My knowledge of public education comes mostly from experience. I taught junior high science for 19 years and high school for 14 years. I knew teachers who had received excellent grades all their lives and therefore could not understand why all students could not excel. Was I a good teacher because of my mediocre grades? No. But I did have compassion for struggling students and I quickly fell in love with teaching. I enjoyed being there. I liked the students and I discovered that those who received the best grades were not necessarily better qualified for the real world.
I do believe that testing is not the answer. The current demand for testing has taken away time needed for learning.
My mother and father always knew how I was doing and encouraged me to do better. I saw that parental encouragement and interest in learning were missing with students who got poor grades. Too often it was the parents who did not show up at parent-teacher conferences.
Family life, not the teachers in school, has the most to do with a child preparing for life.
Newel Standley
Murray