This week is going to be very interesting. You see, most of the other “I Can Fix” statements that I’ve done up until this point really haven’t relied on the participation of other people. Eating better, selling stuff you don’t need, writing congress people all are within the realm of actionable items that I Can accomplish without waiting for other people to join me.
This week I will Fix Education by going to as many schools as I need to in order to find a principal to take me up on my offer to “adopt” one of their teachers to make sure she has the resources (either financial or volunteer time) to help the children in her class excel. You hear all the time in the news that teachers have to come out of pocket for school supplies for their classroom, have parents that are disengaged from helping their children, etc. I am going to try to help solve some of those problems…even if it is just with one teacher in my local community.
I decided to get a little head start on this one by emailing a few principals late last week asking when a convenient time would be for me to talk to them about donating time or money to the teachers in the school. So far I have received ZERO responses. So I am just going to walk into these schools and announce that I am here to help…should be an adventure indeed. Stay tuned as maybe I will need to be bailed out of jail…
It is impossible to Fix America without fixing our educational system. It is broken. Period. Anyone who thinks otherwise is in denial. The US used to produce the most educated citizens in the world. Now we are 27th. There is a lot of blame to go around but I think the number one cause of this massive decline is the “politicizing” of education and the lack that these people (some teachers, school admin, unions) truly live in a real and sustainable world. I mean, what other job in the universe can you virtually stay in forever if you get a magic designation called “tenure?” Even if these teachers suck, they still get to teach the children of America because they have been around the longest? Ridiculous.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the real world really operates with one measurement…are you good at what you do or can someone else do it better? If someone can do it better you have 2 choices, get better or get fired. Simple. I’m sorry if that seems rough…I know everyone should get a trophy.
In order to get our education system FIXED we MUST ALL participate. Not just the people with children. Every single one of us must dig in and find a way to make the school in their community better. And if you find resistance from unions, administrators and maybe even some teachers fight through it and keep demanding excellence, accountability and results. Fixing America starts with Fixing our broken educational system. Let’s do this.
Week #8: February 20- 26th
