Education Week - April 2, 2014 - 31

Teacher Quality
Is a NationalSecurity
Issue
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29
as important as coercive power was
during the Cold War era. And here is a
place where the United States needs to
respectfully appropriate lessons from
abroad.
In countries such as Finland and Singapore,
teaching's allure builds from
an amalgam of substantial incentives,
from college scholarships to the promise
of respectable salaries. And, coincidentally,
these benefits come with a level
of social and professional respect that
trumps most other occupations.
What prevents us from making the
defense-budget switch? Entrenched interests,
for one. Change threatens. We
are also a nation with an aging population
that is most comfortable with the
way things were and perhaps less able
to pitch in on the investments necessary
to keep our public education system
first-rate.
But, lest we forget, our public edu-
cation system is the best investment
we make in our progeny and posterity.
Today's elementary and secondary
school students will lead our nation
in this formidable age of information
technology.
How do we solve all the challenges
and complexities this country faces in
educating our future workforce for this
new millennium? There is no simple
answer. But if America's education
reformers had to pick one sure bet to
move the needle across the arc, luring
top candidates into our classrooms
would absolutely have the desired effect.
Imagine what the potential economic
and educational effect would
be of this 1 percent shift in expenditure
priorities on the performance of
our kids in their schools, our global
competitiveness in potential human
capital, and, yes, on our national
security.
Schools of education will always be
behind the curve of transformational
technologies and social media. But our
best college students will always be at
the cusp. These are the folks who will
push teacher training in our 21st-century
schools of education.
Could I have been better prepared
to deal with my math-book gourmet
from New Hampshire? Probably. But
these times are tenfold more challenging
and will require an uber-reform effort.
We need the best and brightest in
America's educational trenches fighting
for us.
It's time for transformational change.
Who among us is ready to make this
happen? n
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PRESIDENT & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Virginia B. Edwards
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Gregory Chronister
What if we
were to
repurpose
1 percent of
our defense
budget (about
$5.75 billion)
and use it
to pay for
prospective
teachers'
educations?"
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On California, a new opinion blog by Claremont Graduate University
professor Charles Taylor Kerchner, launched March 24. The blog
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decisions might augur for the rest of the nation.
www.edweek.org/go/OnCalifornia
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EDUCATION WEEK TEACHER
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April 3 professional-development
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EDUCATION WEEK | April 2, 2014 | www.edweek.org/go/commentary | 31
Education Week - April 2, 2014

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