Irony

In a completely rational society, the best of us would aspire to be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something less, because passing civilization along from one generation to the next ought to be the highest honor and the highest responsibility anyone could have.
~ Lee Iacocca

This semester, I’m taking a course in literacy for upper elementary students. I find it rather ironic that my current readings for class are telling me that the best and latest research on how we learn is coming from corporations. They’re doing research to help their adult employees learn quickly and effectively to keep up with all the rapid changes in the world. And the research is trickling down into schools, allowing teachers to help their child and adolescent students learn more effectively, too.

Yesterday, while browsing school websites, looking for open teaching positions, I came across a district that was promised money for school improvements, then had their funding yanked. This is an Abbott district, which in NJ means that the district is under-funded and under-achieving, academically-wise. I find myself wondering how we managed to get to this place where our children come absolutely last in the efforts of our politicians. I’m pretty sure that they care about their children, their grandchildren, their nieces and nephews, their neighborhood children. So why can’t they see their way clear to making legislation that supports our children above the interests of corporations and greed?

It’s a sad indictment on our country that we aren’t spending enough money on our schools to help children learn effectively.