The current presidential debate has sparked much controversy, overloaded facebook walls, and caused a bit of unrest in several parts of the country. The article found at http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2012/10/25/will-teachers-help-decide-presidential-election/?wprss=rss_education describes one man's view of how influential teachers will be on deciding the presidential election.
I thought it was interesting to note that teachers most often back Democrats, but now in the second election Obama is in, may not back any candidate because of the extreme stress Obama's policies put on teachers (Strauss). I am not sure if I agree with this statement because Obama's policies are more research-based than NCLB from Bush's adminstration. Politics can get tricky, but after watching the debates, hearing the criticism, I am still left puzzled as to what each candidate says they are going to do to improve the quality of our schools, and if they care, what value do they see in schooling. The article explained how teachers and administrators were upset that Obama's policies "silence[d] their voices" and created a sense of distrust of the president (Strauss). I too feel overwhelmed with all of the testing necessary, and the push for data for everything. Yes, research and data are vital pieces of being an effective teacher, but when it starts to consume every lesson and become the focus, I think something needs to change. Once a former teacher is elected to make decisions on schooling, it is my thought that kids will finally be getting what they need.
It is with great pleasure to comment on your blog. After the final debate last week I had a long conversation about both canidates ideas on education. If you can recall neither one of them have really mentioned a great deal about their educational policies in the media. However, if you go to barackobama.com/plans/education you will see both his and Romney's education plans. My only concern is there are very little details about each plan, and not one of them mentions the "how" . We are a country that has great ideas, but when it comes time to implement ideas things do not yield the results or expectations one strives for. I absolutely agree that we will not be able to address the problems in education until the people in power actually turn to the indiviuals within these school systems for their thoughts and concerns. As an educator we are expected to do so much to ensure that our students succeed, but when policies are put into place that are unrealistic changes cannot be made.
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