E. Scott Cracraft - Those who can, teach; those who can't make laws about teaching

During the Reagan administration, conservatives were bandying about the slogan “Those who can, do; and those who can’t, teach,” which was more than insulting to those who practice a very honorable profession. This author's response to this attitude was to purchase a T-shirt which reads “those who can teach; those who can’t make laws about teaching.”

We have too many nonprofessional conservative politicos who have never been in a classroom tell us how kids best learn. One of these is even our Secretary of Education! Professional educators will tell you that different kids learn differently.

And, we have some extremists who focus on some real failures in our public education system try to convince us to scrap public schools. They do not want to give credit when a public school does a good job. And, a strong public education system has been emphasized in this country from its beginning.

There are problems in public education. A popular book, also from the Reagan era, was "Why Can’t Johnny Read?" That is a good question, but many conservatives like to blame the teacher, who occupies the lowest (and least appreciated) rung in the educational chain of command.

Sure, it might be the teacher’s fault. There are certainly bad teachers in schools both public and private. But could it also be the fault of administrators who give in the parents who think their kids can do no wrong? Could it be the parents’ fault? Or, is Johnny simply an entitled and undermotivated kid?

Many conservatives do not like our public education system and would like to privatize it. They do not want to adequately fund public schools, and so the schools do fail and then they can make an argument for public funding for private education through such tools as vouchers and tax breaks for those who choose to educate their children privately.

For their level of education, teachers are among the lowest-paid of any profession, especially in New Hampshire, where a lot of people gripe about our public schools but do not want to fund them or help them in other ways. They use such positive-sounding euphemisms as “school choice,” but these only help hide their real agenda: undermining our public schools instead of fixing them.

The writers who want to undermine our public schools forget history. It is sadly humorous that we are having this debate in New Hampshire. In so many ways, the New England states “invented’ public education!

In Colonial New England, one of the first things a new town did was found a school that was funded by public taxes. Sometimes students did pay some fees but the schools were still public schools. And the New England Puritans were some of the most religious people in history. In Southern colonies like Virginia, you had to either be rich enough to afford a private tutor for your kids or send them to Europe for an education. There were a few “charity schools,” but public schools did not exist in Virginia for a long time.

In colonial New England, you could homeschool your children but you were held accountable for actually schooling them. Town officials could visit your home and if it was felt that you were not adequately educating your children, you could have them taken away and “bound out” to a family who would attend to giving the children a proper education.

The problem with homeschooling today in America is that in most states, including New Hampshire, there is little regulation and oversight to make sure that the kids are getting a proper education. In some cases, unregulated home schooling could be a cover for child abuse or neglect.

Some homeschoolers do an excellent job, but there are few restrictions on homeschooling. There are no real qualifications for parents who homeschool. Should a high school dropout be allowed to educate their kids? Many parents who homeschool rely of software to do it. While there is certainly nothing wrong with online learning, students, especially in the lower grades, need interaction with a teacher. While teaching and parenting are important and closely related roles, they are different.

As far as providing vouchers and other forms of public aid to parochial schools, it violates the Constitutional principle of separation of church and state. Government is prohibited from providing public funds to religious institutions, including religious schools.

Perhaps some religious schools should get some public aid for nonreligious activities, such as special education and accessibility for those with disabilities but many conservatives want people who send their kids to religious schools to be completely free of their civic duty to support our public schools.

Perhaps in traditionally Calvinist New England, such provisions in state constitutions probably did originally reflect the Puritan hatred of Roman Catholicism but the federal and state constitutions treat all religion and aid to religion the same.

This is not saying that there are not excellent parochial schools. On the other hand, many of the questionable ones teach creationism and climate change-denial as “real science.” Many also eschew comprehensive sex ed. This sort of “education” puts a child at a disadvantage, socially and intellectually. Moreover, even in some states where corporal punishment is outlawed in public schools, it is allowed in private institution. It does not matter if a parent signs a note allowing a teacher or administrator to paddle a kid. No educator should hit any child! And no taxpayer should be forced to support such schools.

As for private, nondenominational schools, many are also excellent but to allow vouchers for these institutions would undercut public education. Even if you choose to privately educate their kids, we still have an obligation as citizens to support our public education system, one that has made our country great. New Hampshire legislators have said it is to give an advantage to kids from low-income families, but many of these schools provide scholarships to needy students.

There are problems with public schools, but some of those problems are exaggerated (or even caused) by politicians with right-wing agendas. Our public education system has for years provided so many with the education they might otherwise get. The answer is not to privatize the system but for teachers, administrators, parents and students to work as a team to make our public schools the best.

Scott Cracraft is a citizen, a taxpayer, a veteran, and a resident of Gilford.