Improving America’s Schools: A Bold Endeavor

by Nels Ackerson, Montgomery County Journal Review, August 22nd, 2007

History is being made this week as America’s first teacher-astronaut circles the earth. Barbara Morgan’s trip on the space shuttle Endeavor marks the culmination of 20 years of patient work, hope, and dedication, values demonstrated each day by our nation’s teachers. While we look skyward in recognition of her achievement, we should also look for a more profound understanding of the efforts of the thousands of other teachers here with us. We should listen to what these teachers are telling us: that we must fix America’s schools.

My daughter-in-law Alice is a high school teacher. She watched the Endeavor rise upward from Cape Canaveral into the stratosphere with tears in her eyes. She knows that teaching is a challenging career. It is not lucrative, it is not easy, and all too often it is unrecognized. Alice understood that this week all teachers are being honored. She values that honor, but she tells me we must do more.

In recent months I have talked to many other teachers here in Indiana. They too are dedicated to their students. Every day they pour their energy, enthusiasm and talents into preparing children to face challenges in the classroom and in life. But too many of the teachers I meet say they are frustrated by the state of America’s classrooms. They say their hands are tied. Tied by bureaucracy; tied by artificial standards; tied by dwindling resources. They say America’s educational system is broken, and it must be fixed.

The “No Child Left Behind” law is failing. Today we are not simply leaving children behind, we are pushing them aside. Government has created a slogan and called it a solution. Behind podiums they praise teachers and promise results. But behind closed doors they create rules that impede and undermine the very teachers critical to any success. The results are clear. The children most in need and those whose potentials are not being reached are pushed aside by inflexible standards and changing bureaucratic requirements. The squeaky wheels are not oiled; they are replaced.

Tests and punishment are no substitute for inspiration and encouragement. Building future leaders takes more than simply training people to fill in ovals with a number two pencil. Measures of accountability should consider evolving demographics and progress over time, not just isolated test statistics. Children have different needs. One-size-fits-all solutions may be appropriate for making kitchen stoves, but they will not create better students. Standardized tests do play an important role in measuring performance, but it is to complement, not to cannibalize. We cannot undermine teachers’ ability to adapt classroom instruction to the character, skills and needs of each student and each class.

Many of these failures are common knowledge to teachers. So why has our government not done a better job of addressing them? Sadly, one reason is political partisanship. In education, many elected officials appear more concerned about scoring points than solving problems. Political leaders must listen, reach across party lines and look beyond traditional labels if they hope to develop better solutions.

No Child Left Behind must be converted from a slogan to reality or it must be replaced. Teachers’ voices must be heard. I, for one, will continue listening and reaching out. I welcome others to join me. The greatest tribute we can offer our teachers is to restore America’s educational system to a level of excellence that will inspire and equip our children to pursue all of their boldest endeavors.