Thomas Jefferson on Teacher Bashing
Press play to listen
Download | Duration: 00:03:31
Teachers in our country rarely
get the respect they deserve -- a uniquely American pathology. But this
year they’ve endured not just indifference, but disrespect – and
from Congressmen, no less.
Teachers are now blamed not
just for falling test scores, but failing state budgets and rising healthcare
costs.
There was once a politician
who took a different view. In 1787, Thomas Jefferson's Northwest Ordinance
– what some scholars believe to be one of the three most important
documents in the founding of America, along with the Constitution and
Declaration of Independence – provided funding for public schools
and universities. In it, he declared, “Religion, morality, and knowledge
being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools
and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.”
The idea is so central to American
public education, the University of Michigan has it engraved on the
façade of its central building, Angell Hall. But few of the people
walking by Angell Hall even know the line is there, or why. Ignorance
makes it easy to take what’s good for granted.
While Congress rewarded Wall
Street’s “Masters of the Universe” with millions of taxpayer dollars
after they ran the economy into the ground, the same politicians tell
us the real economic villains are public school teachers, who educate
our children for an average of $45,000 a year.
I don’t think George Orwell
himself had the power to imagine such a twisted interpretation of reality.
The claim that teachers are
under-worked, overpaid parasites could be made only by people who have
never taught. I would be hard pressed to name any group that gives more
and takes less from society than do teachers – who, after all, prepare
us for what we’re going to do next. Even politicians.
Teaching is one of those jobs,
like waiting tables or coaching sports, that everyone thinks is easy
– until they try it. True, teaching is one of the easiest jobs to
do poorly – but it’s one of the hardest to do well.
Part of this problem the teachers’
union brought on itself, by defending the worst teachers to the hilt,
and not even allowing principals to watch their employees work without
making an appointment months in advance. At my high school, one teacher
set what I hope is a record by showing movies and film strips for 170
of the 180 school days.
But we also had college professors
who decided teaching high school students was more important, and others
who could have done anything they wanted – one of my English teachers
had a law degree -- but devoted their lives to teaching us.
And it wasn’t just out of
noblesse oblige. When I was student teaching, I learned the job is not
just demanding – it’s intellectually challenging.
But because the unions didn’t
make the obvious reforms they should have made, now they’re at the
mercy of overconfident, under-qualified politicians, who wouldn’t
last a week in front of the classes I taught – let alone the inner
city classrooms now packed with 35 students six hours a day, thanks
to their budget cuts.
I can still name almost every
teacher and coach I’ve ever had – and I bet you can, too. But we’d
have a hard time naming our last three Congressional representatives.
I learned about Jefferson’s Northwest Ordinance from Ed Klum in U.S. history, the same year I read Orwell’s “1984” in Jim George’s class. I learned how to write from Dave Stringer and Andrew Carrigan. And I learned critical thinking from all of them – which is why it’s not too hard for me to figure out what Jefferson would probably think of those teachers, and the politicians who bash them.
Which brings me to my final
line, something public school teachers hear far too rarely: THANK YOU.
Copyright© 2011, Michigan Radio Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/johnubacon
Also, cf, "The Foundation of every state is in the education of its' youth" -- Diogenes, inscribed above entry at Tappan Middle School
Reply to this
Mr. Wilson,
I went to Clague, so I missed this. Just as good! Thanks.
-John
Reply to this
Heh, my last three congressmen have been S. Levin, S. Levin, and S. Levin. It seems like forever. OK, Barbara Rose Collins (while at WSU), Charles Diggs, and Wm. Broomfield.
It is not the salaries that are the problem, but the ballooning defined benefits packages that are the envy of and the crippling of taxpayers with respect to teacher compensation. In addition to it being deleriously hard to relieve a lousy teacher, their cost to taxpayers rises ever higher, particularly the ones now retired. Once upon a time, one traded compensation for job security in government work. Now the public sector provides both.
Is there a way to compensate the best educators quite highly while compensating average teachers modestly? Apparantly, not right now.
Reply to this
Bravo and very well said Mr. Bacon! Good teaching is a precious commodity that is so often taken for granted or not recognized as it should be.
Reply to this
John,
I commend you for this post. Well said, and right on!
Besides our nation's education crises, along with our debt ceiling crises, and several other crises that they are not dealing with, we have a dysfunctional Congress.
My view is that, as a group, they are intelectually incompetent and morally lacking. In addition, they do not have any "cojones"!
