We started school with the kids on Thursday. I have been teaching for 36 years. I was a student at an urban school, and I have taught in a destitute Georgia school and rural schools in Illinois. I have never seen a more desperate time for my students' futures and more demand for preparation for their careers. What is particularly disconcerting is that we are not only woefully incapable to prepare them properly for the technology they will need in this new work environment, but that even if we did indeed have all the technology needed, it would be obsolete 2 years after they learn this.

Teachers are being cut. Schools are losing funds from their respective states. Administrators are walking are like basset hounds, fearing the next collection of bad financial news while demands are being made on their accountabilities. Where does it end?

The veteran that I am (and I intent to go for another 15 years) has been cynical about the changes proposed because states lose the philosophical fortitude for the long haul of following through on the new "ideas." This is different.

This change is sticking with us. I can tell you we in the western part of Illinois are feeling the urgency to do something substantive. We have no option. It is not about test scores, despite what we are being told by the state, and it never has or should be. It is about the realization that students can no longer say "I can just get a factory job and make good money" like they used to. There is no good option anymore outside of more and more post-secondary education.

What can fix this? I honestly believe that the move to charter/private schools is the exact wrong answer. The opposite is what we need--free education from pre-kindergarten through PhD. The A&R aspect instead of the immediate financial reward philosophy that has overtaken this country must be re-established. Do we have the will to do this? No, we don't in present form, but I think this is our only salvation.

Greetings:

My name is Cheryl E. Hill. I am a retired educator with a plan. I tried contacting Education Nation via the contact email to make my contributing remarks and desiring to join the educational debate however, I received an email notifying me that due to the heavy flow of emails, do not expect a reply; but, I need a reply.

I retired with 40 years of experience. I served as a school librarian the last 10 years of my professional career. I am now enjoying my new career as a children's author!

“If there's a book you really want to read but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.” ~Toni Morrison:

And so, I took Toni Morrison's advice in writing an ABC book that was the book I wanted to read to children; but, it had not been written, yet; so, therefore, I wrote it! My book is entitled: R is for Reading Books; a different kind of ABC Book that was not available and remained unwritten until I wrote it!

R is for Reading Books is a gorgeous ABC picture book entertaining children delightfully with mesmerizing beauty depicting favorite children’s books; yet all the while contributing to children’s literacy development in several ways all at one time in that it teaches children how to read by familiarizing them with the wide range of variance of sounds as represented by the letters of the English alphabet corresponding with names of favorite children's books as well as to, simultaneously, inspire children to read lots of books as they develop a culture of the importance of falling in love with books in building a repertoire of referenced knowledge of great children's literature.

It is the different kind of ABC Book I needed as a librarian, a teacher, a parent, and a grandparent. But, it wasn't available! I was looking for a book that I could read to children so that learning to read could be absorbed and taught in a fun way through playful language without the children really noticing how much they were learning, about learning to read! I want/wanted children to become empowered to read books wherever books may be found!

The last polling I saw, the USA ranked 17th in reading competencies comparative to other English speaking countries. When I see polls whereby children in the USA are poling behind other English speaking countries in reading, and to that effect, I as a educator, parent, grandparent always feel a concerned anxiousness combined with a compelling desire to do more to impact literacy in this complex world of mass illiteracy and descending reading competencies for USA students comparative to other English speaking countries. In order for our children to come from behind to take their rightful place to remain literacy competitive, we as parents, teachers, librarians, and all other stake holders have do more solely; as well as collaboratively, accorded to whatever the circumstances dictate.

Subsequently, I often thought, if only there was an existence of a book to be read aloud and re-read as many times as necessary until children become immersed with familiarity of the teachings of the variance of the English alphabetic sounds related to reading over the course of a school year during the time frame of reading aloud by parents at that special time of reading aloud to their children; teachers reading aloud at story time in classrooms; and librarians reading aloud during library visits. However, that book I wished for did not exist! It was not on my library shelves; nor was it to be found elsewhere!

From past teaching experiences, one thing I knew for sure, if children become familiar with the varying sounds of the alphabetic letter relationships of the English language, authentically; then, reading becomes a reality. As a librarian, having read many alphabet stories to children, but, alas, although enjoyable, funny, and delightful, they were incomplete because none included all the varying sound-alphabetic letter relationships of the English language. I became dissatisfied because I knew that I was not presenting the English alphabet in its totality to build a comprehensive foundation for reading literacy; plus, I could not truly actualize the theme for my library: Reading empowerment starts @your library! I have spent countless hours in trying to problem solve a way in which I, as a teacher and a librarian could teach foundational reading literacy skills during the span of the library visit, as I, simultaneously, read library books to children for enjoyment and to inspire them to read and love literature!

