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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 1, 2001

Op-ed

Teaching the Values That Make America Strong

Op-ed by NEA President Bob Chase

The national response in America's classrooms to the destruction and loss from terrorist attacks on the U.S. has been nothing short of magnificent. This year's celebration of American Education Week (Nov. 11-17) must begin with a salute to the New York City teachers and school staff who risked their lives to lead local children to safety, and to the critical role other educators are playing in reclaiming the nation's spirit.

This American Education Week, I urge the nation to take a moment to recognize that public schools are on the frontlines in this new era because it is in classrooms, more than any other place, that we create and nurture the citizens of tomorrow.

As President Bush said, the terrorists attacked America because they despise our values. We will defeat this enemy by arms and law, but also by holding fast to the values that define us as Americans.

America is defined not by its wealth and abundance, but by our freedom, our liberties, and our commitment to an open, tolerant, democratic society.

In the months and years ahead, it is our challenge to guide an entire generation of young Americans to understand the freedom and ideals that our country represents.

Our schools are superbly suited to this task. For two centuries, public schools have been preservers and transmitters of America's ideals. In our schools, generation after generation of native-born and immigrant students have been taught America's core values.

In first grade, we teach our students to face the flag respectfully and to pledge allegiance to "one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." And that is just the beginning. For 12 years, through study and discussion of American history, literature, and government, we nurture citizens and patriots.

Public schools never stopped teaching values. We teach them explicitly, and more important, we model values. Everything we do and say in front of our students is a values statement - and those values include the all-American values of honesty, responsibility, self-discipline, and love of country.

Public schools also stress one other value that is especially urgent today: tolerance and respect for people of different colors, cultures, and faiths. In our most diverse public schools - often with children from dozens of countries - teaching students to cooperate and excel in a multicultural setting is a powerfully important lesson. As a student at one remarkably diverse high school told me: "We all get along - all of us. If anyone tried to act prejudiced or to hurt someone, the other kids just wouldn't allow it."

This student may not realize it, but she is a "combatant" in the civilized world's struggle against terror and hate. So are her teachers.

The success of America's homeland defense will depend on more than metal detectors and sky marshals. It also will depend on the values taught in America's public schools.

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The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing 2.7 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, and students preparing to become teachers.