How will the children learn?

Being in the trenches of teaching does not often allow you much time to examine what politicians are considering for the future of our profession.  Every once in a while, though, a movement is so well publicized it catches the attention of many, and renews the passion amongst teachers about the quality of education in the United States.


My blog is primarily humorous stories about my life and my work, however the coverage of the NBC News Education Nation Summit several weeks ago struck a chord with me.
The mission of the summit was to "engage the public, through thoughtful dialogue, in pursuit of the shared goal of providing every American with an opportunity to pursue the best education in the world".

The summit included a teacher town hall meeting, an interview with President Barack Obama, and thoughtful discussions with today's educational leaders and policy makers.  The media coverage of the discussions prompted by the summit were quite interesting.

Among the controversial topics were:

Should teachers be paid on performance?
How will our nation recover being 24th worldwide in academic achievement?
Would increasing the length of the school year making our nation's students more competitive worldwide?
How will charter schools play a role in the future of education?
How will students in economically disadvantaged areas be given an equal education, and how will we overcome the large demand vs. limited lottery acceptance to charter and magnet schools?

I am on the front line of the daily educational battlefield.  As a career driven individual, my thoughts often wander to my future in the realm of education.  Although my personality and drive make me want to be a leader in the profession, the huge amount of uncertainty in our field makes one think twice about leading the charge.

Today on the Bert Show, a very popular morning radio broadcast in Atlanta, a disgruntled listener called in to share her story of battling her son's "racist" kindergarten teacher.  This brought about an onslaught of calls regarding favoritism among educators, and whether or not teachers care for and equally educate ALL of the children in the classroom.

My conclusion?  Today's teacher, although the unsung Hero, is too often in the line of fire.