Thank-you Matt Damon!

"This has been a horrible decade for teachers. I can’t imagine how demoralized you must feel. But I came here today to deliver an important message to you: As I get older, I appreciate more and more the teachers that I had growing up. And I’m not alone. There are millions of people just like me . . . And none of these qualities that I’ve just mentioned, none of these qualities that I prize so deeply, that have brought me so much joy, that have brought me so much professional success (imagination, a love of writing & learning, and curiosity), none of these qualities that make me who I am ... can be tested!" ~Matt Damon at the Save Our Schools March in Washington, DC July 2011.

Wow! Someone finally someone publically stood up for teachers! I cannot think of a group of individuals that have experienced more criticism, had more fingers pointed at them, and given more blame for the ills that befall us than teachers. The profession has been an easy target for the past ten to fifteen years, and the slings and arrows continue to come our way. It is interesting that our newly appointed Director of Education, Jason Glass, has included in Governor Branstad’s blueprint for education a reference to the quality teachers that we have in our state, but that seems to be lost in all of the other very important aspects of the plan he will take to the legislature in the upcoming session.

It pains me to hear the criticism. I know that there are some teachers that should not be in the profession. Believe me, in my role it is a huge concern and responsibility; one that I take very serious. It is important to work with all of our teachers to help them become better at their craft, just like any other employee. But, people need to recognize that the quality teachers outnumber those that should not be in the profession by a huge margin. Thus, I believe that the criticism lobbed our way is undeserved. Education is an easy target because a tremendous amount of money comes from the government to fund it. Yet, politicians have demonized the profession for what I believe is their own political gain. In modern politics, you need someone or something to point your finger at. Thus, they have been aimed at us.

When we look at the big picture and people throw all kinds of statistics around, here is one that I believe sheds more light on the problem than any other, and one that for whatever reason has not attracted attention in the media or politicians. In the most recent PISA results that compare the performance of American students to those in other countries, if you would adjust for poverty, students in the United States perform at the top. Hmmm. Do you suppose we have a poverty issue in this country? Have we adequately addressed that? When you recognize that in most industrial countries poverty levels are not close to what we have in the United States at this time, should it be a surprise that teachers struggle to teacher kids that come to school so very unprepared for school? There is a huge divide between the “haves” and the “have not’s” in our country, as is evident by what is currently being fought over politically. Politicians spend a lot of time talking about fixing education. How about they spend a little bit of that time figuring out how they can fix poverty? I may be very interesting what the future of our country will look like if that would happen!