If you have just a few seconds, type in education news on Google. What were your results?
Not to be presumptious, but I’m assuming the majority of the headlines sounded something like this: math scores low in America, Common Core is a failure, reading scores at all-time low. In a word — at least from the latest news on education — our teachers are failing our students.
But that’s not what I see in the classroom. Over this last year I’ve had the pleasure of observing multiple classrooms, and I noticed something completely different from those headlines.
I saw teachers working hard to help students learn. I saw teachers — under the most strenuous conditions — make the most out of those situations. I saw teachers who genuinely cared for their students.
But that type of news isn’t talked about all that often, if at all. And it’s disheartening. I know those teachers are putting in every effort to help students succeed.
I think it’s time we changed the rhetoric and discourse concerning education and our teachers. And if it can’t be changed completely, let’s at least shed light on those who are doing good for our community and our country.
Educators shape our future generations after all; their importance should not be taken lightly.
This short essay is for those wonderful teachers who go unnoticed. I see you and, hopefully soon, the rest of the nation will too.
Anthony Lince resides in Chula Vista.