Perhaps they are lacking in a "good education".
Dr.Ed Kornblue
Reply to this
Well said . . . um, written. Thanks for pointing out the excesses of both sides.
Reply to this
considering the level of discourse emerging from congress these days could it be that said politicians were never very good students, thus the lack of appreciation...
Reply to this
John--I met you some 15 years ago at a lunch hosted by the honorable Robert Oldrin Weisman in downtown Ann Arbor. I was Bob's manager during his last 10 years at Prentice Hall. I remember laughing during the entire meal at your stories etc. I shared your latest post with my fantastic wife of 27 years who has been teaching elementary in Plymouth Canton Schools for 25 years. Although she is not a subscriber of you blog, she thoroughly looks forward to me passing on your greatest work. Indeed the last post was tremendous. Thanks for being spot on about the teaching profession. Both my parents and father in law retired from teaching and coaching high school in metro Detroit. The fact that you recognize the value of dedicated teaching professionals made our day! Congrats John !
Reply to this
Hello Dave,
Yes, I remember you - and thanks for the kind words.
My fear is this: through the endless bashing of teachers -- both good and bad, perhaps -- we will discourage talented, ambitious and idealistic candidates -- like your wife and parents -- from pursuing this obviously noble profession. And when that happens, the problems will only get worse.
Last point: You say your wife is fantastic, yet you also say she is not a subscriber to the Bacon Blog? I'm sorry, but I just can't reconcile these two facts. Sign 'er up, Big Dave! And make an honest woman of her yet.
-John
Reply to this
Always enjoy it - this one was particularly good. Thanks John.
Scott McGlone
Reply to this
Teachers are not the problem. It's the NEA/MEA.
Reply to this
I always pause to read and agree with this quote every time I pass Angell Hall, which is quite regularly on football saturdays. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Angell_Hall_2010.jpg
Reply to this
This blog was spot on! Great job!
Reply to this
Well-stated, John. Someone on Facebook computed that if we paid teachers simply for babysitting---$3/hr/pupil---it would cost nearly $100,000 in annual salary.
Reply to this
John, Your blog was passed on by a fellow teacher, on her face book. It was exciting to me to discover it was you! I'm enjoying reading your blogs and will continue to follow you. You were eloquent and right on with this one. Thanks. You will always be one of my favorites!
Reply to this
For readers who did not go to Clague or Huron in Ann Arbor -- which I assume is most of you! -- you probably don't recognize the above correspondent as the former Ms. Vukedinovich, an all-star biology teacher at those two schools. We all remember her very fondly, and she even converted a few of my friends from stoners to scholars, and now respected engineers. (You know who you are!)
When I got to Michigan I took "Biology for Non-Scientists" in my last year, and quickly discovered it wasn't biology I loved, but the way Ms. V taught it. One of the many teachers I was very lucky to have.
-John
Reply to this
My kids all attended the Ann Arbor public schools. There were a handful of amazing teachers that were worth more than we could ever pay. That said, there was an abundance of gross incompetence, political correctness, liberal bias and massive bureaucracy. The system is broken and outrageously costly. As a large group teachers are not worth what they are being paid. The only reason they get away with this is politics and a union that defies the laws of the state. If we became a "right to work" state the unions would either disappear or actually represent the best interests of the teachers and the citizens.
Reply to this
Dear Mr. Kennedy and AA Al (and a friendly reminder, Al, for the Bacon Blog writers must sign their names, to keep it from becoming as irresponsible as, well, the rest of the internet -- but I'm giving you a pass this time),
As you can see from my essay, I do believe the teachers' unions shoulder some of the blame here. By setting up outlandish union rules that are unrelated to the real world most people work in, and making it virtually impossible to fire a teacher, they are ultimately harming not just the students but the majority of talented, conscientious teachers.
While I certainly can't speak to the experience of Al's kids, I can tell you while I had a few mediocrities, certainly none of them were damaging, and they were greatly outnumbered by the teachers I've mentioned above. And trust me, I can easily multiply my list of All-Star Teachers I will never forget with many others.
-John
Reply to this
My mother taught school in Kentucky after she and Dad split, then quit when she re-married (in the mid-60s). She always said she would prefer to scrub floors for a living than teach school. Also, one of her few liberal points-of-view concerned teachers. I remember she was a vocal supporter of the teachers when they threatened to strike where we lived in CT.
