As I look over the river this morning, springtime air is filling my lungs along with the salt air from the sea. I am thinking how great it would be to go boat riding or fishing again. It has been more than three years since I have had this luxury and this waterman's daughter is longing for river fun. My very bones are calling out Masefield's poem; 'I must go down to the sea again.'

     In thinking of fishing, my new little pet 'Sam', a beta fish, is so small compared to the big fish I have caught in the rivers and bay in my lifetime. 'Sam' is interesting to watch and I even think he knows my voice as he flits about in his lovely vase-bowl with its colorful pebbles. I wonder about his intellect and then my mind turns to the intellect of our children in America. 

     For fifty-two years, I have had the joy of being a teacher in one capacity or the other. My life has touched hundreds and hundreds of boys and girls as I pursued my God-given talent of teaching and counseling. I watched education go from very conservative to too progressive when a teacher sometimes had to raise her hand to say something to the children. Seems it was difficult for educators to follow a balanced program for the sake of the children. Sure I believe in new approaches and ideas but it is somehow 'American' to be extreme. 

     I followed a basic plan, which looked at what was best for the student, and God blessed me with many successes in education. As I have traveled from school to school, I feel we have a very fine education system in Westmoreland County that, for the most part, has dedicated educators. Although the learning problem of dyslexia has been ignored, many other learning problems have been detected in recent years and great strides have been made in these areas. In the February issue of Reader's Digest a most interesting article is titled, 'Principals of Success' and in it Mr. Ernest Smith is correct in saying "If the child hasn't learned the teacher hasn't taught." Once a teacher bragged to me that he had failed twenty students in his class. Gently, I told him, "The students did not fail, the teacher did." In my tutoring at home, I would not let the parent pay me unless I helped their child. 

     As an educator, it is natural that I would be asked my opinion of the 'voucher system'. I am grateful to an outstanding educator of Westmoreland, Suzanne K. Tolson, for sending me much information on the subject. Here we have another case of those extremes I wrote about. Vouchers will be given to low-income families so they can send their children to schools of their choice. Can you imagine the confusion with housing, transportation, this will cause? Here the middle-class Americans will be picked on again for the 'voucher system' will surely undermine our public education system where most middle-class Americans go to school. Is there a parent out there anywhere that would become their child's doctor, dentist or other professional? 
Our educators, for the most part, are professionals and know best how to educate your child. How heartsick it has made me to see our children become pawns in our society all the way from schools to divorced couples. How heartsick to see the way so many are abused by rich, middle-class and poor parents. Private schools are nice, but when the Public School System in America is undermined we will all suffer. 

     As an educator, I want what is best for all children, not just a few. The answer is getting better schools in the inner cities instead of shipping the children out. How could people use such thinking? It is time parents in America became interested in their children's lives by teaching them manners, morals and common sense at home. They should be involved in their child's education, wherever they are in school, instead of expecting others to take care of their children while they pursue a life of their own. This is why we have so many suicides, shooting sprees and drug and alcohol abuse among young people in America today. Children and youth need parents that are concerned and pay attention to them. The recent Genome Study showed that mice have 50,000 genes compared to 30,000 in humans. This should do a lot to humble us and I do think we have a lot more brain cells than are being used, especially when it comes to our children. 
Recently on Robert Schuller's "Hour of Power", was a young black American who is getting his master's degree from Harvard. He and his siblings have been homeless all of their lives. Their mother worked hard as a domestic to feed and clothe them. The Public Education System did not fail them and they made up their minds they would be educated. Now these educated sons will be able to build their mother a home and care for her. Private schools will not do that. One state senator has said it well in that he called the 'voucher system' another ruse to destroy public schools. 

© 2001 Florence Jenkins Muse All rights