On September 30th the movie “American Teacher” will be released (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/24/american-teacher-takes-a-_n_979116.html). It chronicles the lives and careers of four teachers. As we sit on the edge of reauthorization of ESEA in some form or another and struggle with a continuing spiral of economic downturns it might behoove us to decide what we want the future to look like.

The film’s narrator, Matt Damon, notes that in the next years over half of the current teachers will be eligible for retirement. While that may be a source of optimism for short-sighted legislators in search of additional revenue, the potential loss of experience to the profession is staggering. Think of what would occur if half the doctors in the country were about to retire, or half the dentists or half of any necessary profession.

Meanwhile educational reform in America is floundering. The signature plan of the United States government “Race To The Top” is in trouble, money is drying up, RTT driven evaluations are under fire, every winning state has postponed the implementation of deadlines. The Obama administration has held out a carrot that offers relaxation of NCLB standards to those who buy into reforms. Everywhere there is talk that maybe “teaching to the test” is not such a good idea after all.

Educators recognize that passing a test of minimum requirements is not an indication of educational proficiency. And yet it is one of many tools teachers use to help them evaluate student’s progress. The problem is that measuring learning is not easy. The term AYP is hard to adequately define in terms that all agree on. We can set objectives and plan goals but in the end the student must consistently produce results that indicate not just the ability to answer questions but actually think.

Which leads to another issue closer to home.

Locally an icon of Tucson and Arizona education, Pima Community College is tightening entrance requirements. For some this is hard to watch. I remember back when PCC was the brunt of a jokes that truly proved anyone could go to college. But in doing so, PCC offered an opportunity for many to find a direction for their skills and unique abilities that would not be appreciated at an institution like the University of Arizona. To me it looks like Pima wants to legitimize and emphasize the college aspect of it’s campus over the community one. Yet there was outcry and anger over what is perceived as a broken promise to those who see the university education as beyond their wildest dreams and Pima as their best alternative.

Yet who cannot agree that there needs to be a minimum requirement to be accepted as college eligible? The growth of programs like JTED may help ameliorate the resulting increase in potential students who are now ineligible for the local community college. What corresponding program will be offered to offset the loss of teachers and provide the educators of tomorrow?

The loss of so many educators to retirement may represent another broken promise, that of a free and public education.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 30th, 2011 at 11:11 pm and is filed under Education. Tags for this post: Community colleges, Education, Retirement, Teachers, The future of Education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.