President Obama clearly signaled his support for education in his State of the Union Address. In a blog post for Ed.gov, Antero Garcia, a Classroom Teaching Fellow for the U.S. Department of Education, explains what the President's message means to him as a teacher:
Like millions of Americans, I watched President Obama's State of the Union Address Tuesday. I watched it particularly with hopes that his words and vision would speak directly to me and to the ninth graders I teach every day at Manual Arts High School in South Central Los Angeles.
With shootings at two schools in Los Angeles last week, many of my colleagues anticipating being laid off at the end of the year, and student achievement showing only marginal change at my inner-city high school, the atmosphere in public education has been one of perseverance through discouragement and setback.
As the president listed the many things that will strengthen the country in his forthcoming budget proposal, I was continually reminded that none of these items is possible without an improved educational foundation. The "hard work and industry" that will drive the country toward prosperity can be achieved only by reaching out to Kimberly and Michael in my homeroom class each morning. Likewise, discussing the future of America's science and engineering, I couldn't help but think of Jessica and De Andre and Carlos -- the students who are as inspiring as they are challenging every day. These are the youthful faces I see when Obama speaks of making sure America is "poised for progress."
The president then offered a sobering view of education today and the challenges we are facing "that have been decades in the making." As a teacher in a high poverty community with a dropout rate of more than 60 percent, I am reminded daily of these challenges. I feel like I know all too well how inconsistency, chaotic shifts in personnel and shifting educational agendas have all but decimated student achievement for the black and Latino students who are the sole demographic populations at my high school.
As such, I recognize and second Obama's call to "out-educate" the rest of the world and urge him and Congress to consider making this happen by focusing on the disenfranchised and the high-poverty schools like mine. I can say I am constantly reminded of the amazing work my colleagues and I dedicate to our family of students; the Manual Arts mascot, the Toiler, stands as tribute to the students' own perseverance.
The proposed reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act would free us from the implausible demands and outlandish goals, which still mire my classroom.
Efforts like the DREAM Act and college tax credits are essential for the success of the myriad students in my school who struggle to graduate and support their families. I am pleased with these efforts that the president defined during his speech.
And if we as a country are to take his call to respect teachers -- to "reward good teachers and stop making excuses for bad ones" -- then it, too, will be a step that requires financial resources. Yes, it is valuable for our students to hear, "Your country needs you," and to promote the teaching profession. However, financially, the profession needs to be able to receive financial compensation, non-privatized models of instruction, and increased resources for schools with the most need. I imagine that the teachers, students, and clerical staff at my school are curious if the bi-partisan applause that Obama's affirmations of the teaching profession received will likewise yield the kinds of necessary resources to make this struggling system an equitable educational juggernaut.
Ultimately, however, it was Obama's strong affirmation of the need to embrace the changing world as a result of technology that resonated with me most strongly as an educator. The president emphasized the necessity to connect "every part of America to the digital age." And while the administration's Blueprint to reauthorize ESEA and Race To The Top program will improve accountability for the current classes of students, the need to connect to the digital youth in our classrooms is imperative. Theirs are learning needs that extend beyond the traditional, factory models of education from which most public schools are operating.
Every text message sent from behind a propped textbook, every confiscated headphone and accidental ringtone going off in class is a reminder that students are communicating and producing information in ways that traditional schooling is unprepared for. Obama mentioned every way that we will move our nation into a position of continued leadership in the 21st century; however, the skills of youth to be able to foment innovation in this new paradigm require new ways to teach and connect with our students.
Our country's success will live or die by our commitment to the students who are yawning and struggling at Manual Arts High School and similar schools that are not recognized in the same way, or have narratives as successful as Bruce Randolph High School in Denver. One of President Obama's concluding remarks was that our nation will win the future through "ordinary people who dare to dream." I am critically pragmatic in seeing past educational reform efforts as ones that have shunned the dreams and potential of students mired by poverty. Now is an opportunity for the country to dare to allow all youth to do more than just dream. Now is an opportunity for the country to empower all youth to achieve.
Antero Garcia is U.S. Department of Education Classroom Teaching Fellow, a UCLA doctoral candidate, and a high school English teacher at Manual Arts High School in South Central Los Angeles, Calif.
Follow Sec. Arne Duncan on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@usedgov
Huffington Post: State of the Union 2011: HuffPost Bloggers Weigh In
Rev. Chuck Currie: The State of the Union: A Christian Response to President Obama
Alexander Russo: Looking Deeper Into Obama Education Pick's Accomplishments
Mark Goulston, M.D.: Just Listen -- Obama's Education Speech to Children
State of the Union 2011 | The White House
Nice reflections on SOTUS. I too work in a high poverty inner city public school in the Bronx and share your concerns and hopes. I believe that teachers must be provided with effective feedback in order to increase their performance in the classroom, and effective feedback can only be provided if there are structured, collaborative systems within the school to provide that feedback. The Professional Learning Communities model--in conjunction with teacher evaluations based on multiple measures such as peer evals, student surveys, and progress monitoring measures--can serve to build these structures of effective feedback. Please read the VIVA Project report to see these recommendations in-depth: http://vivany.vivateachers.org/Uploads/media/VIVA%20NY%20Task%20Force%20Report.pdf. I and other teachers from New York created this report to address the idea of building greater respect for teachers as professionals.
