Thank you for this Dan Rather and Elliot Kirschner. As a veteran teacher I urge you to report on the social impact bond investing & tech emphasis in the Every Student Succeeds Act (2015). It is another bipartisan behind-the-curtain, legal, but unethical deal that hurts kids and teachers. I am a Villanova University Teacher of Courage and Conscience speaking out to educate the public. With Gratitude, Danielle Schwartz https://whattheheckinpubliced.blogspot.com/2021/12/this-is-innovation.html
Our daughter just quit her math teaching skills of 12 years in Orlando high schools. She had just enough of students, their parents and some of the schools leadership. Sad, as she was the best math teacher in her last school. Other math teachers attended her classes to learn.
Thank you Dan your words of concern about the struggles & challenges that public education and teachers of today and of future face due to decisive politics are well said, but I especially applaud you for your heartfelt appreciation of teachers past and present. Your teachers would be proud of your contribution to the world with your eloquence. Thank you. Brad from Victoria BC
And, thank YOU for putting together an article such as this. I only spent about 30 years teaching, but I wouldn't do it now. The 'American Business Major' has taken over (particularly school administration). The 'Community of Scholars' is no more. Sad.
When reading the stories of successful people I am always struck by how often a teacher played a key part of their success. Teachers that went the extra mile to light a flame in a student that might otherwise have been uninspired.
Yes...well, talk is cheap, Dan...at any Texas used car lot, you will be told pointedly that "money talks, and BS walks."...and you're walking on this one, Dan.
---We don't pay teachers well because, first of all, the results of their labor are always intangible, and this society only pays for tangible outcomes that can be measured. Teachers cannot guarantee that the little darlings will all grow up to be Einstein or Helen Keller. Actually, as a former teacher, I can tell you that a child either wants to learn during childhood, or else just wants to learn later. We can encourage good development, but we cannot MAKE them want to learn, no matter what the new strategy de jour may be.
---Teachers are implicitly looked upon as glorified baby sitters, and they are paid accordingly by a hypocritical society that today expects parenting as well as child care from teachers.
I now favor remote learning for academic subjects, administered by well-paid professionals who are held accountable by written contracts, and parents who are also accountable by those same contracts, with the teacher given the absolute power of suspension or removal of a child from his or her learning group. Community activities for children need to be put in place to fill the social slack that at-home learning causes.
The warehousing of heterogenous children together has been an overall failure at the cost of learning. Different cultures learn in different ways, and for our society to force its largely white learning system on ALL children is implicit racism at its worst.
Finally, a no-BS question for you and others who want to pay teachers off with a back-to-school compliment once a year:
"If teachers are so vital, why didn't YOU become a teacher?"
I remember my father or my mother who were born in 1924 and 1925 respectively telling me they spent at least part of the time in 1 room school houses. My parents both died in 2021. Anyway, I think after World War II was when people started getting that hostile attitude toward educators. A lot of you probably never heard of World War II. That was a war that was waged from 1939 to 1945. America was part of this war from 1941 to 1945. A lot of americans who served in that war are dead. I am not sure how much of this is covered in school nowadays. We need to have this covered in school because a lot of those World War II veterans are dying off each day which deprives us of the first hand experiences those World War II veterans have experienced.
I remember hearing that one time kids used to bring an apple to the teacher. I wonder if that happened maybe before a lot of us had been born. Just about a majority of the Greatest Generation which was born from 1901 to 1927 has probably died at this point with probably a small number left. I think that cohort would most likely appreciate their teachers. I wonder if that cohort would bring apples to their teachers. Anyway here is the wikipedia article where I got the term greatest generation from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatest_Generation
I wonder if the wealthy interests are threatened by a well educated populace that they would have a harder time controlling. I wonder if that is really the source of the hostile attitude of politicians against education that is fueled by possible hostility of the wealthy class against a well educated populace. I wonder if the reason that 3rd world countries having worse poverty than we have is maybe the wealthy in those countries are trying to keep the populations at large in those 3rd world countries from getting a well rounded education that we have been able to provide in The United States. The rich have a harder time controlling people who are well educated and can think for themselves.
