A thanks to teachers

STEVE SMITH

One of my friends is a pilot who told me many years ago that on the

way out of a commercial airplane, it’s always nice to stick your head

in the cockpit and say “thank you” to the crew on the flight deck.

I don’t fly much anymore, although during a recent 30-day stretch,

I flew back and forth to Orlando to attend a convention and to St.

Louis and Phoenix to give speeches. Each time, I said “thank you” to

the crew on my way out, and each time, I received a look of surprise

and a hearty, “You’re welcome!”

A couple of weeks ago, in anticipation of a Thanksgiving column, I

started developing a list of people to thank publicly for enriching

my life or the lives of my wife and children, or for keeping us safe.

I thought about borrowing an idea from former Pilot Editor Bill

Lobdell, who used run a list of such people each Thanksgiving.

My list included friends and family, firefighters and police, but

the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to thank just one

special group of people who, like the airline pilots, do not hear

“thank you” often enough. This time around, it’s time to thank

teachers, but with a twist. (You knew there had to be a twist, didn’t

you?)

Being a teacher in 2003 is not the same as being a teacher was

many years ago. Kids today are not raised with the same respect for

schools and teachers as they were a generation ago. I still believe

many teachers could help their cause by consistently wearing

business-style clothes, but that’s a small point here.

The larger point is that the teaching is becoming less attractive

to both the veterans and to anyone considering the profession. One of

the main reasons is the amount of information they are required by

the state to teach to children. There is too much knowledge to impart

in too little time, and there are too many mandated tests and too

much bureaucratic nonsense.

Kids learn best when information is given to them in ways that are

fun and interesting. That idealized version of education is not

always possible even in the best of times. It’s not always going to

be fun and games. But today, there is little hope of ever presenting

the curriculum in that fashion because there is simply not enough

time to slow down and digest it all. Teachers whip through wars and

dynasties and spend relative moments on the Great Depression -- a

time in our nation’s history that should serve, in my opinion, as one

of the great lessons for our children. And then there’s math, science

and English.

As a result, kids get turned off and they don’t learn how to

learn. That is, they are not given enough time to understand how all

of the parts of a lesson fit together with other parts because

teachers don’t have enough time to help them connect the dots. So,

they are sent home with too much homework because there was just not

enough time in class to cover all they need to learn.

The kids who do the homework are sitting at a desk or table after

school instead of playing outside. That’s no way to spend what should

be a carefree childhood.

When I was in the fifth grade in the Los Angeles Unified School

District in 1965, there were 35 kids in my class. Today, that class

size would raise eyebrows, but the difference is that my teachers had

more time to move more slowly through the curriculum, more time to

make it matter.

So to thank teachers, it’s time to do more than talk. California

has a new governor and a new secretary for education, both of whom

need to be told that the curriculum mandated by the state is out of

control, that it’s burning out teachers, students and parents. I

don’t know of any movement to carry this message to Sacramento, even

though the new administration needs to hear it and is more likely to

do something about it than the last one.

The time to do this is now, while the new administration still has

that rookie glow and believes it can accomplish anything. It would be

particularly nice if this action began with our own school board.

Maybe it’s too much to ask of the new secretary, maybe not. But

there really is only one way to find out, and that’s to try.

I think our teachers and our kids are worth it, don’t you, school

board members?

Thank you, teachers, for all you do. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and freelance writer.

Readers may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at

(949) 642-6086.