Why would a teacher not want to help the impoverished families, thereby allowing them some confidence and calm so they can raise their children the way i am sure they wish they could were they not victims of generational poverty?
How the "rich" kids are prepared? You mean, impressing upon the kids the importance of school, making them attend, and requiring them to achieve passing grades? Yes, I can see where that preparation would make a difference. But it has nothing to do with the parent's income.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/26623356/detail.html
In the age of budget-cutting, this will not happen. Look to your state to provide you with those resources; the feds can't do it.
Calling for improvements in education and educational resources makes for lofty rhetoric, and is a voter-pleaser. But, when the feds get involved in states' issues (particularly education), the results are almost always very disappointing.
Let the states handle their own education matters - they do it best.
Until each and every child is entitled and each and every child has been given opportunities the struggle will continue to defeat those who can not endure because of issues they can not control.
You don't really expect Funding and a Network of Support for under privileged and socially deprived students in this Culture do you?
And then there is the ludicrous notion that everyone needs to be an engineer. Its just silly.
http://www.schoolspring.com/job.cfm?jid=45366
IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW WELL EDUCATED AMERICANS BECOME IF THEE ONLY CRITERIA IS WAGE LEVELS.
While socialization is an important aspect in growing up, we spend too much time on it.
Education starts at home. Most parents only care if their child all of a sudden finds himself/herself failing a course or even the grade. Then parents come up with excuses for Little Johnny. Instead of putting the responsibility for the failing grade on Johnny, it becomes a battle between the teacher and the parents, and the majority of the time, the parent wins. Why? Because the teacher is afraid of losing the job. So Johnny doesn't learn responsibility and he will be promoted to the next grade, where eventually the same drama unfolds.
Yes, there are bad teachers, and they should be fired. But most truly love teaching but become frustrated wit the constant "teacher bashing" by students, parents and the principal alike.
Sure, not every kid will be one. But, why not encourage as many as possible to try?
Pittsburgh Public Schools directed by Gates has started a teachers academy. One glitch.... Applicants are required NOT to have a degree in education, nor enrolled in an education program.
Seriously?
I graduated from an LA County high school in 1965 when we were on the top of the heap. Everyone in the US wanted to be us.
Now I live in another state because the economic climate in California is so inhospitable. What in the name of floosy happened? Actually, "what happened" is irrelevant. "What next" is what matters.
There is a successful model currently in progress. It is Geoffrey Canada's Harlem Childrens' Zone.
www.hcz.org
That is not reform, it is a waste.
If I were to choose to switch to a public school, I would need to stop working for a year or two for a credential, pay for the credential, double or triple my student count to 100-150, and start over again at the bottom of the salary scale at about 60-65% of my present pay.
Got it? Right, private schools hire less qualified teachers, for the most part, because they don't require credentials.
Call Arne Duncan's office immediately. His staff will find you a berth on the education boat. If you have something to contribute, they probably need you.
I have an MBA and am in my mid 60's. My small business is Real-Estate driven and was highly successful for the last four decades--until now--so I probably will not have another full time job in my lifetime.
I might have a great deal to contribute to any high-school econ/US govt class--but, guess what, I have no credential--nor can I get one reasonably.
Obama--are you listening?
Put me to work--I can afford to volunteer. But if you put me in the school cafeteria, I will just go home and read romance novels--and be bored to tears.
I teach in a school in California with 70%+ ESL students, our school is underperforming according to state tests. What is the difference?
In Saudi, every child came from a 2 parent household ( as required to live there with married status) At least one, often both, parents were college educated and their had extremely high expections from the parents ( In fact a group of parents wanted us to drop PE so their students could have another "academic class" and raise their GPA for college). Parents had the resources (money) to hire tutors for their struggling students and often did.
The teachers worked no harder in Saudi than we do here, in fact they had it a lot easier. The biggest problem we had there was kids who didn't do their homework. My school here in Ca routinely deals with gang violence, drugs and a myriad of other issues daily.
So, having experienced both schools you cannot convince me that poverty and home environment do not have a devasting effect on children.
But don';t get caught drinking a beer, or kissing your husband in public. And, of course, it's very common in Saudi for women getting prosecuted for talking to an "infidel" without the consent of their husband, who openly can have several mistresses.
What a paradise for republicans. Wish they would all move over there.
And don't forget, that the 9/11 attacker "were ALL Saudis" But Bush did the right thing and kicked the poop out Iraq.