There Is No Substitute for a Good Teacher : Projected state budget cutbacks rock the classrooms

In all of life, little is more precious than a teacher.

A good teacher inspires and motivates a child and, even more, fortifies that child against alienation, ennui and low self-esteem.

In the hands of a gifted teacher, almost any child is a potential phenomenon--little Mozarts or young Einsteins or future rocket scientists.

In the hands of a fine teacher, the classroom can become a magical place, the air electric with learning, the days and weeks a purposeful march of progress as the youngster learns to realize potential, deepen wonder and improve cognition.

Good teachers help kids prepare for adulthood while not losing the sense of mystery inherent in childhood.

The teacher’s life is often fulfilling but it is also hard. The hours are long and the emotional demands are great.

In loco parentis --in place of the parents--teachers become so giving a resource to so many that at day’s end there is often not very much left.

Not many jobs on this planet (certainly not many that are so modestly compensated) leave the worker so exhausted and spent. Even so, day after day, the teacher is there--father, mother, counselor, instructor, best friend; day in and day out, the teacher is the exemplary guide on the necessary tour through life, imprinting in the minds and the emotions of the student an indelible experience.

Who among us cannot recall at least one teacher as vividly as any memory we possess?

GROWING PROBLEM: But now, alas, the teacher’s life in Southern California is about to get harder still.

Many school districts are handing out real, or provisional, pink slips. In Los Angeles 980 teachers and others have gotten them, and more than 1,000 others are being summarily reassigned. The reason is money. In California local school districts get 75% of their funding from the state, and the state is running a $13-billion deficit. Everybody, including teachers, will be taking a hit.

It’s hard to imagine that anyone is happy about this.

Gov. Pete Wilson has been in a mudslinging match with the teachers’ union, but deep down the governor too must feel uncomfortable about this projected educational cutback. His own political philosophy emphasizes prevention rather than later remediation. This of course is the whole point of the public education system: to get them when they are young, teach them right and watch them grow up properly.

At bottom, the issue is not just the shortchanging of teachers but the undermining and under-utilization of our youth. As much as teachers will suffer during the expected economic cutback, the kids will suffer more.

Against this despair, however, is some growing public concern--and new evidence of an agitated and ready-to-act private sector.

GROWING INVOLVEMENT: During the week of April 29-May 3, more than 150 Los Angeles business leaders plan to go back to school as one-day-only principals in schools throughout the L.A. area. The program, a project of the Los Angeles Educational Partnership and sponsored by GTE California, includes some of the top corporate executives in Southern California.

Another private sector effort is called Education First Week. Through this Saturday, television programmers are offering more than 75 hours of shows with educational themes. Participating are ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS, HBO, MTV, Nickelodeon, the Disney Channel, E! Entertainment Television, Arts & Entertainment, Lifetime and the Learning Channel.

All of this activity is very good--indeed, excellent.

But none of it can substitute for the good teacher who turns kids into good students. This is the irreplaceable resource that is now threatened.

California simply must figure out a way to stop shortchanging its precious children.