A student with three ineffective teachers in a row is almost never able to catch up with peers who did have effective teachers. A good teacher given an inadequate curriculum can usually still provide a decent education, but a good curriculum taught by an ineffective teacher usually shortchanges the student. As I have said before, take away the school building, the desks, the books, and place a teacher and students in an empty field and that teacher can still educate. That is why last fall I convened a Summit on Quality Teachers for the 21st Century Classroom and made a key piece of my education reform package a bill to devote millions of new dollars to schools specifically for teacher professional development. In addition, I can point to dozens of low-income and minority public schools across the nation where there is now systemic evidence that good educators can dramatically raise student achievement.
Poor children can learn.
Minority children can learn. And those who say they cannot shortchange our children. Sincerely, Bill Owens Copyright 1999-2000, The Gazette , a Freedom Communications , Inc. Company. All rights reserved. Contact us .