opinion
Written by Nathan Graziano
I teach in a public school, so I can't be a little diplomatic and write a column about tuition assistance. This screed is sure to lead to another hot topic of liberal vitriol, right?
mistaken.
It's easy to understand why parents and taxpayers are dissatisfied with public education in their cities and towns. Many New Hampshire schools are falling short when it comes to classroom performance, and students may appear to be learning nothing except how to barricade classroom doors.
I understand that and agree with you. Public schools are not the cesspools some people say they are, but they can do better.
But we also know that we are all still experiencing a hangover from the pandemic, including teachers, students, and parents, and that our students have lost nearly a year of instruction. Even at the university level, many students are still recovering intellectually and psychologically.
Everyone in the education community knew that remote and hybrid learning models were a band-aid and a bit of a farce. But from March 2020 to May 2023, the whole world was working on it.
But the pandemic has also thrown wide open windows that were only cracked beforehand. Suddenly, the public, especially parents and taxpayers, had a much easier time venting their frustrations with public education and educators.
Currently, in New Hampshire, per-pupil funding is redistributed from public schools into the hands of parents through vouchers, which parents can choose to use to pay for their child's tuition to private or charter schools. We are seeing progress in the program. , or to cover the cost of home study.
But is the problem that public schools are incompetent, or is it ideological in nature?
For example, some people have used the pandemic as an opportunity to criticize public educators for curriculum decisions.Some organizations even put bounties on teachers' heads.[1].
Some argued that public schools were indoctrinating students with critical race theory (also known as U.S. history) and other liberal propaganda without a clear definition of the term.
Meanwhile, these publicly funded Marxist incubators also allowed transgender students to use their own bathrooms.[2]. While it is true that most schools now have gender-neutral restrooms, this is not liberal propaganda. This is called “being considerate.”
And in my 25-year career in public education, I've seen teachers from both sides of the political spectrum go rogue, using their positions in the classroom to engage in proselytism. There were very few teachers like that.
Most public school teachers do not enter this profession with the aim of instilling progressive policies in the children of their communities. And they are not in this profession for the big paycheck or the public acclaim.
Most public school teachers enter the profession because they care about children.
period.
New Hampshire is on a slippery slope. While there are some great private and charter schools in the state and many dedicated parents who are qualified to homeschool their children, there are just as many who are not, and school vouchers are not the solution. .
If we continue to cut funding for public education, which helps create a safe, wise, and just society, we will end up with an even larger population of people who are barely literate and unable to think critically.
Last I checked, these are pretty important prerequisites for a healthy democracy.
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[1] True story: Mothers of Liberty offer a $500 reward to anyone who cites a teacher for breaking New Hampshire's crappy Right to Freedom from Discrimination in the Workplace and Education Act, which prohibits teaching about race and gender. was issued.
[2] This is another true story. Once, a group of beer-drunk men at a bar, upon learning that I was a high school teacher, asked me if I really had a litter box in my bathroom for a student who recognized it as a cat. I assured these men (two of whom were wearing her MAGA hats) that this was false information. I told them that I personally identify as a transgender cheater named Tiberius and that I use a traditional restroom at work.
