“I don’t know if this is such a good idea,” I mumbled into the phone. An old friend called me with a request for a favor.
His grandson Tyler was in college, and was an education major. Tyler was taking a course in educational policy, and the professor was offering extra credit to any student who could bring in a career teacher for a sort of a “show and tell” session.
I was hesitant, but I reluctantly agreed. I met Tyler outside his classroom at the appointed time.
The professor appeared to be in her mid-thirties. She was kind of teacher-looking, but not teacher-dressed. Her outfit consisted of a school sweatshirt and torn jeans, in contrast to my school-days khakis and dress shirt. Nevertheless, I introduced myself to her, and class began.
Professor Russell (not her real name) introduced me to the class, and asked me how many years I spent as a teacher. I replied, “Thirty-four,” and feeling a hair adventurous, asked, “How long were you a teacher?”
“Oh, I never taught,” she replied. “But, I do have a masters and a doctorate in educational theory and policy. Do you have a masters degree?”
I looked at her as one would look at an overripe banana, and replied, “I realized early on that getting a masters degree would not help me teach any better.”
She countered, “Well then, what helped you the most in your educational career?”
“Easy,” I answered. “It was all about common sense. If you know the subject area, understand the best way to present the material, have common sense, and can control the classroom, you will succeed. It’s not rocket science.”
She decided to redirect the conversation, as one in such a position often does. “What is your opinion of public education nowadays?”
This is where I had the right to remain silent, but not the ability.
“Things have changed since I retired sixteen years ago, and not for the better. Many schools around the state are underperforming. The Covid pandemic made things worse, and we haven’t yet rebounded to even the pre-pandemic levels.”
“There are a number of factors to consider. People talk about the need for more teachers, which I feel would be helpful. Between the years 2000 and 2019, however, the percentage of students increased by 7.6%. The percentage of teachers increased 8.7%. The percentage of school district administrators increased 87.6%. It seems as if the priorities are off.”
“People talk about the need for more money to be spent on public education. However, in 2024, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania spent an average of $22,692 per public school student. That’s more than the tuition at this university. More spending isn’t going to fix things. There’s a much larger issue in play.”
Professor Russell was taken aback by the homework I’d done, but now seemed curious. She asked, “Well, Mike, what is that issue?”
“It is an issue about society in general. It’s about parenting. Don’t get me wrong; they are plenty of good parents out there; they are still in the majority. However, more and more, students are a product of split parents. Sometimes, those parents aren’t putting the welfare of their kids at the forefront. Even worse, sometimes neither parent is fit for the job, and the task falls upon grandparents. If a teacher has a class of 25 students, and two or three are the result of faulty parenting, and causing problems for the teacher, the entire class will suffer. And, it’s getting worse.”
At this point, I had control of the room. She asked, “What is the solution?”
I replied, “Obviously, parenting has to improve, and that’s hard to fix. We not only have to educate the students, we have to wake up some of the parents. Though, there are things that can be done. I can’t remember the last time that I heard of a student being held back at the end of the school year, and was forced to repeat a grade. That has to start to happen. And, it will have a domino effect. Once some students get held back, their partners in crime might begin to wake up.”
“I would make it mandatory for a parent to have two meetings with a teacher a year. One of them must be in-person. No exceptions.”
“Thomas Sowell once wrote, ‘If you want to see the poor remain poor, generation after generation, just keep the standards low in their schools and make excuses for their academic shortcomings and personal misbehavior’.”
I asked Professor Russell, “Are you familiar with Thomas Sowell?” I got a blank look in return.
By now, the students in the class were looking at me as if I were some kind of guru. Professor Russell, aware that she had been upstaged, said, “Well, I appreciate your comments. Thank you for your time.”
I whispered to Tyler, “I’ll meet you outside after class. We’ll go to lunch.” And, I left.
It was definitely a “Mike Drop” moment.
