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Education has been a favorite whipping boy for a long time - but it has been broken for a long time, too. Can anyone say, “John Dewey?” I suppose, as someone here has already written, that it goes back to the time the fed. government got its fingers in the pie.

I retired from education going on 5 yrs. now. I taught 6th grade, 3rd, 4th, 2nd, was a reading specialist for 1st graders but mostly a guidance counselor. Teaching is one of those professions that can span a wide range of talents. It’s a mix of human relations and intellect. There’s an art to it but you need brains, too. Sometimes, really smart people aren’t very good at it and sometimes you have a minimally competent individual that really connects with kids and inspires them (and sometimes you have both negatives - I’ve met them, too). I have seen totally basket case teachers and administrators just get moved around the system and rarely really dealt with. It’s incredibly frustrating. I believe competition and freedom from government would help a lot - but it is still going to come down to who’s values hold sway. If I had it to do over again I either would not go into education or I would teach at a Christian school and suffer with the low pay. There really are dedicated people out there that are very bright and love kids and love teaching and are in it for the right reasons. My youngest son has 4 little children - birth to five. Right now, his wife stays home and homeschools two of them. He teaches at a church school and makes a horribly low salary. They live extremely tightly watching every dime and penny - yet they are happy and content and love each other. My son speaks 4 languages (English - of course - Hebrew, Spanish and reasonable German. Has had about 4 yrs of Koine Biblical Greek). He studied at Hebrew Univ. in Jerusalem where he was getting his masters, met his wife and learned Hebrew (and Spanish from her). So, you see, not all educators are money grubbing knuckle draggers seducing little socialists. There are really decent, moral, bright people in education for the right reasons - just not too many. And not all the good ones are “Christian Missionaries.” But, remember… look at the population at large and what we have to draw from. See, it’s us that’s destroying us. Morality matters. The more corrupt we get the further down the rabbit hole we go and we all know that but are far less critical when it comes to examining our own heart and life. But it’s the last thing most want to do. Far easier to blame someone else.

As a Christian, I skated as close to the line as possible in sharing my beliefs regarding controversial issues - when they came up (and sometimes when they didn’t). The population in general would hate me for that, I know. But really, the students’ parents didn’t seem to mind (you have to know kids talk to parents about what their teacher says and does at school). But leftist teachers do the same thing. You tend to run your classroom/school based on your values whether you want to admit it or not. I told my students what I thought on every issue (when they asked) and what I believed and why I believed it. I would tell them that they most likely would believe what their parents believed and that was as it should be in most cases - but someday, they would have to decide for themselves what is right and wrong - where would they go for answers? We discussed human nature and why students and adults tend to be self-centered, tend to look our for #1 above all else and how that is what is really destroying our world. There is a god of this world and there is Almighty God the Creator. There is a war going on (if you haven’t noticed) between good and evil. We are both the battle field and the prize. Choose wisely whom you will serve. Education is not the only profession with phonies and lazy bums - I’ve come across them in every area and so have you. But educators influence young minds and hearts so it IS more critical.

I could see the handwriting on the wall and was ready to get out. I just could not tell little kindergarteners that it was “ok” for Johnny to have two daddies or two mommies, that socialism was a good thing, that America was a racists, evil nation, global warming is destroying our planet so we need to kill off humanity to solve that problem and Obama was the greatest president of all time.