Bring on the Nerds

Have you heard the good news? The solution to our education mess is at hand: all we have to do is get rid of bad teachers. Check out the cover of Newsweek if you’re in doubt: “The Key to Saving American Education” is emblazoned on a blackboard, along with the words “We must fire bad teachers” written repeatedly in childish scrawl. (Click HERE)

It’s true, there are bad teachers, and they’re hard to get rid of. But there are also bad doctors, bad lawyers, and bad journalists. And they’re hard to get rid of, too.

Buried in Newsweek’s 8-page, teacher-bashing coverage are some of the issues. One is the problem of parental involvement, or what I call parental guidance. I’ve spent 16 years as a public-school parent in an urban district, and it’s pretty clear: the kids whose parents can’t or don’t provide a home environment conducive to learning are the kids who don’t learn.

Second is the problem of classroom management. It’s not only new teachers who can’t manage the incredibly bad behavior of students today; experienced teachers have trouble, too. Whenever our schools in Durham have drawn up new assignment maps, each time I’ve seen excellent, long-time teachers struggle to manage the new population. These aren’t bad teachers; they’re simply not equipped for classroom combat.

Third lies in this observation from Newsweek: “In Europe, where teachers enjoy more social prestige and higher salaries, schools have no trouble attracting new teachers with strong academic records.” For me this gets to the heart of the matter. We as a culture don’t value education—and never have—as it’s valued in other parts of the world. Look no farther than all the money and time devoted to sports in our schools.

Maybe it’s our frontier heritage that valued brawn over brains, but smart people here are pointy-headed nerds and always have been. When this finally changes, we may see the change we claim to hope for.