By Edwin “Bus” Upshaw

Anderson resident

Recently, tucked in the inner pages of The Herald Bulletin, there was a short news blurb regarding how to compute the “teaching” days in Indiana public schools. A bill, pending in the Legislature, that would require a full day of class activity for a full day credit or pay (a change from the method now in place), was not allowed even the courtesy of a committee vote. It died in the hands of the committee chairman. It seems as though an extremely small minority of self-centered politicians and/or lobbyists have the power to decide that our students cannot be equipped to take their proper places in our social and economic world. Theirs is to be a life of subservience to those who, somehow, gain a better education. This action was not democracy at its worst. Rather, it was totalitarianism at its best!

Tactics such as this have prevented thousands of excellent, qualified Indiana teachers from functioing to their full potential. It has been such tactics that have produced such dismal performances from borderline students. Parents have rebelled, rightly so, to a system that rewards failure in teaching and promotes cronyism above competence. Therein lies the seed of home schooling, as well as the charter school system. They are each flourishing today.

A letter, very well written, by Rick Muir, president of the local teachers union, was published regarding the effects of charter school funding on public school funding. His analysis of the finances was fine, but I did not find any mention of the reason or basis for charter school inception. It’s simple; parents want better results, which charter schools are providing.

Our family and friends have been involved in the educational system since that September day when my mom first rang her little brass bell for the Fox Island School, three miles west of New Harmony, Ind. There, she did all the attendant duties of a “school mar’m”, even riding her horse as it swam across a swollen stream to take her to work. Those kids wanted school — a place where they were taught “readin’, ‘ritin’, ‘rithmetic’ and responsibility”, and they wanted teachers who would guide them. Dedicated teachers gravitated to those needs and wants, just as they do today.

Students have sat at the feet of Socrates, Plato, the Pharaohs of Egypt and all good teachers down through the ages, realizing the time spent thus is preparation for life. Those students were taught the axiom that one equals one. They were never taught that one half day of work equals one full day of pay. They were never taught that one fourth equals one nor that a mere presence merits reward.The Indiana educational system will produce students of superior training and capabilities if and when we, as taxpayers, demand and receive the tools and freedom inherited from our ancestors. Unshackle those good teachers! The whole world is out there in front of our students, a whole world of still kept secrets, awaiting those who are prepared to unlock them. Quality preparation is the key!