Dear Mr. President

5/20/15

Dear Mr. President:

Thank you for your response to my letter re the role of education in our National Village, the village which Hillary wrote about in her book, It Takes A Village. I love all of the suggestions you have made. However, I have not seen much evidence of their adoption as yet, and I pay attention to the field.

The school districts in the neighborhoods of the remaining middle class and of course the “upper classes”, usually have some kind of fund raising program that generates lots of money for their districts. Interesting caveat here: Many of the individuals who live in these districts vote against any increase of taxes for schools in general. Their focus is on “Our Children”.

I appreciated the remark, about showing teachers support and respect worthy of their daily commitment.  It is obvious that this particular area is woefully neglected. Some of the lack is deserved because there are those out there who are not teachers; they just have a job. This is quite obvious to any parent who is paying attention. It is sad that many “parents” are not paying attention. However, most of these parents are victims of the system. They are beat down and exhausted by just trying to make ends meet.

You note mentions no help for 2 crucial areas. 1. If we want better Teachers we need to pay them. The ridiculous wages teachers earn in comparison to other professionals is the greatest proof of our disrespect, not only of Teaching, but of education. In lieu of a Bill, how about an Executive Order that sets Teacher’s pay at least commensurate with a Congressman’s. You could subsidize their pay to raise it.

The other thing is that you could do an executive order that pays parents to get involved with the school system! I have more, but am out of characters with no spaces.

Lots of love

-tom