Finally, Some Real Help for Public School Teachers!

And the good thing is, it doesn’t cost a dime…

First and foremost: public school teachers need help because sadly, they have no idea who they are. One minute, they think they are a teacher, the next minute they think they are a parent, and the next minute they think they are a union asset. Every day they are in the classroom, teachers believe they are one thing, but for some reason act like quite another.

Public school teachers been sold a bill of goods. They have been told they are teachers, when in reality, school administrators tell them they are much more than that; well, they are not! Teachers don’t get a nurse’s pay, or a therapist’s salary, or a set of parents combined income. They get a teacher’s wage, and until they and their colleagues muster some intestinal fortitude and protest their abuse, they will continue to be walked on like some cheap American carpet…

Public school teachers have bought into the idea they have to act as both teacher and parent because so many parents have abdicated their responsibilities. And for some God-forsaken reason, the teacher feels it is their responsibly to assume those responsibilities – NEWS FLASH: its not!

It is the parent’s responsibility to prepare a child for learning, to teach their children the difference between right and wrong, how to treat people with respect, to model family values, and help construct that child’s character. It is a teacher’s responsibility to inculcate academics. If a teacher consents to muddle those two roles, they are on the immediate road to failure. This truth is so self-evident, I have don’t even need statistics to prove it – just look at contemporary elementary school “at grade level” reading and math scores across this nation.

Kids are failing in public schools in large part because of the teachers themselves. Yes, that’s right. If the teacher had the strength of character to simply say “NO; I will not accept that child into my classroom until he / she is prepared to learn”, so much of this sad nonsense would stop.

Yes, they might be fired for taking such a stand, but if their colleagues all stood up for the same right to keep the roles separate, the school’s administration would be forced to change. Because the teachers will not unify, the administrators will not change.

In front of the principal, teachers act like rabbits. In contact with the union, they act like sheep. In front of parents they are cowed. As people not daring to stand up for what they know is best for themselves, their students, and society writ large; these teachers are lost. Because they are lost, the students are lost. Students know very well when a teacher is lost and powerless; knowing this, they will quickly take advantage of it.

Second, public school teachers seem to have absolutely no idea what a child needs in the class room. Lucky for them, I have listed the five most important ones below.

1. A teacher needs to know any given behavior will continue until the consequence for doing it is greater than the reward gained from its conduct. If teachers and school principals are not serious about addressing classroom disruptions, they will continue to get the behaviors they see now.

2. Children need two present parents who will provide love, sustenance, education, and borders – in that order. The rest is icing on the cake. Teachers can reinforce these provisions, but they are not meant to instill them – that is the responsibility of the parent. Again, if the teacher confuses these two roles, they are immediately on the road to failure. Teachers are not there to fix society’s ills, they are there to educate.

3. School children need to be taught reading, writing, arithmetic, and geography - with time for recess, and when available, exposure to art and music. There is absolutely no sane reason an elementary school child – especially up until the third grade needs to be receiving instruction on anything of a sexual nature. I repeat, that is not a teacher’s role; that is a parent’s responsibility.

4. Children will meet the challenge of learning if you allow them to do so. Teaching to the lowest common denominator is at best lazy, and at worst, destructive. Pair slow learners with fast learners and not only will they make a new friend, both will become better human beings. This practice worked great for the first 200 years our country was developing, and it can certainly work again.

5. The want to educate children is nowhere near enough. A teacher must have the will required to instruct them. The will to address a student’s conduct and the authority to correct a student’s adverse behavior is critical in maintaining a classroom where learning can occur. Moreover, the teacher needs to have the will to address their principal, the child’s parents, and anyone getting in the way of providing instruction to the children. Want without will results in weakness.

As a bonus help, I will tell you elementary school aged children do not in way, shape, or form need exposure to divisive racial theory, sexual content, or what has been labeled “woke” concepts. Teachers are not politicians and anything that corrupts the innocent beauty of a child’s mind needs to be expelled from the curriculum. I would even suggest eschewing technology to the extent possible, because one, the child is likely already getting exposure to it at home, and in my experience, passive receipt (vice active research) of information dulls the intellect.

It is not the job of a public school teacher to take up the responsibilities of a bad parent. Parents will never learn they have responsibilities if you assume them for them. By assuming the role of the parent, you are doing a disservice to all involved. Believe it.

Finally, I would remind the reader this nation was built by students of every color and hue taught in one-room school houses. If you have any doubt as to the power of a young person’s intellect, I suggest you reference historical sixth grade exams from the middle of the twentieth century.

Classrooms today, all across this nation have every imaginable resource available and they are still failing. It not about money, it’s not about resources, it’s not about needing more of everything you think you need: it’s about teaching – and teachers are not doing it because they are letting people prevent them from doing it.

Poor parenting, unsupportive administrators, and weak teachers are doing serious damage to our kids and the future of this nations. Until teachers demand better from parents, principals, and union reps (which you should reject), they will continue on the sad road to failure carrying their students with them.