I agree that she has valid concerns and should take an active role in carving out the future of the environment she will be working in. As a result of Krystene's concerns, I have begun to reflect on mine and her educational experiences; as well as look into, on a small scale, some things impeding the progress of the educational system. Unfortunately, the bottom line turns out to be lack of personal responsibility and the allowing of politics to get in the way.
Teachers are part of the unsung hero class. They work hard to balance their desire to help a child improve and work within the political correctness of the educational environment as well as appease parents who demand much and never give back. How many other jobs are there where you need to purchase the supplies without reimbursement? If the carpenter had to pay for all the nails and wood to build the house, how many houses would he ever build? So, with these points alone, you have to think that the majority of teachers are there because of honest, honorable reasons, they want to make a difference. I am certainly proud to say my daughter will be making a difference in the many lives she touches in her honorable career.
Now, I need to say that anyone in any party has no room for pointing the other direction. Blame never solved an issue and there is plenty of blame to go around. The groundwork for many of the issues in education began with the federalizing of it. The Constitution clearly lays out the responsibility of the federal government and NOWHERE in there does it say the federal government is responsible for education. The tenth amendment, however, states that anything not clearly defined as a federal responsibility can and should be handled by the states. So, education is up to each individual state. They define it and fund it.
Unfortunately, too many states have decided that money is the answer to education. Unfortunately too much money goes into management and overhead instead of actual teaching. Example, the $587M price tag for a school in Los Angeles. As if that was not the only way to misuse funds, how many states claimed the need for an "educational" lottery to raise funds? What happens in most of those states is the budget created from tax revenue slated to go to education gets shifted to other items and the educational system is no better off than it was. Look at my home state of North Carolina, they supposedly "needed" an educational lottery to "save" the educational system and continue to employ teachers. If that is the case, why have they been laying off teachers if the lottery was the savior of education in North Carolina. The answer is, politicians fudge the numbers and move the monies from one account to another. Dr. Terry Stoops wrote a good article concerning the issue in North Carolina explaining how the federal government went from supporting 6% of the educational workforce to 12%. Again, if the lottery was to be able to support education, why the need for the federal dollars?
The bottom line - local involvement! Krystene had two parents who were involved with her education by becoming involved with the PTO, volunteering in the classroom, voting for those who would do the right thing on the local school board and assisting with the learning process through help with homework and providing other educational experiences. If more parents would be more involved, the education system would improve and future employers would have better prepared individuals to choose from.
Again, I express my deepest love for a wonderful young woman who I am proud to say is my daughter. I love you Krystene! May God bless you in your honorable profession.
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| Krystene AKA Miss Lang, teacher extraordinaire |
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