Politicians are hyped again about education; this time it is Senator John Kerry, D-Mass. and our own Oregon Senator, Republican Gordon Smith, being applauded by David Sarasohn ("A bipartisan school of thought,") (The Oregonian,10/3/99). Among its provisions the Kerry-Smith legislation aims to "open up the public school system, to draw in new people,... to bring people out of corporate life to teach for a year,... to find principals among retired military officers or high-tech executives."
One more time the politicians are dissing the professional educators. How about getting some of those corporate folks to fill in for your doctor or lawyer for a year or so?
It is one thing for a visiting speaker with expertise to address high school students on a special topic; it is quite another to manage six classrooms per day of 30+ students each, whose learning abilities range from age 20+ down to well below age 13. It takes a hard-working teacher with professional training (and some luck) to insure that each of these students is offered an opportunity to participate in a meaningful learning experience every day. In order to help, the teacher's boss needs to be a trained educator as well.