I can’t care about education anymore
Call me cynical, but there’s no hope for US public schools
I had lunch with a friend today and we talked about the state of education in the US. We mostly shared stories of experiences in the broken system of higher education but recognized the issues in public education run all the way through. I thought I might review spending and how it relates to student achievement and write a little blurb. I read several articles and started coalescing data, and then it dawned on me. I don’t really care anymore.
I’ve spent the better part of 30 years trying to imagine creative ways to engage students, teach them how to learn, and inspire them to be curious about the world around them. I am passionate about teaching and learning. Making connections between seemingly disparate facts and ideas excites me. But teachers generally don’t get to teach anymore, at least in the public school systems. They administrate, discuss, assess, test, review, and file paperwork. There are exceptions, of course, but by and large, the reason teachers are leaving the field in droves is that they have little autonomy and even less respect.
