Education on Life Support

A stark, empty room is left full of only filtered air and a fluorescent buzz that drowns out all thought. Wires, tubes, and monitors litter the body like dozens of strings attached to a puppet. The patient lies motionless and drained; the body failing. A sterile, white bed sits as a blank canvas; its sheets anticipating the trouble to come. The fate of the body is not left in anyone’s hands, but rather in the artificial assistance of a heart monitor, a feeding tube, and a ventilator. The lingering question plagues society, yet is rarely vocalized: Is education on life support?

To understand this concept fully, the factors must be dissected from the issue as a whole. Undoubtedly, the field of Education is failing to thrive, qualifying it to be placed on life support. 

Heart Monitor 

The passion that once coursed through the heart is now beginning to diminish, weakening its beats to a somber, faint rhythm. According to the National Education Association, 55% of teachers plan to leave the profession before they had previously planned too. Most of these teachers began their teaching journeys with a shared beating heart for education, yet now they have contracted a disease that constricts the heart and drives the hopeful into hopelessness. Minimal pay, dwindling job security, and increasing mandates are all aspects of why so many teachers are bailing. It is becoming increasingly apparent that the heart monitor is not lying; the passion is dying out.

Feeding Tube 

Even in a critical condition, it is necessary that the body is equipped with the nutrients it needs to survive, however in this situation, the feeding tube is harming more than it is helping. The tube shoved down teachers’ noses is pumping the body full of regulated curriculum. Researcher, Jeffery Sachs, states that, “35 states have introduced 137 bills limiting what schools can teach…” Higher authorities are not ceasing in their efforts to force-feed the education system censored material. The body has no control over itself nor the freedoms it is rapidly being stripped of.

Ventilator 

In a world with all of these factors, teachers simply cannot catch their breath. When placed on a ventilator, essentially, the patient’s body loses its ability to breathe freely. Instead, it is under the control of the machine. All over the country, many teachers are finding themselves overworked and underpaid. Education itself is at stake because of the way that teachers are being forced to overreach in their careers. After all, it can be hard to breathe with the weight of public opinion on your chest.

The Prognosis

As of now, the higher authorities are overseeing “the body” that is education. In these times, many teachers have been placed under induced comas, restrained and silenced. If this has become their reality, what is the prognosis? A new study from the Center for American Progress shows that in the United States, enrollment in teacher preparation courses has dropped by more than one-third since 2010. The field is rapidly deteriorating along with the appeal of the teaching profession. The stigma that has infected education only continues to fester, worsening with each passing year. In 2018, PDK released a poll that showed 54% of adults said that they didn’t want their children to become teachers. The fact of the matter is, teaching is not considered a distinguished profession, but rather a “calling”; it is a “rewarding job” with intangible gains. While life support has the ability to sustain a system for years, quality of life deteriorates. Education is not thriving.

The Prescription

Typically, a prescription follows a diagnosis. If this is the case, what is the prescription that will slowly help education regain its health? A prescription is not a solution, but rather a step towards improvement. In this case, it is merely a bandaid over a hemorrhaging wound. As of now, there appears to be little to no incentives to lure future generations into the teaching profession. There is no ‘magic pill’ that can restore the patient in an instant. It is going to be a long recovery that involves a massive rehabilitation, allowing the body to regain its strength and independence. It’s simple, the prescription involves a reevaluation of the profession itself. There must be a shift in America’s response to a failing system.