A Year in MINIons- MINIon #0538

0538So it begins… Tonight is the first Presidential debate for the Republican candidates. I am looking forward to watching some of it just to see what some of them will say, it should be amusing. I figure they will have to cover all the hot button issues while never mentioning how neither party could work together to actually solve any of the countries problems. All I can say is- this is a bit early for politics. I remember in third grade our school held elections for student officers. One speech stuck in my mind this sixth grader gets up in front of the whole school and promises everything that a kid could want – longer recess, less homework, soda fountains instead of drinking fountains. All the young kids bought it hook line and sinker. Cheering and clapping and, as kids, not even knowing if he had the power to do anything that he promised.  Both parties are to blame for our current mess, but I will still vote in the primary and the general election… If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have the right to complain.

I try to keep my politics out of My Geek Odyssey, but sometimes and idea will not go away. As you might know my “day job” is teaching. I have gone off every once in while about some of the “joys” of teaching, but I do try to stay away from it. Not saying there isn’t a lot of material to choose from. So what brought on today’s strip? In Indiana (and across the country) there seems to be a trend to attack public school teachers. Teachers are “bad” & the system is broken, it needs to be fixed right now, no matter what the actual facts & figures say. There is an answer to the problems in education- unfortunately, more testing, charter schools, vouchers, or merit pay is not it. Check and see the success, the real success rate of these proposals in places that have tried them. They don’t work… there is no silver bullet (except maybe to just let teachers teach). If I start climbing on my soapbox I’ll be here forever… Just think about it logically and support those poor folks who are in the trenches trying to get kids to learn (no matter what is happening in their lives the more than 16 hours they aren’t at school). Remember Teachers are Supreme Undisputed Champions of Knowledge, or at least we try to be for every student who walks through our classroom door, whether or not they did their homework, or had a good breakfast.