I'll repeat what I said up above: Paying teachers as babysitters would mean nearly a $100,000 annual salary. How many school systems pay that? The lucrative health care and pension arrangements are a consequence of cities not wanting to pay what the teachers are worth.
Reply to this
John —
Excellent piece! Thanks for it.
~~ S.A.
Reply to this
John,
Very well stated. It's ironic that one of the country's that was all the envy of these politicians less-than a year ago -- Finland for it's students' high performance -- actually funds the education expenses of those who choose to make teaching a profession, is 97% unionized, and has NO standardized testing except for graduating seniors. It's amazing to think what kind of graduates our schools could produce if politicians would get out of the way and allow educators and those who know what works to make policy decisions rather than allowing the uber-wealthy to wiggle in and push for the corporatization of public education.
As for Mr. Kennedy's comment ... I'm curious why the high cost of health care is the fault of teachers? For decades teachers have deferred their salaries to a pension that included health care. By and large teachers aren't paid what they're worth and we go into the profession understanding this; one of the other things we understand is that the trade-off for below fair wages is the modest pension received at the conclusion of our teaching careers. If politicians want to try and fix the ills of these pensions I suggest they take up the task of reigning in the high-cost of health care. Of course that might mean having to stand up to the fat-pocketed insurance lobbies who I suspect helped put them in office in the first place.
Thanks again Bake!
Reply to this
Top corner again John,
I still quote my favorite high school teachers and passed along the timeless wisdom they passed to me to others.
Same for coaches, I can't say they were all favorites and not faulted but I can say I learned important life lessons from each one that carry me to this day.
May I suggest we go after fraudulent CEOs, Politicians, and Wall Street Tycoons that take a lot more from our government then any teacher ever imagined.
Keep 'em coming JUB.
Reply to this
John,
I trailed you by a couple of years at the same A2 schools and enjoyed the benefits of many of the same fine teachers (including Ms. Krause!). I took away valuable lessons from all of them--one of the most valuable being that I, the student, was ultimately responsible for what I learned and how I chose to use my education.
Ultimately, I chose to become a teacher.
Thanks for the great piece!
Reply to this
John-
Thanks for the excellent piece. It's a great thing that you can look back at the contributions that teachers made to your life and understand the importance of their work. A superior educational system has long been an engine of success in the U.S. Without great schools and great teachers, our nation founders. With a great educational system, we can meet any challenge.
It's surprising that so many people today are willing to blame teachers and teacher unions for schools that they find lacking. Usually these individuals look at the financial details and think that they are getting a poor return on the investment made in schools. What is escaping these folks is context. Which country that "leads" the U.S. in these international educational measures attempts to educate EVERY citizen to college readiness? If you look closely at what other countries are trying to do with their schools, you will find the U.S. alone in that regard.
There is a misconception operating in the comments on this piece so far. Apparently people think that it is nearly impossible to fire a teacher. That is not the case. Every teacher contract in this state has an evaluation mechanism. That evaluation tool can be used to fire teachers for just cause and poor performance. Teachers DO get fired by school administrators when it is determined they deserve it. Yes, it takes more time to fire a low-achieving teacher, because that teacher is offered a solid opportunity to improve his or her performance. In that sense, it creates a situation like most other jobs: the teacher is told, "improve your work, or we will have to let you go." The evaluation system is not perfect, but it does allow for improvement, and it does provide a method for separating teachers from their employment if necessary. And by the way, it is now state law that teacher evaluations (and soon pay) must be at least partially tied to student progress on standardized tests.
Thanks again, John, for giving voice to the fact that everyone educated enough to read or comment on this post probably developed those skills in a classroom, with a (hopefully great) teacher.
Jay Woods
Reply to this
Jay,
We can think back to our years in the public education system and teachers that made a difference in our lives. We can also remember the many terrible teachers that had no business being in the classroom and if they were in the real business world would be fired. The problem is not the teachers it is the system and the union that not only protects bad teachers, but through their lobbying, cuts off the much needed competition in education.
Question Jay! If our public education system is so great and we are getting such a great return on our investment, then why are all these caring inner city parents trying to get their kids out of the public schools? Why can my son get a better education at a catholic grade school in my town at the fraction of the cost of a public school education?
The unions have had a great setup all these years. They funnel money into getting a person elected to office, then that person funnels money back to them. Well those days are coming to an end, we can not afford it. This country was made great by competition and that is what our education system needs.
Reply to this