Stop blaming the teachers
.jpg)
Where is the single, national voice of the teacher in the United States decrying the fallacy that teachers and teachers unions are destroying American education?
I have been, for the last 40 years, a public high school teacher and English department supervisor in New Jersey. I am responsible for 29 teachers and 3,500 teenagers and their reading and writing. I've worked in rural, urban and suburban high schools, and I have personally witnessed the work of hundreds and hundreds of teachers in my career. They all graduated from college, and they all cared about helping children be better readers, writers and people.
Demagogues and financial moguls bark that teachers aren't preparing young people for college, professions and for the future demands of a sophisticated, technical society.
Haughty politicians who berate teachers graduated from excellent high schools and colleges. They must have seen some decent teachers lurking in those hallways.
Industry tycoons with their money blame teachers for the poor quality of student achievement. These dabblers in education have no idea about the quality of the 3.5 million teachers in America. Perhaps these CEOs attended exclusive private schools and universities. Perhaps they found a few good teachers hidden among those leather books and gilded reputations.
I've been to teacher conventions, given talks to teachers all over the country. I read the professional teacher journals. I have observed teachers coach teams, counsel students, conference with parents, collaborate with colleagues, use technology.
I've seen teachers building the confidence of their students, guiding them in their college choices, helping them with their homework, helping them see the possibilities of the future. As Christa McAuliffe said: "I touch the future. I teach." Politicians and CEOs across the country are blaming teachers for the ills of the economy instead of admitting to their own egotistical ambitions and greed. Teachers don't teach. Teachers unions are bad. Teachers don't work enough days. Teachers can't do anything else, so they teach. Bad teachers are causing the collapse of our economy. Teachers are the root cause of the ills in our society.
Scapegoats abound in our national myths. Let's blame the devil. A cow in Chicago started the Great Fire of 1871. And we all know that Rachel Carson with her book "Silent Spring" is to blame for the modern environmentalist movement and the roadblocks to corporate growth.Stop blaming the teachers - Newsday: