Idaho needs more Eslers

In July, The Press published a series of editorials suggesting that true education reform should start with teachers.

To quickly and significantly improve public education, we recommended adopting better ways to identify, hire, train and reward the people most able to energize generations of learners and put America on a solid platform to compete in the global marketplace.

And when we thought of the kind of teacher we'd want our children to have - for all North Idaho students to have - what we pictured was Jamie Esler.

OK, maybe we weren't thinking of Jamie specifically, but we had firmly in mind the qualities that he possesses. Those qualities have been recognized now well beyond Lake City High School, where Jamie teaches science, and even beyond Coeur d'Alene School District. Last Friday, Esler was named Idaho Teacher of the Year, and here's why.

"When you visit his classroom, his passion for both his discipline and for his students is immediately evident," district Superintendent Matt Handelman wrote of Jamie in his letter of nomination. "His energy is unmatched and knowledge base incredibly broad and deep. This combination of passion, excitement and energy lead every student in Jamie's classes to be necessarily engaged in his lessons every day. They mirror his vigor and verve."

Think about classrooms you've visited recently. Do they mirror vigor and verve, or something else?

We can all play the blame game and attribute Idaho's dismal education rankings to low per-pupil spending, to disengaged or dysfunctional families, and to a whole host of other pitfalls. But these same challenges are faced in many other states that are doing better than ours: some, much better. So what's the difference?

We suggest they have more Jamie Eslers, and more Katie Pembertons and Erin Lenzes - the most recent Idaho Teachers of the Year, also from Coeur d'Alene School District. To improve, Idaho should figuratively dissect Jamie, Katie and Erin.

This science of education experiment would involve examining why they're exceptional; what is it in their past, in their makeup, yes, even in their schools' administration that propels them above and beyond other good teachers? Spend time in their classrooms and observe. Interview students and students' parents. Find out what makes them go - and keep going full throttle.

Understanding the common traits and the motivational talents employed by these three could unlock local keys to fostering more teachers like them. For Esler, Pemberton and Lenz, living and working in North Idaho was no problem. Nor was low per-pupil spending. And we'd be willing to bet all have dealt with parents who were disengaged or worse, yet the students flourished anyway.

If nothing else, local school districts could ask this terrific trio to help recruit teachers cut from similar cloth and reward them accordingly. What we can't do is honor them for a day and then go back to the goal of being slightly better than average.