Testing eclipses real teaching

I began my teaching career 44 years ago in a small district in rural Ohio, and over the next few decades, I got the distinct opportunity to work with children to help them grow and become successful.

While no one will ever enrich themselves on a teacher’s salary, especially in rural areas, it is a calling and one that I never regretted. I still admonish those who say, “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.” I challenge anyone to spend a warm sunny afternoon in a hot classroom trying to help seventh-graders learn how to convert decimals to fractions to percentages. It takes those who can do!

Perhaps what I enjoyed most about teaching, other than working with kids, was the respect I got from the community. Parents appreciated what I did for their children. They wrote thank-you notes, sought my input, and volunteered in the school. I think there is still a great appreciation for teachers in many communities, but the sense of calling one feels to become an educator is being eroded as the focus on testing our way to excellence has slowly squeezed out creativity, innovation, autonomy and, most of all, ownership in student results.

Great teachers encourage kids to want to read more, do math in their free time, and come home from school excited to share with their parents what they learned that day.

Think of the best teacher you ever had. Did they inspire you? Expect much from you? Care about you? Absolutely! Thank you to all teachers for continuing to care, perservere, and inspire kids despite all the obstacles placed in their way. You bring life to education, and help make it the big equalizer for students.

To all of you that have chosen this field, make it happen for kids, and move this democracy forward.

Jim Mahoney Columbus