Do Bill and Melinda Gates have the right to affect our childrens’ lives for an eternity?
Dear Bill and Melinda,
You and Melinda went to school. You have kids in school. You, Bill — are anexpert at developing a software company, despite having never graduated from college. Melinda, you are an expert at business, per your Duke University degree. You are both experts at running a foundation. Arne Duncan has expertise as a basketball player, albeithe was not good enough for the Boston Celtics’ cut.
You are experts – yes – but not at teaching or education, because you didn’t ever teach and you are not qualified to do so.
Yet, your corporate reform education policies are going to affect our children for an eternity.
Public schools aren’t taught by people with merely the limited skill sets you possess - expertise in software, business, or basketball. While teachers may share some of those skills too, instead – public schools are taught by those of us who are professional teachers. We’ve gone to college specifically for the profession of education. We completed our student teaching experiences successfully. We were observed and evaluated to be proficient by our field supervisors. We passed highly qualified status state exams. We jumped through all of the required hoops. We earned our degrees in very specialized skill sets – the profession of education. And now, we have earned the right to teach because we are experts. Even then, we continually take on professional development, like doctors - to improve our expertise.
After all, public schools are required to have highly qualified teachers because as Henry Brooks Adams says: ”A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his