One-sided debate on education harmful to teachers, students
In 2004, Oprah Winfrey showered an entire audience of public school teachers with gifts in a special “Favorite Things” episode. She recently made a similar contribution, but with a much different message to the heroes she once celebrated. 6 million dollars was handed over to charter schools across the nation while Oprah chided the public school system. At her side was billionaire Bill Gates and Grammy winner John Legend; notably missing was a single public school teacher. Our schools are failing, they claim. Inexplicably, Oprah’s generous donation went to six schools that are financially thriving upon both private and public sources of funding, when it should have been invested in any one of the country’s struggling districts.
This episode aired the same week that the documentary “Waiting for Superman” premiered, which I have not yet seen. Soon after, MSNBC presented “Education Nation”, filling primetime slots throughout the week with so-called experts on education. For just two hours on a Sunday afternoon, actual teachers were invited to attend an online discussion that received much less attention than the other speakers did. So begins what I can only imagine will be a long season of teacher-bashing.
Despite being crucial to society’s growth and development, teachers have always been both loved and hated. In the media we are sometimes portrayed as villains when one bad apple makes an unwise decision. To the parent of the little girl who moved up three grade levels in reading, we are examples of the greatness achieved with patience and determination. Why is this growing movement by CEOs and celebrities to blame teachers for the failures of our education system especially troubling? By focusing on what is only one part of the problem, we are ignoring the bigger issues that could explain high student drop-out rates and why districts are shutting down, such as unconstitutional funding formulas and widespread inequities in family income. More importantly, the school culture created by an inappropriate focus on standardized testing could begin to send children a chilling message: you have little value outside of raising our districts’ test scores and ensuring that we have enough money to keep operating.
In addition to ignoring the fundamental concerns affecting students at home and at school, Davis Guggenheim, director of “Waiting for Superman”, directs much of the blame at teachers’ unions and tenure programs. While no one could say that these systems are perfect in their current form, it’s hard to argue that they are not essential. In the film, Guggenheim praises the education system of Finland for instituting universal preschool and mandating that all teachers attain a master’s degree. These steps have proven to increase Finnish students’ math and science literacy, but Guggenheim fails to mention that teachers in Finland are unionized and granted tenure as well.
A number of educators are voicing their concerns online about the one-sided debate taking place on both daytime talk shows and cable news channels. The Department of Education claims that 1.6 million new teachers are needed in the next five years, and no one wants to be the villain. We can’t continue to allow billionaires and television personalities to decide what is best for students and teachers without first bringing us into the discussion.
(Originally published in the Zanesville Times Recorder, October 10, 2010.)