I wonder if too many average people have been upset by having to take subjects in school that doesn't seem to have immediate relevancy to them. I wonder it that has turned off people about school. I remember I had to take English and Social Studies and Physical Education classes all through my K to 12 years. Anyway the purpose of these so called required subjects are to make well rounded people. Failure to teach Social Studies and English could lead to people not being literate in the English Language and lacking awareness about other cultures outside of The United States.
I heartily agree. I mark the moment that I became confident in myself to a 7th grade teacher who encouraged me to continue, while being terribly bullied.
Thank you for articulating the essence of the Republican party's incessant engagement in culture wars, in lieu of rational discussion concerning gravely important issues. Their desire to be constantly outraged, whether it be about fictitious conspiracies such as CRT, or through their blind hatred of Democratic leaders such as President Biden, Vice-President Harris, Nancy Pelosi, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Adam Schiff, Barack Obama, or even Hillary Clinton, are crippling our country and, ironically, doing the exact opposite of making us great.
My husband and I were both educators, and one of our 3 sons is as well. Just as I was inspired by a 5th grade English teacher who read Homer’s entire Odyssey to her class and diagrammed complex sentences three blackboard spaces long, our son was clearly inspired by his History teachers. Teaching was hard work but deeply gratifying. Thank you Dan for reminding us to use positive messaging recognizing the good our teachers do every day; they need to hear from us more now than ever.
I loved being in most of my teachers classes especially the English and music teachers. Most teachers go above and beyond every day and make it a joy to come to school every day I think teachers should have extra money to help every student achieve their potential. Thank you to all the people who become teachers and enjoy their work every day. I hope everyone has a good school year with no problems this year.
Thank you for this Dan Rather and Elliot Kirschner. As a veteran teacher I urge you to report on the social impact bond investing & tech emphasis in the Every Student Succeeds Act (2015). It is another bipartisan behind-the-curtain, legal, but unethical deal that hurts kids and teachers. I am a Villanova University Teacher of Courage and Conscience speaking out to educate the public. With Gratitude, Danielle Schwartz https://whattheheckinpubliced.blogspot.com/2021/12/this-is-innovation.html
Our daughter just quit her math teaching skills of 12 years in Orlando high schools. She had just enough of students, their parents and some of the schools leadership. Sad, as she was the best math teacher in her last school. Other math teachers attended her classes to learn.
Thank you Dan your words of concern about the struggles & challenges that public education and teachers of today and of future face due to decisive politics are well said, but I especially applaud you for your heartfelt appreciation of teachers past and present. Your teachers would be proud of your contribution to the world with your eloquence. Thank you. Brad from Victoria BC
And, thank YOU for putting together an article such as this. I only spent about 30 years teaching, but I wouldn't do it now. The 'American Business Major' has taken over (particularly school administration). The 'Community of Scholars' is no more. Sad.
When reading the stories of successful people I am always struck by how often a teacher played a key part of their success. Teachers that went the extra mile to light a flame in a student that might otherwise have been uninspired.
Yes...well, talk is cheap, Dan...at any Texas used car lot, you will be told pointedly that "money talks, and BS walks."...and you're walking on this one, Dan.
---We don't pay teachers well because, first of all, the results of their labor are always intangible, and this society only pays for tangible outcomes that can be measured. Teachers cannot guarantee that the little darlings will all grow up to be Einstein or Helen Keller. Actually, as a former teacher, I can tell you that a child either wants to learn during childhood, or else just wants to learn later. We can encourage good development, but we cannot MAKE them want to learn, no matter what the new strategy de jour may be.
---Teachers are implicitly looked upon as glorified baby sitters, and they are paid accordingly by a hypocritical society that today expects parenting as well as child care from teachers.
