As many of you know we write a great deal about the status of the public education system in the United States. Given the mega-structure that the system is, including all of its flaws and imperfections, we nonetheless are also aware that public education in this country is at least trying to get better.
After spending at least half of my life in that system either as an educator, adjunct professor, coach, chief bottle washer, or administrator and student, I still hold the strong conviction that unless our individual communities get involved with the success of the institution, then we may as well continue to listen to an irresponsible main-stream media who when it can’t find a lead story always has education as their back-up.
I have gone on the record as saying that one of the worst deterrents to successful
education, is in fact, the parents of our students. The arrogance of some people! Would you go into the family doctor’s office and tell him what to do? Perhaps advise your dentist on a better way to do his job. Maybe we ought to get N.A.S.A. on the line about those ‘heat tiles.’
Educators at every level of education in this country know what I’m talking about—and then some. Most parents know precisely what I’m saying. However, with as much complaining as we in the profession do, why then do we let this continue to happen? Because we do! A bully will continue to bully until someone stops him from bullying.
Today’s average educator knows more about teaching—the actual art and science of teaching—than most of the great names of education. And they should; consider if you will: roughly 90% or better at the minimum have undergraduate, Bachelor’s degrees from colleges and universities. Given the district the amount of ‘in-service’ (continuing education for teachers) hours required per year is perhaps second to no other profession I know. And I have not counted required conventions.
Speaking of professions, earlier I made mention of the family’s doctor, dentist, even the folks at N.A.S.A. care to take a guess why? The majority of educators in the Del-Mar-Va area have more professional training that their counterparts in medicine, teeth, rocket science, and especially law.
For a non-working full-time student the TEP takes about 18 months to complete. However, if being done on a part-time basis this could take as long as 3 years. Thus far we’re up to say 6 years of higher education. And if you want to make a reasonable amount of money in education one needs at least a Master’s degree in Education, another 18 to 24 months of a program that is rigorous. So when you decided to go scream at your son or daughter’s teacher, you should be thinking about their professional resume and training.
That’s right, I’m saying it—parents should treat their child’s teachers with the exact same respect and dignity they show their medical doctors; by the way, who was it that taught your doctor, dentist, or lawyer? Please remember to thank your child’s teacher, today!
The Contemplative Thinker 
