Those Who Can't, Tell Others How To

Although I swore I wouldn't write about my work, I am forced to comment. I dreamed this morning that funding to education was cut so much that my school collapsed and everyone in my building died.  I don't know if that was wishful thinking (the school collapsing, not dying) or an opinion about education today.

I am continually amazed, although I don't know why after all these years, that every podunk Representative and Senator and gubernatorial appointee thinks they have the "answer" to the education "crisis" in this country.  I wonder if there really is a crisis or if it's a political creation.  Students from all over the world flock to this country to attend our universities. These same universities admit students from our own "terrible" public schools and go on to graduate with advanced degrees. In fact there are more qualified students than spaces available here in California.

The problem is that everyone who WENT to school thinks they know how to educate children. If that were the case then no one would need a teaching credential.  Students could just step seamlessly from the college classroom to their own classroom, no credentialing required. They wouldn't need special training to teach English Language Learners or classroom management techniques to keep order.  They wouldn't need to be trained in different teaching strategies to meet the needs of diverse learners. It must be easy to teach. After all, every person in charge of educational policy went to school, so they know what it's like.

I hate to burst their bubble but that's like saying because I drive a car, I am qualified to drive in the Indy 500. Or maybe that I'm qualified to pilot a plane because I know how to fly in one.  Or hey, I've watched surgery on TV and had one or two so I think I'll be a surgeon. I know how to ski so I think I'll join the Olympic ski team.  Maybe anyone who's taken a drug is qualified to work for the FDA and decide which drugs should be approved.  Does any of this make sense? Not to me.

But still, our representatives and government appointees make educational policy decisions that affect millions of children and teachers without having any educational background aside from having been a child in school once and looking at some test scores. This doesn't work very well.  In Los Angeles the mayor's schools and the charter schools did worse overall on the standardized tests administered last spring than did LAUSD's regular schools proving that a politician and some businesses do not know much about educating children.

Finally, if I may be so bold, many of the countries with whom we are compared are culturally and linguistically homogenous. So of course they look better than we who educate an incredibly diverse population do. In my first year of teaching 7 languages were represented in my classroom and I was the only one in the room who spoke English.  Not only that but it was a combination kindergarten/first grade. Combination classes are unheard of in many states.  I would say that we here in California at least, do a damn good job of educating all of our children regardless of language, culture, or socio-economic status and with a shocking lack of materials and funding.

There! I feel better now!  No more dead teacher dreams I hope.