Reg's Ten Commandments for Public Education

By Reg Weaver, President
National Education Association

Commandment Number One: Thou shalt not claim that a single piece of legislation can solve all of the problems facing public education — especially when it's underfunded by billions of dollars. We educators aren't stupid. We know the difference between real school reform and a law that's actually punishing and weakening public schools across the country, while claiming to do the opposite!

Commandment Number Two: Thou shalt not determine a student's entire future based on one set of one-size-fits-all tests! There is a whole range of education techniques, innovations, and measurements that should be used together to make sure that each child can read, write, think critically, and be productive. We teachers know them — and thou shalt use them!

Commandment Number Three: Thou shalt not establish a set of standards without input from the teachers who are actually going to have to teach them! Or without giving them the help and the resources they need to meet them! Or without aligning them with the curriculum!

Commandment Number Four: Thou shalt not claim that children are America's top priority when 20 percent of our nation's children are born into poverty, 15 percent have no health insurance, and eight children are killed by gunfire every single day.

Commandment Number Five: Thou shalt not spend more money on prisons than on schools. The more great public schools we have, the fewer prisons we'll need. Educate, so that we don't have to incarcerate.

Commandment Number Six: Thou shalt not kid thyself that paying teachers and support staff a measly salary is in any way going to attract and retain the kind of folks we want working with our kids. Thou shalt support current and future teachers and support staff — not insult them.

Commandment Number Seven: Thou shalt honor education support professionals — the people who drive the buses, clean the hallways, serve the lunches, counsel the students, take the attendance, nurse the injured, assist in the classrooms, and run our nation's schools with dignity and dedication and grace. ESP stands for "extraordinarily spectacular people" — don't you ever forget it.

Commandment Number Eight: Thou shalt honor thy teachers, too, not bash them — especially when thou hast never walked a day in our shoes yourself. Thou shalt not claim that anybody can teach just because they have a pulse and a bachelor's degree.

Commandment Number Nine: Thou shalt recognize that in order for a child to be well-educated and a school to succeed, everybody has got to be involved. Communities can't just send their kids off to kindergarten, then come back 12 years later and find a bunch of Einsteins! Public schools require just that — the public!

Commandment Number Ten: Thou shalt remember that our public schools are critical for homeland security. A free, safe, and democratic society requires a well-educated population. Public schools must not be demonized, privatized, or voucherized. Public schools must not be sold to the highest bidder. Instead, we've got to invest in them.

If there is enough money to bail out the airline industry…

If there is enough money to stage a multi-billion dollar war in Iraq...

...then there's certainly enough money to invest for great public schools!

So there you have it, my friends -- Reg's Ten Commandments that will make a truly extraordinary difference for children and public schools all across America!