Education Week

Published March 7, 2013

We applaud House Speaker Thom Tillis and legislators for holding “Education Week” in the House this week. Legislators heard from school superintendents Tuesday, principals on Wednesday and teachers Thursday in question and answer sessions. This was an opportunity for a genuine dialogue and rapport to be established between those who educate and those who legislate.

We hope Tillis and legislators not only listened but also heard our educators speaking their concerns and ambitions for public education. In like manner, we hope these educators listened and heard that rapid changes are coming in public education. Just as we cannot accept mediocre to poor teachers neither should we expect teaching excellence when teacher pay is 46th or 48th in the nation.

Education has evolved from chalkboards to students taking notes with pen and ink (then ballpoint pens) and the old model of a teacher standing in front of a class, the “sage on stage,” needs to make the leap to digital technology where laptops, the Internet and online curriculum allow students to master materials at their own pace, with the role of teacher changing to mentor, resource provider and coach. Out-of-date textbooks and out-of-date learning methods won’t prepare our students for a world in which the body of knowledge is changing every seven years, a world that doesn’t care what you know but how you can apply it.

Lawmakers need to understand this education reform cannot be accomplished without money. Educators need to understand that they must adopt and embrace change instead of resisting it.. And while we wholeheartedly agree that just throwing money at education doesn’t equate with results we also must agree that we cannot be 48th in per pupil spending and expect world class results..

Let us hope this “Education Week” was the start of great gains in education in North Carolina.