State of the Union: Science and Education

Watching the President's speech tonight was definitely interesting.  He shows a lot of love and reverence to educators.  There are a few things that really resonated with me though...

The President can tell parents to promote education all he wants, but they don't HAVE to listen.  Professional educators are obligated by their profession and for the love of teaching to get up at wee hours of the morning to face a classroom everyday.  Think about this double-standard for a second: Why does our school get punished when your child doesn't make it to school?  Schools don't have the power to punish students for not showing up or for their truancy aside from time out of school (which they already want, clearly).

When will parents and students be genuinely held accountable?  Using the State of the Union address is hardly a way to make parents and students responsible for high academic achievement.  At what point will it be a national mandate to graduate rather than a national imperative?

Another thing that resonated with me was when he talked about increasing/improving science education. I have recognized over the years that, oftentimes, students enter my class with minimal exposure to science.  This leads me to believe that the recruitment for science teachers shouldn't be focused at the secondary level, it should be focused at the primary and kindergarten levels.

If you want to generate students with a love of science, they have to grow up with a greater exposure to science.  You cannot ask a science teacher to enter a tough district, like the Bronx, and teach high school science when they could put up with less and make more in other fields.

If the agenda is genuinely focused on improving research and development so that we stay competitive, then they must put their money where their mouth is and invest in making quality science education worth the educator's while.

I am not an educational mercenary, but many educators who normally wouldn't be educators are or would at least reconsider pursuing education as their primary career choice.  This is why there is typically a shortage of math and science teachers in urban centers - they could do other things where they put up with less and get paid more (multiples of a teacher's salary).  If you want higher quality, you have to be willing to pay for it.