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If We Want to Fix Education, Start at the Beginning

I have been teaching for 32 years and have seen the pendulum swing back and forth many times. I have observed what works and what does harm to young students. There are five steps to success.
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Teacher, Business Owner, Wife, Mother of three

Teacher, Business Owner, Wife, Mother of three
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The fix-it manual for education is a complicated document written by numerous authors, most outsiders to the field of education. It seems that everyone has an opinion about what is wrong with our educational program today, its teachers and students, but few have solutions that are organically designed to meet the needs of the student population we currently teach in our nation's public schools. The current focus of education is on results, as in test results. The powers that be have deemed it the sole measurement for students' success and when the scores don't add up, the finger of blame is pointed squarely at teachers. I have been teaching for 32 years and have seen the pendulum swing back and forth many times. I have observed what works and what does harm to young students and in my experience there are five necessary steps to success.

  1. Start Young. Early Education is a fundamental factor to children's school success and funding it adequately gives more children a chance to learn curriculum, early skills and about the world of school. Smaller class size has a profound impact on both classroom dynamics and the amount of attention a teacher can give to students and by reducing class size in kindergarten-3rd grade to 20 or less, and grade 4-12 to 25 or less we could see a dramatic improvement. Private schools and privately funded Charter schools provide this. We cannot compare public and private schools until the class size issue has been resolved and the scales are even.

  • Treat Teachers as Professionals. Respect the training, education and experience teachers have in the field of education and pay them accordingly. A student's test scores are not the sole indicator of a teacher's worth and teachers are not motivated to further their education solely for the joy of learning. Most professionals are compensated for their expertise and given opportunities to further their knowledge in their professional field. Teachers have an extremely important job and huge responsibilities and we like to be respected, taken seriously and able to afford the cost of living in the cities we teach.

  • Hold Parents Accountable. Parents must be held responsible for meeting their childrens' basic needs and supporting their children in their educational program. We need to teach those who do not know, how to become better parents, in order to provide a supportive home environment that complements the educational program. Parenting is a life long responsibility and providing education and training for parents can have a positive impact on our students.

  • Fund Education. Our priority must be education because our students are our country's future wage earners and tax payers. By funding education we are insuring our own future. We need to establish a permanent source of government funding for our public schools to take the stress off of the parents and individual schools currently forced to fundraise endlessly in order to provide a basic, quality educational program. Funding should include the arts, sports and physical education, and trade skills as well as the academic program.

  • Provide Support. Financial and personal support is needed to educate special needs students, lower class ratio and size, and to support the physical, intellectual, emotional and social development of all students. Schools need full-time nurses, psychologists, counselors and support staff to allow equal access to education and academic success for all students.

    • Our government and its representatives must own these suggestions and form working committees to dedicate time and energy to developing a funding method that begins with our youngest students, limits class size, educates parents, compensates educators, and provides the support needed for all students including those with special needs. Only by providing this, will our educational system have a chance to be fixed and our students a chance to succeed.

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