America Needs the Will to Provide a Quality Education for Every Child

America's response to the tragedy of September 11 demonstrates that when America has the will, it can accomplish anything – and that is a lesson that should be applied to the education of every child in this country, civil rights advocate Thomas N. Todd told participants Saturday (February 23, 2002) at WEAC's Spring Conference.

Thomas N. Todd

Unfortunately, he said, when it comes to education, "the will and desire are just not there. It's not unpatriotic to say that. It's just a fact.

"If there is no money for schools and teachers and bus drivers, how can we come up with billions of dollars instantaneously to bail out the airline industry? . How can we suddenly find millions of dollars for security at the Super Bowl? Where did all this money come from?"

The fact is America has the money to make the education of every child its top priority, if it develops the will to do so, said Todd, a Chicago attorney and former president of Operation P.U.S.H. He addressed about 450 participants in the conference at the Grand Geneva Resort in Lake Geneva.

Todd said it is "a sin" that the average teacher salary in this country is $42,000 when we pay millions of dollars to professional basketball players, baseball players and entertainers.

"It is not a lack of resources," he said. "It is a lack of commitment" that leaves schools struggling for money.

Todd also said America must return the teaching profession to a position of prestige. Too often people have the attitude that "I am only a teacher." Don't let yourself adopt that attitude, he said. "How can you get respect if you don't respect yourselves?" he asked. Teachers truly do change lives, he said.

"Long before the rocket scientist was a rocket scientist, long before the brain surgeon was a brain surgeon, long before they knew what they would become, some teacher touched their minds," Todd said. "You are not just teaching and providing services in the schools, you are saving lives."

Todd said schools have become very complicated places. They no longer have the luxury of focusing only on reading, writing and arithmetic. Educators today must distribute warm clothing, Ritalin and Prozac, he said.

"People are looking for gimmicks and shortcuts" to improve education. "There is no shortcut to education. There is no shortcut to qualified teachers," he said.

Todd said when he gets on an airplane he wants to know the pilot has been fully trained as a pilot and when he sees a doctor he wants to know the doctor is fully trained and qualified. And the same should be true of teachers, he said. Yet some people pushing shortcuts to education don't respect the teaching profession.

The problem, he said, is "We have non-educational people making educational decisions for non-educational purposes."

Too many politicians, he said, are focused on "postulating, pontificating, and picture-taking" instead of focusing on the needs of children.

Todd cautioned educators against labeling children because that can hold them back. He noted that he grew up poor, but it wasn't until after he graduated from law school that he learned that poverty was a barrier to learning.

"Never put a ceiling on a child's ambition," he said. "Every child can learn."

Teachers should advocate for diversity and multiculturalism and teach children that we should all respect our differences, he said.

Todd urged WEAC members to fight for children "day in and day out" because if they don't, nobody will. And he said to never let up on the people who are in the best position to help schools succeed.

"Stand up to your friends as well as fight your enemies, for the children," he said.