Journal Entry #1

I was reading through my notes on School Wars by Gaddy, Hall, and Marzano when my attention was drawn to chapter 5-The State of Public Education. I was particularly interested in what the authors call the conventional wisdom of the 1990s. It is that American education is in a state of serious disrepair. This belief came about, in part, because of a report issued by the National Commission on Excellence in Education called A Nation at Risk. This report was seen by many as a mandate to make major changes to public education.

The Sandia Report was a series of studies concluding that many of the charges against American public education are unfounded. I have always been concerned when people talked negatively about American education. I was a product of American education and have always believed that it is both efficient and highly effective. I believe that American education has succeeded in spite of substantial obstacles. Teachers are consistently being asked to do more and more in the same amount of time and are not getting adequately compensated for it. When trying to explain my feelings on this topic I often make reference to the charitable contributions our nations teachers are making. They are making these contributions directly to our students and to our society indirectly. They do this by working in our school systems for free. I have a sister who has worked as an elementary school teacher for 20 years and is barley able to maintain a modest standard of living. I believe the majority of those she teaches to read this year will enter the workforce earning more that she earns.

I, for one, have a significant problem with this and that is why I claim that our school teachers are working for charity. I takes them a year to receive what they have earned in the first several months of the school year based on what virtually any other professional will earn. Furthermore, I believe this system, which involves a lack of adequate compensation, seriously inhibits society's ability to attract qualified teachers to our schools. I believe that society will get what it pays for. In other words, I believe that as long as we pay our teachers tips rather than competitive salaries we will not see the efforts out of them like that we see in those doing less-impacting work who are earning six-figure incomes. Finally, I believe we are in danger of causing the quote, "Those who can do; those who can't teach", to become very true. When we will not pay teachers enough to keep those who are better qualified, our classrooms (and our children) will be taught by those who are less-qualified.

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