Orphaned at the age of nine, he was never allowed to go to school, used instead as a farmhand on his half-sister’s husband’s farm. He never learned to read or write.
He grew up, married, and had nine children. He worked as a coal truck driver and as a sharecropper. The family lived in poverty, and his six daughters and three sons were expected to do their share of chores and hard work.
His youngest son, a sickly boy who was not allowed to go to school until he was nine, was expected to do his share as well, and it wasn’t unusual for him to feed livestock and collect eggs even though his body was ravaged with fever, his throat swollen, and his lungs full of infection. When he began school, a new life opened up to him. He excelled in learning to read and write as well as arithmetic. He loved being away from the hard work on the farm and being around other students.
When he was 15, at the end of sixth grade, his illiterate father who’d known nothing but hardship his entire life, forced him to quit school. The two older brothers had been drafted to fight in World War 2, and his help was needed for the small family that remained on the farm. Three years later, he was drafted into the Army.
He never went back to school. He married, tried to continue farming, worked at a flour mill, and finally found his gift in working in production at a local newspaper. His skill in setting type, burning plates, working in the darkroom, laying out pages, and running the massive press offered him opportunities to advance and earn a good living until he was injured on the job and forced to retire too early, much sooner than he’d planned.
The illiterate sharecropper–my grandfather. The sickly boy–my father, who lived to be almost 86. When he was dying, he had only one regret. “Why,” he asked me about a week before he passed, “do you think Pap wouldn’t let me go to school?”
“He needed you,” I told him. “He couldn’t see past his own hardships to think of what was best for your future.”
Both my parents valued education. As far as I know, I was the only one out of all my cousins on that side of my family to not only go to college but obtain a master’s degree. Public education offered me opportunities my dad didn’t have, and public education prepared me for what was needed to succeed as an adult. Just one generation separated me from a history of illiterate ancestors, and now my sons, both college graduates and one with a master’s, are successful in their chosen fields.
My dad would be bursting at the seams with pride of he could see them now.
I’m not saying everyone should go to college. But everyone deserves to learn and develop the skills needed to enjoy a good quality of life. Public schools give everyone that opportunity.I know public education has its flaws, and I will be blogging about those flaws in the future. IMany states are pushing for bills to send money to private schools so parents have more choices in their child’s education, and I can appreciate the parental concerns that drive that. But I have concerns for public education and what will happen to it if funds are diverted away from it? What will happen to those students whose parents can’t afford private school tuition even with public funds being sent to offset some of the cost? What will happen with students whose parents who, like my grandfather, do not appreciate the value of a good education? What will happen to the teaching population if the pay drops and the best teachers leave the profession, with mediocre teachers left to impart knowledge to an already-struggling group of children?
There are many things the general public do not understand about education. The federal Department of Education, for example, is what oversees laws for disabled students and students with learning disabilities. Does the department need to be revamped? I think so. But I don’t have all the information needed to determine how it should be changed.
Parents, the best thin you can do for your children is to be involved in their learning. Know what they’re studying. Know what’s being taught. Work with them on homework assignments or quiz them to prepare for tests. Most teachers give study sheets from which the test is created. Most of all, hold them accountable for their effort and work. Failing a class because of seven zeroes that grading period? It’s not the teacher’s fault. It’s your child’s fault. Help them be successful, and if you can’t do it, reach out to the school for someone who can.
We teachers are not perfect. We’re human, and we make mistakes. But most of us truly care. Yes, I’m retired, but I will always be a teacher at heart. Our kids deserve the best education possible whether they plan to attend college, go straight to work after high school, go to trade school, or complete a specific program of study and training not requiring a four-year degree. Maybe public education isn’t the answer for all. But I believe it should be the answer for most.
My next blog will be about what’s wrong with public education and how I believe it can be fixed. Just my opinions based upon research and experience, but, hey, isn’t that what blogging is all about?
Life As I know it 