Musings from a Not-So-Master Teacher

Every so often, Time Magazine runs a crisis issue about how horrible education is.  Often, I find myself agreeing with them.  It's easy to shout "Amen" to a criticism of No Child Left Behind. Today, I feel that way right now after reading an article about how poorly equiped schools are for handling "geniuses." 

Yet, I think there is a negative side effect to these barrage of articles.  They undercut the fact that there are some amazing things happening in our schools.  I'm reminded of this after reading another article in this issue that describes the newest backpacks, which are bullet proof.  It seems that the media (perhaps the public) thrives on fear.  People seem to think that fear will mobilize people out of apathy and into change. At first it seems to work.  Some readers, out of outrage seek to reform the system. 

Still, the cumulative effects of the negative publicity are more damaging than good.  People grow scared of public schools.  So, they send their children off with bullet proof backpacks, despite the fact that school is probably the safest place for a child to be.  They invest in extra tutoring that benefit large corporations.  Parents support voucher programs that suck funding away from public schools and into the hands of underperforming charter systems.  Meanwhile, I rarely read anything good about public schools.  I guess the one teacher who sleeps with a student is more newsworthy than the teacher who spends hours after school grading papers or tutoring a kid so that he can learn to read. 

At our school, on our team, we have done some amazing things.  Honestly, it has to do with the fact that the five of us are all optimists.  We take advantage of our two preps to do tutoring interventions.  We hold book clubs after school.  We painted a huge mural on the side of a building and another "mobile mural" that is now in our State Department of Education.  I use the term "we," but it is really the students.  The students designed our school website, create weekly articles for our class website, created a whole anti-bullying curriculum, filmed a documentary, raised over a thousand dollars for mosquito nets in Africa. 

I feel like a jerk.  I feel like I am bragging about it.  But my point is that nothing we are doing is anything special.  Countless schools all over the country are doing the same - and more.  I am still waiting for the Time Magazine cover that reads, "Why American Education Is Better Than You Think."