Education: We have work to do

Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach.

Expressions like that hurt. Beliefs like that undermine our country.

Such expressions have no bearing on public education in Idaho, yet they also speak volumes about perceptions of how America's most important intellectual motor is functioning. You probably don't know a single adult who hasn't heard "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach." A great many of the adults who have heard it also believe it.

Like a panicked swimmer whose lungs are filling with water - never mind that the swimmer is floundering a foot from shore - we cast about, desperately hoping to grasp a solution for all that ails us educationally.

We must spend more money.

We need greater technology.

We need more parental involvement.

We need smaller classes.

We need more federal intervention.

We need less federal intervention.

We need to get back to basics.

And on and on the list goes.

We submit that there is no more important issue facing our communities - or our country. Every aspect of society, every layer, is impacted by how successful we are in educating our youth. You want greater certainty for a robust economy, to fill the critical jobs on tomorrow's horizon? Then improve education. You want fewer people on welfare and in the prison system? Improve education. Few cause-effect predictors are better documented than this: Quality education forges countless paths toward success and happiness. Poor education leads to the opposite.

In the most positive manner possible, we're going to try to generate discussion and respectful consideration of this critical topic over the next week. We wish to throw no stones; ridiculing those who devote their lives to education would only create greater divides in communities that already are unhealthily split. We also hope that, as always with these opinion pieces, we never have the last word - that's reserved for our readers who write letters to the editor.

We understand that summer might seem an odd time to dive into a serious public education discussion. But because the legislature is out of session, many educators have time off, and summertime life for parents and grandparents can be a little more relaxed than usual, we believe now is a good time to talk about education and perhaps sow seeds for progress in the school year ahead. That area school boards have some new faces and fresh perspectives also makes the topic timely.

So what do we do to improve education? With so many needs and no simple answers, it's easy to lose focus and ultimately surrender. That, of course, helps nobody, so over the next week we're going to focus on just one aspect of education.

In our view, it's the most important one.

Those who can, teach.