I now favor remote learning for academic subjects, administered by well-paid professionals who are held accountable by written contracts, and parents who are also accountable by those same contracts, with the teacher given the absolute power of suspension or removal of a child from his or her learning group. Community activities for children need to be put in place to fill the social slack that at-home learning causes.
The warehousing of heterogenous children together has been an overall failure at the cost of learning. Different cultures learn in different ways, and for our society to force its largely white learning system on ALL children is implicit racism at its worst.
Finally, a no-BS question for you and others who want to pay teachers off with a back-to-school compliment once a year:
"If teachers are so vital, why didn't YOU become a teacher?"
That's 30.
"I now favor remote learning for academic subjects, administered by well-paid professionals who are held accountable by written contracts"
I agree on this one.
I remember my father or my mother who were born in 1924 and 1925 respectively telling me they spent at least part of the time in 1 room school houses. My parents both died in 2021. Anyway, I think after World War II was when people started getting that hostile attitude toward educators. A lot of you probably never heard of World War II. That was a war that was waged from 1939 to 1945. America was part of this war from 1941 to 1945. A lot of americans who served in that war are dead. I am not sure how much of this is covered in school nowadays. We need to have this covered in school because a lot of those World War II veterans are dying off each day which deprives us of the first hand experiences those World War II veterans have experienced.
"I am not sure how much of this is covered in school nowadays"
you are very right; it is often simply skipped. We did not study it, but we had to study the Stone Age 3 times, really.
I remember hearing that one time kids used to bring an apple to the teacher. I wonder if that happened maybe before a lot of us had been born. Just about a majority of the Greatest Generation which was born from 1901 to 1927 has probably died at this point with probably a small number left. I think that cohort would most likely appreciate their teachers. I wonder if that cohort would bring apples to their teachers. Anyway here is the wikipedia article where I got the term greatest generation from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatest_Generation
I wonder if the wealthy interests are threatened by a well educated populace that they would have a harder time controlling. I wonder if that is really the source of the hostile attitude of politicians against education that is fueled by possible hostility of the wealthy class against a well educated populace. I wonder if the reason that 3rd world countries having worse poverty than we have is maybe the wealthy in those countries are trying to keep the populations at large in those 3rd world countries from getting a well rounded education that we have been able to provide in The United States. The rich have a harder time controlling people who are well educated and can think for themselves.
I wonder if too many average people have been upset by having to take subjects in school that doesn't seem to have immediate relevancy to them. I wonder it that has turned off people about school. I remember I had to take English and Social Studies and Physical Education classes all through my K to 12 years. Anyway the purpose of these so called required subjects are to make well rounded people. Failure to teach Social Studies and English could lead to people not being literate in the English Language and lacking awareness about other cultures outside of The United States.
So important!
I heartily agree. I mark the moment that I became confident in myself to a 7th grade teacher who encouraged me to continue, while being terribly bullied.
Thank you for articulating the essence of the Republican party's incessant engagement in culture wars, in lieu of rational discussion concerning gravely important issues. Their desire to be constantly outraged, whether it be about fictitious conspiracies such as CRT, or through their blind hatred of Democratic leaders such as President Biden, Vice-President Harris, Nancy Pelosi, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Adam Schiff, Barack Obama, or even Hillary Clinton, are crippling our country and, ironically, doing the exact opposite of making us great.
Thank you!
My husband and I were both educators, and one of our 3 sons is as well. Just as I was inspired by a 5th grade English teacher who read Homer’s entire Odyssey to her class and diagrammed complex sentences three blackboard spaces long, our son was clearly inspired by his History teachers. Teaching was hard work but deeply gratifying. Thank you Dan for reminding us to use positive messaging recognizing the good our teachers do every day; they need to hear from us more now than ever.
I loved being in most of my teachers classes especially the English and music teachers. Most teachers go above and beyond every day and make it a joy to come to school every day I think teachers should have extra money to help every student achieve their potential. Thank you to all the people who become teachers and enjoy their work every day. I hope everyone has a good school year with no problems this year.