We Deserve Better
Aug 05, 2010
In the last several weeks, 241 poorly performing teachers were fired in Washington, D.C. The firings were part of an agreement reached with the Teacher’s Union that included financial incentives for the top performing teachers with an understanding that bad teachers would be terminated. The reality check in D.C. began with Education Secretary Arne Duncan pushing states to develop teacher evaluations and pay based on ratings tied to their students’ test scores. Mayor Adrian Fenty supported the initiative by hiring Michelle Rhee as Chancellor of Washington, D.C. schools three years ago. Rhee has demonstrated that a new perspective is a necessity in U.S. public education.
To say the public education system in this country is in trouble would be an understatement. Research shows that one out of three public high school students will not graduate. If ethnic students are isolated from the statistics, the number goes up to almost 50 percent. You might assume this is a problem isolated to the inner city, but it’s not. It plagues small and large cities alike, both in urban and rural school districts.
More people need to take action like Michelle Rhee. Too many people see a problem yet do nothing about it. That’s why our education system is in trouble. If more people – especially businesspeople – got involved, our education system would be in a state of constant evolution. And we would have the best education system in the world like we once did.
I believe in taking action when I see a problem. That’s why I’m a board member of Take Stock in Children. Take Stock in Children is a non-profit organization with 66 chapters throughout the state of Florida that provides opportunities for at-risk students. Take Stock in Children signs a contract with students that are hand-selected by their teachers in sixth grade. These students agree to get passing grades, to stay out of trouble, and to let us mentor them once a week. If they do all that and get accepted into any of the state university programs, Take Stock in Children will pay for their entire college education. Since it began, I am proud to say that we have helped more than 16,000 children. While this program doesn’t solve the curriculum and teaching program our country is now facing, it is a phenomenal way for our students to aim for bigger, better things and for us as mentors to be a source of inspiration and hope.
The problems with education in this country continue to the university level. I received my undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of South Florida. I went back to visit the school 25 years later because I wanted to give back. I was appalled: I realized they were still teaching the same advertising curriculum that I was taught 25 years earlier! I went immediately to the president of the university and told her I wanted to endow her advertising program. But only if she would let me make the curriculum relevant for today’s world. We have now rewritten the curriculum. It is fully accredited and is one of the finest, most relevant advertising programs at any university in the country. The program extends across two schools at USF and is the only program in the country that offers separate business and mass communications tracks. My hat is off to USF for striving to advance education and to give their students the opportunity to be better prepared for the advertising world at hand. I am proud to have the Zimmerman brand endow USF’s Zimmerman Advertising Program (ZAP).
Today’s statistics on education are unacceptable, especially for the most powerful country in the world. Decisive actions like those taken in D.C. are long overdue. Is it drastic? Absolutely. Perhaps a little harsh? Maybe. Necessary? Without a doubt. Why do we continue to tolerate underperforming teachers when we know we can do better? Would this mediocrity be tolerated in private industry? Hell no! Why should it be any different in our public school system? Better teachers do exist. We all deserve better…for our children, our students and our country. We need to stand up and take action…take a risk and get involved. No one else is going to do it for us.
LINKS:
PBS Newshour – D.C. Schools Chief Rhee Fires 241 Teachers Using New Evaluation System
TIME – Dropout Nation
I couldn’t agree more! Thanks for your leadership on this issue of major concern for our country. The dumbing down of our schools has served to allow other countries to gain significant strides; beating the US in math & science. Thank you, Mr. Zimmerman, for helping to keep America’s kids in the fore front of education, even at the university level.
I agree with some of your view ,thanks for your sharing this post ,
It is our responsibilty to make sure that our children are getting the proper education.
If they are not receiving it in school, the parents need to take on that responsibility.
I have my son do school work in the summer along with the Summer Reading Program
by the library. That is a great article, but also a very tragic one.
It makes me realize I have to be an even better Dad.
My son just told me the other day he wants to be a teacher.