Thursday, February 14, 2013

Mr. President, My Students Deserve Better | toteachornototeach

Mr. President, My Students Deserve Better | toteachornototeach:


Mr. President, My Students Deserve Better

Mr. President, My Students Deserve Better
by Randy Turner

It certainly was depressing last night to discover that the only reason I am standing in front of a classroom of eighth grade students day after day, year after year, is so at some point they can be delivered job ready to some employer.
Whatever happened to the loftier goals of teaching young people the thinking skills needed to succeed in life, the ability to function not only as members of a faceless workforce, but also as key components in directing the civic and political discourse of this country?
In one short paragraph during last night’s State of the Union Message, President Barack Obama spelled out today’s definition of high school education:
Tonight, I’m announcing a new challenge to redesign America’s high schools so they better equip graduates for