers muffled "no".  Two, you need parents and a community that values education not in just lip service but in participating in the schools.  Schools should be the cultural centers of every community where they are used 24/7 and everyone wants to be there.  And lastly, you need to have competent teaching staffs that are given the resources and freedom to do their job.  When I hire a plumber to fix my pipes, I don't tell him how to do his job, I trust that he has the training and expertise to do that job.  Why not afford teachers with thousands of hours of educational training to do what you hired them to do?
     All three MUST be in place for the system to work no matter what the area of the country you live in.  In poor communities or rich communities, there are public schools that do just that, work, because of the three pronged approach.
     Let's stop giving our tax dollar to testing companies and those individuals who have never been in the classroom and work together as communities to improve an educational system that put man on the moon, keeps most of the world safe and allows its people to move from place to place with absolute freedom.