What Do Politicians Know About Education?

A Teacher’s Perspective on School Decisions

“In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards.” Mark Twain

Experience is the Key to Success

Imagine working in a restaurant for a manager who had never been in the service industry but felt like he was qualified to make decisions for the business because he simply had eaten before.

Imagine working in an office selling insurance for someone with no experience in sales and the only experience they have with insurance is having purchased it a time or two.

I don’t think you would be surprised if those businesses ended up failing. I am sure the above scenarios are happening in workplaces across the country.

Of course, sometimes a person is gifted enough to manage and make decisions without previous training or experience but those are more exceptions than reality.

Most School Boards Populated by Politicians

So, why are school boards across the country elected based on politics more than actual expertise?

Almost everyone in the United States has sat in a desk in a classroom and experienced life as a student. A much smaller number has seen it from the front of the room as a teacher.

Having been a student no more qualifies one to make educational decisions for other students then having eaten a lasagna makes one an expert on cooking lasagnas.

Public education doesn’t mean that the public knows best about how and what is to be taught.

Having the public or a politician make decisions about education just because it is funded by the government makes as much sense as putting the structure, design and materials used to build a bridge up to a public vote instead of in the hands of construction engineers and road specialists.

But those scenarios happen in education all of the time. Leave it to the experts. People trained and experienced in the standards of education are the ones who are best qualified to make those decisions. Educators have been through countless hours of meetings, classes and training on the subject of education.

Listen to the Experts

Obviously, the public cannot be taken completely out of public education. But it would be helpful if school board members were elected based on experience and training.

It would be helpful if legislatures listened to experts and professionals in education before making sweeping decisions on how schools are run.

There are a lot of smart people out there with a lot of great ideas. Let’s start with listening to them. This issue is critical. The bridge that collapses just may be our entire educational system.