LETTER: Duty of teachers is teaching, not indoctrinating, students

To Ozaukee Press:

I am a retired public school teacher certified to teach classroom grades pre-kindergarten through sixth grade and school librarianship pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. I have worked in that capacity in Wisconsin, Tennessee, Kansas, Texas and New York, retiring from a school district in the Rochester, N.Y. area.

I am appalled and disheartened by the teacher walkouts and the not-showing-up-to-teach behavior that was exhibited nationwide on May 1. I was especially discouraged to see that the Madison Public School system was totally closed. Was it counted as a “snow day” so that those teachers would be paid anyway?

Those in the education field are there to provide education, not indoctrination. Everyone is entitled to their political views, but to incorporate those views into your lesson plans is not part of the educational process.

Statistics for public education in our country indicate that scores in the basic skills of reading, writing and math are declining. Teachers’ goals should be to provide students with the best education they can, so that those students can pursue successful, productive lives.

I hope that the next time school budgets come up for citizen approval, voters ask “How are you instructing my child in the subject matter you teach?’  That is the question all parents and voters should be asking.

The answer that those citizens should be getting is that teachers teach the subject matter they are certified to instruct—the facts, just the facts, and not the political opinions that might inappropriately color those facts. Kudos and thanks to those educators who successfully teach their subject matter to their students without any political bias. We need more of them.

Karen Meador

Port Washington