I Have Been Criticized Throughout The Course

During The Decades After Brown V. Board Of Education There Was Terrific Progress. Tens Of Thousands Of Public Schools Were Integrated Racially. During That Time The Gap Between Black And White Achievement Narrowed.

Good Teachers Don't Approach A Child Of This Age With Overzealousness Or With Destructive Conscientiousness. They're Not Drill-masters In The Military Or Floor Managers In A Production System. They Are Specialists In Opening Small Packages. They Give The String A Tug But Do It Carefully. They Don't Yet Know What's In The Box. They Don't Know If It's Breakable.

The Greatest Difference Between Now And 1964, When I Began Teaching, Is That Public Policy Has Pretty Much Eradicated The Dream Of Martin Luther King.

I Do Get Scared About The Physical Danger From Drug Dealers. But It's Not In The Same League As The Danger I Feel Eating An $80 Lunch With My Privileged Friends To Discuss Hunger And Poverty. That's When My Soul Feels Imperiled.

Well, Teachers Have Been Profoundly Demoralized In Recent Years And Are Often Treated With Contempt By Politicians. There's A Great Deal Of Reckless Rhetoric In Washington About The Mediocrity Of The Teaching Profession - And I Don't Find That To Be True At All.