Despite what you hear, everything about public education is not bad. I realize that there are concerns, especially when students from the United States are globally compared to other students from industrialized countries. But when you compare the United States to 50 years ago, there is definitely an improvement.
The US Department of Education reports that the country has reached its highest graduation rate in history, with 80 percent of students receiving a diploma in 2012, the most recent year for which statistics are available. In the 1950’s, only 10 percent of the high school graduates went to college. Now at least 60 percent begin college and take some coursework.
Personally, when I think about 25 years ago when I was a classroom teacher, we had no computers. (There was a computer lab, but we didn’t have any in our rooms to use.) There was no such thing as “inclusion,” “response to intervention,” “differential instruction,” or “blended learning.” If you had students who were far enough behind, they might be put in a couple of special ed classes, but other than that, everyone was lumped together and taught the same stuff.
I do remember being at a more “progressive” school in Georgia where they would pull out the “gifted” kids once or twice a week and work with them. When these kids came back from their special class, they were so excited about their projects. As a regular classroom teacher I couldn’t help but wonder, “Wouldn’t it be great if all kids could do these special projects?”
And even though the debate over the Common Core State Standards has been a national educational nightmare, I don’t remember parents or anyone else ever being concerned about their state’s standards. At least people are thinking about standards and what effect that may or may not have on students, teachers and our nation as a whole.
Teachers who are teaching and students who are learning are living in an age of opportunity like none other. No longer are classrooms expected to be one size fits all. With computers, tablets, applications and learning games, there truly is smorgasbord of learning opportunities for each and every learner regardless of background or ability. Although some school districts and counties are certainly better off financially than others, every teacher has access to technology even if there is little their classroom. And as citizens become more aware of the importance of technology in education, hopefully school boards and state legislators will make the necessary changes to see that these technological endeavors get and stay funded.
As the cirector of Professional Development for a state teachers’ association, the main drawback I see in our current educational circumstances is bureaucracy. To become a licensed, tenured teacher in a public school in the United States requires so many hoops to jump through and so many bells to ring, one might as well be a show dog. If parents, stakeholders, and policymakers would simply just let teachers teach, I can almost guarantee there would be an improvement in our educational progression. In order to nourish and protect our most precious natural resource (our children), we must nourish and protect those who we place in charge of this resource. Trust your teachers and let them teach.
Bethany Bowman
(Bethany Bowman is the director of Professional Development for Professional Educators of Tennessee, a non-partisan teacher association headquartered in Brentwood, Tenn.)