What kind of nation are we building when we attack teachers?

Here’s a reflection by Rev. Arthur Cribbs, pastor at San Marino Congregational United Church of Christ in California.  Art writes about the tragedy that we justify our own abandonment of the public good (through such laws as California Proposition 13) by blaming school teachers.

CRIBBS NOTE

What kind of nation are we building today when politicians attack educators from kindergarten through universities?  What kind of vision do we have for the future of this country when the people who prepare our children are under siege?

From California to Rhode Island, teachers are in the crosshairs of elected officials who take aim to break unions and eliminate collective bargaining rights of workers.  They combine the sluggish economy with the results of student standardized tests to rationalize their assaults on classroom personnel.  Missing from the critique of societal concerns that put teachers under the microscope and their livelihood on the chopping block of state budgets is the real cause of our current economic woes.

In California, for example, there has been a convenient dismissal of the disastrous, vote-baiting proposition of 33 years ago that falsely presented a remedy to what had been the state’s flawed, excessive property tax structure.  Proposition 13 did more than reduce property taxes to one percent of cash value.  It cut the financial lifeline of our public schools and required both state legislative houses to reach a super-majority of a two-thirds vote to increase taxes.

We used to provide free education from elementary schools to our state university systems financed through property taxes.  California led the nation in quality public education.  Today, it trails almost every state in the country.  And, we wrongly blame our teachers.

Major demonstrations recently in Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego by teachers and students put the spotlight on the unfair, erroneous and misplaced focus on educators as culprits.  While our public schools need help in addressing the overwhelming issues brought onto campuses that restrict and distract teachers and students, they are not breeding grounds of social ills as portrayed by pundits and politicos.

Ignoring the larger, more pervasive problems that plague American life, such as joblessness, income inequities, cultural incompetence, and lingering racial biases creates greater dangers that put all of us at risk.  Blaming teachers will not resolve that crisis.

There are harsh lessons yet to be learned by stubborn, reluctant, and recalcitrant minions of a peculiar mindset who insist on backward tactics to stall the emerging reality.  Although they may attempt to disguise their true intentions under the garb of decency and civic responsibility, they are fully exposed.  Their consistent arguments to weaken public education and bolster private and corporate-supported institutions, including charter schools and voucher programs, to drain and transfer public funds reveal their blatant desires.

The scheme goes beyond our state and national public education system.  It also seeks to diminish our governments’ abilities to provide general assistance and social services to the poorest and most vulnerable members of society, including those who gave their lives in service to our country: returning war veterans.

We are witnessing the blind allegiance to a political perspective that is committed to reducing the basic tenets of our nation’s core values; namely, to serve, protect and defend.  Right now, there is a movement afoot to eliminate resources that will serve our children, protect their futures, and defend against the onslaught of foreign and domestic threats on their well being.

Failure to insure the highest quality education and preparation for our children to meet challenges and opportunities on the horizon is to betray them and the nation.  Attacking educators today guarantees their demise tomorrow.  Is that really what we want?

You can learn more about Cribbs here.

Boulevard Elementary

Boulevard has implemented an intervention-based tutoring program focusing on literacy skills. Thanks to Forest Hill Presbyterian Church, our community partner. To volunteer or for more information, contact Many Villages Program Coordinator Lisa M. Hunt at 216.932.5110 or email Lisa at lisa@reachingheights.org.

One of Many Rewards of Tutoring: A Child’s Joy
January 5, 2011 by Reaching Heights
The sooner children learn to read, the better they’ll do in school and life. And they’ll open the door to the universe of the published word. The Reaching Heights Many Villages academic tutoring program exists to reinforce and accelerate student learning, with a focus on foundational literacy skills. You can learn more about our schools’ approach to literacy in this video clip from the 2010 Reaching Heights Annual Meeting.
Of course, improved student achievement is just one of the rewards of tutoring. The following essay by Many Villages tutor Susie Kaeser is a poignant reminder of another great gift that a tutor receives: the joy of a child.

Why I Think I’ll Be a School Volunteer Forever

By Susie Kaeser

Yesterday on my walk home from Boulevard Elementary School I ran into Hope (this is not her real name but it is what she represents to me), a first grader who I tutored last year as a Many Villages volunteer.
She was late for school but when she spotted me her worried face lit up and she opened her arms for a hug, something she has come to expect as part of our work together. As quickly as we met, we departed on our separate ways. My heart leaped. Here was the reward for my work as a volunteer: the smile and affection of a lovely young girl who is facing many hardships in her daily life and in her search for academic success.
Hope and I have a serious relationship. I was there the day she figured out that when you sound out letters slowly and then quickly you can make words. It is a remarkable discovery that made her excited and proud every time we met. And because of that time together, we are connected forever. She makes me feel important. I touched some one’s life and she touched mine.
Schools are about this human process. The Many Villages tutoring program helps our schools respond to something educators know very well but public policy makers seem to ignore: children are individuals. They come to school from different places with different levels of readiness and support, and different personalities. They learn in different ways and at different speeds. Their brains work differently. Something that is obvious and easy for one child can be a mystery to another.
Attention and encouragement and practice help. Patience, time and concern give individual learners some of the fuel they need to persist. Volunteers can provide that extra stuff that allows for individual difference in a policy environment and structure that all too often expects unrealistic uniformity.
Hope, like the other 350+ children at Boulevard, is unique. It is a privilege to be part of the school’s commitment to treat her that way; to expect a lot and to find the keys to her growth. Yes, education is about human development not widgets. Our school district’s commitment to individualizing instruction, a very complex and demanding endeavor, is inspired and not always easy to attain. By working within my neighborhood school I am a witness to our district’s commitment to practices that deal with the complexity of the individual, and I’m happy to be an active ingredient in their work.
Call Lisa Hunt at Reaching Heights, 216.932.5110, or send her an email at lisa@reachingheights.org to learn more about becoming a Many Villages tutor.
Susie Kaeser was exectutive director of Reaching Heights from 1992 to 2007.