Three cheers for good teachers

by Allen Petty, The Gaston Gazette, August 23m 2013.

Most of us that actually have a high school education and some beyond, have some special teachers still in our memories that had a great impact on us. I can say without reservation that all of the teachers I had during my schooling were very professional, dedicated and knew the subject matter they were teaching.

An old pal of mine recently told me of one of his teachers from high school who was his math teacher, a course he was struggling in. She encouraged him to take algebra and he looked at her as though she had two heads. “I am barely passing math and I would really be lost in a higher math,” he said. Still, she assured him that it would be of great benefit to him, so he tackled it and was amazed at his understanding not only of algebra but how he soon mastered the lower math courses.

I never took algebra but in high school I was fortunate in being assigned two of the best teachers I ever met, one in math, the other in biology, my two least favorite courses. They knew their subject matter and how to teach it and make it interesting. I passed both of these courses simply because it would have required more effort for me to have failed. Three cheers for you Mr. Dellinger and Mrs. McCarver .

Those of us that identify as conservative have a great distaste for liberal programs that are always counterproductive, especially in education. Regardless of which party proposes and pushes it upon us, it is detrimental to getting a real education.

The idea of giving $4,200 per student to send poor children to private school is the same liberal thinking that has burdened us with the failing programs of Head Start, Smart Start and More at Four. Most people, including politicians, are convinced that our children would get a better education in private school.

Why not abolish the Department of Education and let teachers teach instead of burdening them with a lot of useless programs and the paperwork that goes with it. In other words, emulate in the public schools the success of private schools without the bureaucracy and government hindrances?

Gov. McCrory and legislators, especially you Republicans, you should know better than to embrace subsidies for private schools or anything else. Instead of allocating $4,200 per student to attend private schools, use this money to give the teachers a raise. Act like Republicans and get rid of Smart Start and More at Four. This will free up more money for what teachers really need to do their job with.

Make kindergarden mandatory with its mission to ready students for the first grade.

Opt out of Head Start and let teachers do what they have been trained to do and that is teach. Again, simply put, get back to the basics of education, reading, writing, arithmetic, history, geography, English and spelling/definitions. Teachers will again be teaching subject matter instead of teaching tests as tests. We will have well-educated students ready for the real world.

There should be a well-defined tenure program to retain good teachers and better pay for the higher degrees. The public school system hasn’t failed us, we have failed it. Remember when federal money comes into our schools so does counterproductive programs, our teachers spend more time on paperwork than on teaching.

Parents, you have a real responsibility and duty to support the teachers, without your involvement they are doomed to fail. Send your child to school well fed, clean and well-disciplined, ready to learn. It is your responsibility, not the state’s .

I have family and relatives who are or have been in the teaching profession and they have all the attributes of good teachers. Good teachers have empathy, compassion and love for the children they are teaching and are very proud when they see real progress in a student. Some teachers stay after school without compensation and tutor students who need extra help because they care.

Maybe three cheers multiplied by the number of good teachers would be more appropriate!