Shooting Ourselves in the Foot, Part 5

    

      Political leaders will tell you that their goal in reforming public education is to make teachers and school more accountable. According to them, our country is falling behind countries like China, Japan, Sweden, Canada . . . because public school are failing to educate our children. Teachers’ unions, they suggest, are the main cause of the problem, because teachers’ unions protects bad teachers, impedes necessary classroom and school reform, saddle teachers with the burden of teaching to outdated standards ―which do not provide our children with the skills necessary for the 21^st century workplaces. Moreover, they argue, the current public school system is discouraging the best and the brightest young teachers and failing to reward its truly outstanding teachers. They reform measures that they are putting in place, they continue, will create the necessary changes that are needed in public schools.

     The beauty of being an old teacher, like me, lies largely in the fact that when political leaders describe  an animal, and they tell me it has white feathers, a yellow beak, yellow-web feet, it waddles and vocally “squawks” its butt-off;  they can try to convince me ― until the cows come home, that the animal is “a chicken!” I will never become convinced because I have seen enough “ducks” to recognize when these political leaders are describing one! In plain English, when political leaders tell me that our country is falling behind other countries like China, Japan, Sweden, Canada, and I know that these countries  are investing in their schools by increasing spending in education, investing in their work force by implementing plans for new and sustainable innovations, and creating health and safety nets for all their citizens (instead of cutting entitlements); These political leaders can tell me ― until the day of Revelation, that “public schools are the cause of failure.” I will never become convinced because I have seen enough “well-financed political leaders,” with political and personal financial contributions (from oil, insurance, health, prescription medication and other lobbies) to be aware of the tremendous amount of damages their policies create on behalf of these lobbies. My observations have enabled me to recognize the true reasons our country and its public schools are falling ― and will continue to fall behind other countries.

By

James A. Porter