How did I miss this?

That was my reaction last Wednesday morning when I stumbled across a blog post by 2009 National Teacher of the Year (NTOY) Anthony Mullen entitled, “Teachers Should be Seen and Not Heard.” I’d been contemplating the state of education in Iowa as our governor and statehouse Republicans hold education funding (called allowable growth) hostage in an effort to fast-track Governor Branstad’s education reform plan. Mullen’s post, though old, describes what’s wrong with education reform efforts across the nation.

Prior to the NTOY honor, Mullen, a former New York City police officer, taught at an alternative high school in Connecticut, where he worked with students one step away from dropping out. As National Teacher of the Year, Mullen spent a year travelling the country and speaking to educators and reformers about this country’s high dropout rate. Mullen blogged about his experiences.

In his January 2010 post, Mullen describes participating in a small group meeting about education. Around the table with Mullen were three governors, one state senator, a Harvard professor/author and a moderator.

Mullen, who described himself as a “fly on the wall,” recounted the conversation around the table as the politicians and professor expressed their opinions. The politicians swapped comments about the quality of teachers, the need for accountability and the supposed benefits of running a school like a business. The Harvard professor contributed a mini-lesson about chaos theory in education.

Eventually the discussion anticipated teacherless classrooms, in which technology replaces teachers and schools.

Mullen narrated his thoughts as he listened to these ideas from people whose last experience in a K-12 classroom was their final year in high school. People, I’d add, whose own kids were probably grown and out of the house.

Finally, the senator asked Mullen, “What do you think?”

So Mullen shared his thoughts about the health care debate and wondered if he could sit on a panel to create a core curriculum of medical procedures to be used in emergency rooms. Suddenly he had everyone’s attention.

Mullen continued that he knows he’s unqualified for such a role as he’s not a doctor, never worked in an emergency room, nor treated a patient, but so what? “Today I have listened to people who are not teachers, have never worked in a classroom, and have never taught a single student tell me how to teach,” he concluded.

That’s the trouble with education reform – it’s being driven by people who know nothing about teaching. Meanwhile in Iowa, the resources our children and their schools need to continue their work is being held hostage while amateurs argue about reform.

By law (one signed by Governor Branstad during his first round as governor), the Iowa Legislature must pass school funding within the first 30 days of the session to allow schools to plan, certify their budgets and issue contracts. But for the last two years, he and statehouse Republicans have held school funding hostage in an effort to pass his education reform package.

What’s the hurry? Legislators’ job is to publicly and thoroughly examine and debate new policies. It is also to tax and spend for the common good. And first and foremost, it is to uphold state law.

Pass allowable growth for our children and schools. Then look at education reform, building it on the input of the experts and stakeholders – teachers, parents and students.