A word from my 93 year old neighbor

So without causing any huge stir I want to express an interesting thought that I learned awhile back from my neighbor. 

First, I want to tell you a bit about my street.  There are 69 houses on it and I know more than 3/4 of the people who live on my street by name.  I've lived in this neighborhood for awhile and on my street for more than 10 years. 

A very lovely neighbor I'll call Mrs A. frequently has neighbors over for parties that would make Martha Stewart want to take notes and get recipes.  She is just wonderful.

One of her annual parties is a Ladies Tea which she has every December.  The food, décor and conversation are always wonderful and I've never missed it. This party allows us a chance to get to know the other ladies who live so close by in a way that we wouldn't normally. 

One of my neighbors (I'll call her Mrs. H.) was the kindergarten teacher of my husband.  She is now 93 years old.  She lives in a beautiful and very well kept house.  Many other people on our street know her well and many of their children had her as a teacher.  She was (still is actually) famous for her crafting skills, well made Halloween Costumes and love of the children and the school she taught at. 

I have to admit that I'm slightly in awe of her. Age may have slowed her down but it certainly hasn't stopped her physically or mentally (she keeps her house and yard so nice due to the help of her children who live nearby). 

A couple of years ago at the Ladies Tea she was vigorously defending the local public school she spent so many years at (the same one my husband went to for kindergarten).  Privately later the same day she told me something that has always stayed with me.  Here is what she said,

"When the Women's Movement came the overall quality of teachers began to diminish.  Women that formerly would have had to choose between the few occupations of being a nurse, secretary or teacher as a career began to be able to become doctors and lawyers."

I get what she is saying and while I still believe that there are some great teachers out there I see her point.  The majority of women had very few choices that were generally considered acceptable. My mother was a teacher,  so were most of my aunts.  They are all retired now.

My aunt who spent her life teaching (and loved it) remembers in college how the advisors would come through and advise whether or not a person should continue to major in Education.

 Things have changed quite a bit. 

I do not believe the reports of which Universities are supposedly doing a good job of putting teachers out into the job market.  I have read those and know too much now as the parent to think those "reports" are anything more than marketing techniques (cynical yes, I know, sorry). 

Where is this all headed?  I'm not sure but to me it's safe to say that I agree that education in general is not where it should be and headed downhill fast.  The occasional great teacher (like a friend of mine who really does care about the students in her school and is constantly fighting her administrators to do the right thing) is not enough to help the majority.

Our society as a whole doesn't seem to value children enough to make changes that don't involve saving money as the first priority.  Once again I'm reminded of what Margaret Mead learned in her studies of different cultures.  (I've written about this in a previous post so I'm not going to elaborate here). 

I hope I can talk to my neighbor again this December at the Ladies Lunch.  I'll let you know what she says.