A Kentucky Teacher’s List of 22 Things We Need to Do to “Fix” Public Education

Folks, I’m no education policy expert or “super teacher”, but as the child of two teachers and a public middle school teacher myself, I’ve got some thoughts to share on what should be done to help America’s public schools.

Today, my own school district — Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS), the 30th largest district in the nation — had to cancel school for the fifth time in the last two weeks due to a teacher “sick out” primarily organized through activist teacher groups on social media. Teachers in Kentucky are rightfully frustrated about a number of public education-damaging bills currently being considered by Kentucky state legislators, as well as a general culture of distrust and contempt that has developed between teachers and lawmakers under the current governor, Republican Matt Bevin.

While my fellow teachers were in the state capitol again fighting the good fight, I decided to stay home and come up with a list of policy and program changes that I think can help “fix” public education. Yes, we need to be vigilant in defense of our current education systems, but it’s just as important for us to constantly look for ways to make them better and keep alive the vision for where we need to go. It’s a long list, but we’ve got a lot to fix!