Is Public Education the Next Big Domestic Agenda Item?

Now that we have a new health care law in the U.S., some are starting to speculate that public education may be the next big political battle. I'm not sure about that, but I am convinced that public education is in serious trouble and in need of assistance. Improving education is rarely given the priority it deserves, mostly because there appear to be few short-term benefits; however, few measures can go as far toward promoting long-term economic security as a strong public education system.

Public school teachers are notoriously underpaid and face difficult working conditions. Far from being perceived as one of the most valuable assets in our society, they are routinely dismissed by a public that is both poorly informed and generally hostile to their position.

In every community in which I have lived, I've always been able to count on one thing regarding public attitudes toward teachers. Whenever matters of school funding are in the headlines, two sentiments can be found in the letters to the editor of the local newspaper:

Teachers teach because they cannot do "real work" (i.e., "those who can't do, teach"), and

Teachers have it easy (e.g., "I don't get summers off!").

Never mind that public school teachers tend to be paid so poorly that most have to work second jobs during the summer months to make ends meet or that many find that offering private tutoring on evenings and/or weekends even during the school year is necessary to support their families. Never mind that many of those recognized as successful by society would not be where they are today without an excellent teacher or two. Far too often, teachers are regarded as little more than glorified babysitters by an unappreciative public.

Public education is becoming increasingly segregated along racial and economic lines, and this is a problem we have been neglecting for far too long. Equal access to education of a comparable quality has long been a myth, but it appears to be getting worse.

Education budgets are typically first to be cut and last to be restored. The destructive effects of this are evident to those of us who work in education but largely missed by those outside the system. This is to be expected in regions where much of the public is hostile to education itself, but it is not limited to such regions.

Clearly, there is much to be done in order to fix a flawed system. I am not particularly confident that the Obama administration has the will, the political capital, or the public support for the sort of sweeping reforms that are needed. At the same time, I think we have to acknowledge that the longer we wait to fix the system, the greater the challenge we will face.