Sincerely,
Cheryl E. Hill, M. Ed (Retired Elementary School Librarian, Houston ISD)
(713) 582-9153

I found that closing piece by Melissa on the lines of immigrant parents and their students touching. I thought of the immigrant students I have taught and how determined they were to get an education to help secure a better life for themselves and their families. Since when have we become a society that punishes children for the sins of their parents? Your subsequent report on the governor of Arizona gave me flashbacks to some other governors, like George Wallace, who swore to stand in the door and block helping children. He eventually had a change of heart; wonder what it will take for that to happen to the current crop of "interpositioners"?

I always enjoy the MHP show, but watched today with particular interest because I’ve spent the last few weeks trying to learn as much as I can about the problems surrounding getting a higher education - not here in the US - but in West Africa. I have a young Togolese friend who would like to get a degree so that he can teach either high school or college in Togo. The problems he faces seem insurmountable. My own efforts to find funding for him have been one dead-end after another, and I suspect that in all reality, lack of funding is probably only the tip of the problematic iceberg. Through it all, his courage and determination are inspiring.

In West Africa a quality education is key to creating a better life for the people and helping to eradicate the terrible poverty that plagues West African countries. Yet, the situation is that many primary school teachers have little or no training and are working with huge classes. Teacher’s salaries are sadly inadequate and many are forced to leave teaching for other jobs in order to feed their families. Many students are not able to attend high school at all because their families cannot afford to send them, or need them at home to help out.

Despite the obvious advantages enjoyed by students here, it is disturbing to contemplate the future of public education in the US if the GOP gets it’s way. It is equally disturbing that college students must assume so much debt in order to get the education that they will most certainly need. Why in the world are we, the richest country in the world, choosing to put ourselves in this regressive situation? I suspect the answer lies in the needs of the 1% and the plutocracy we are quickly becoming. Education is important. We the people need to wake up very soon.

I am a retired teacher with a wide variety of teaching experiences from k-12. I also was president of my union for a couple of years. I was very concerned watching the discussion your panel had on education matters on Sunday because no one challenged two topics that one of your guests brought up. The first issue is merit pay. Paying teachers different amounts is ridiculous. I suppose the theory behind merit pay is that competition among teachers should improve the learning experience for the students. Nothing could be further from the truth. Teaching is a collaborative endeavor. High performing schools have the most collaborative staffs. How do you measure excellence? I have always hated such labels such as teacher of the year. Why pit one teacher against another? Ranking teachers based on testing leads to teaching to the test, cheating and fraud. It has been my experience that often teachers would rather have smaller class sizes, adequate resources, safe schools, and so on before they want higher pay. Mind you in Canada teachers are paid a living wage. We often would look to our neighbours to the south with pity. Most teachers who remain in the field of teaching and excel have a higher purpose than just the pay rate. So if you want excellent teachers you should pay them a living wage, have high standards for entering the profession and provide professional development throughout their careers. Excellent teachers are rewarded on a daily basis because they know that they are being successful and that is the goal for most teachers. Now the real problem is what to do with bad teachers not how to reward good teachers. As a union leader I witnessed first hand my fair share of bad teaching. Let me tell you no one hates bad teachers more than their colleagues. Getting rid of a bad teacher should be difficult but not impossible. Teachers are vulnerable because they could be punished for being critical of the system, or for their political views, or for being outspoken advocates for their students. So there needs to be protections for teachers. However, to get rid of bad teachers the administration needs the time and skills to supervise his/her staff actively. Great principals are in every classroom and know their staffs well. They are not shut in their offices bogged down with paper work and other menial tasks mandated by school boards and the state. Bad teachers need to given support and then if there is no improvement then they need to be fired. I was often horrified at the sloppiness of teacher supervision. Merit pay does not work.Students are not widgets in a production line. One of the finest teachers I ever knew was a very unassuming woman who would not stand out in a crowd. She quietly went about her job and every year her students were the best behaved and turned out excellent work year after year. She worked in an inner city school and was the most dedicated teacher and was extremely generous in sharing her ideas with her colleagues. I would imagine that she might not win merit pay because what she accomplished would be hard to quantify and quite frankly it was almost magical. Teaching is part science and part art and how to evaluate excellence is a tricky endeavour.

The second issue that was discussed was seniority. Again we don't want teachers competing with one another. When it comes to layoffs seniority is the only fair way to accomplice the task. If you get rid of seniority then younger, cheaper teachers might be more appealing. When I was a young teacher I did so many more extra curricular activities than when I got older. However, I was a far better classroom teacher in my later years than when I was young and more enthusiastic. Of course the best solution for the seniority issue is to quit laying off teachers. If teachers had strong contracts that had clear language on class size and class composition layoffs would only be necessary if the student populations declined. I could go on and on about charter schools, vouchers, contracting out and other such initiatives that are direct attacks on public education. When I hear the debate I cringe because I know that ideas like merit pay and getting rid of seniority appeals to people who have no understanding about what teaching is all about. Unfortunately because everyone has been a student they think that they are an expert on teaching. Good luck America. If the Republicans win the next election it will only get worse for your teachers and most importantly your students.