Calling All Educators

They are the kinds of things that should send every educator screaming through their state capitols whacking every politician with a pointer or a yardstick. Day after day, school boards in this country take action on something -- anything, it doesn't matter to board members -- that has little to do with what is in the best interest of educating children. Whether it is right-wing or left-wing ideologues trying to put their stamps on the curriculum or politicians fighting for control of the out-of-control, the kids and education keep getting lost.

Two examples:

In Texas, that state's school board voted to change the social studies curriculum because some members felt the current one portrayed conservatives in too negative a light. The board members want a curriculum "stressing the superiority of American capitalism, questioning the Founding Fathers’ commitment to a purely secular government and presenting Republican political philosophies in a more positive light," according to an article in The New York Times.

In Detroit, a judge recently upheld an injunction blocking that city's emergency financial manager, Robert Bobb, from initiating a downsizing that would have closed 29 schools by the summer as part of a new academic plan. The Detroit Public School board, led by a president who cannot write a coherent sentence, is battling Bobb over control of the system. Bobb, the board says, does not have the authority to create an academic plan. The governor of Michigan appointed Bobb in the hope that he could fix Detroit's troubled school system, which faces major financial and educational issues.

The Detroit school board may be right in battling Bobb, who may have overstepped his bounds by acting unilateral of the board. But while the board and Bobb battle over who can create an academic plan, the students slide further into the educational abyss.

The same with Texas. While politicians impose their philosophies on the curriculum, students fall further and further behind. Textbooks should present the facts and educators should be allowed to teach students the skills they need to engage in critical thinking and problem solving. Rewriting a textbook to make conservatives, and in particular Ronald Reagan, look better does not accomplish those goals.

Children who suffer a poor academic year or have one bad teacher have a chance to rebound later in their academic careers. But children who have several poor academic years or two bad teachers in a row are far less likely to rebound.

That is lost on the politicians. They fight over things that have little to do with learning and teaching. What make matters worse is the teachers and true educators often sit on the sidelines.

Texas and Detroit are not the only examples. Years ago in New York City, the then schools chancellor, Joe Fernandez, battled a fractured school board over efforts to strengthen the curriculum. The battle became so intense that Fernandez called one of the board members a "political whore."

Seems too many of those are on school boards around the country.