DAPHNE, Ala.— For the past two years, our country’s president-elect, Barack Obama, spoke to the nation about the need for hope, the need to appreciate dreams, and the need to experience life differently. His message of ‘change’ is one that many people hope to see blossom into a fruitful future for all Americans.

In particular, educators are hopeful that the next four years will receive a focus on educational policies. During Obama’s campaign, five critical issues were mentioned: early childhood; general education (K-12); parental involvement; affordability of higher education; and teacher recruitment and training. Hopefully, key figures will be assigned positions that will target innovative change that works. Strong administrators who understand the ‘real’ issues at hand and know how to effectively lead the Department of Education is a must; friends in high places receiving favors can cause many schools and organizations to experience too much change and unnecessary battles that could have been resolved by a more qualified ‘leader’ who has a true ‘eye for the big picture.’

Finding the best person for a job is crucial when seeking to reap success. Education is not an area that should be overlooked by state or national policy makers.

 Aligning education with the economy and linking instruction to our future economic needs could serve as beneficial. For many years, the federal government has funded programs in hopes to boost reading achievement, particularly focusing on minority or low-income students. Now is the time to reach all children and families to ensure that education is moving forward and students are reading at a proficient rate with opportunities for advancement in schools and colleges.

Merit pay is a great tool for implementing best practices in school systems. Yet, it is wise to keep in mind that teachers are not only responsible for creating dynamic lessons that relate to real-life experiences; educators are professionals who are also expected to share with cohorts, close the achievement gap, design benchmarks and assessments that target learning deficiencies, instill ‘character education,’ provide accommodations and modifications when needed, refrain from giving a student an ‘F’(even if the work is several weeks late), grade tests, and discipline students so that classroom management is in order.

They ‘wear many hats’ and work tirelessly to assist students in finding success academically and socially.

If little funding and attention are given to schools and educators who dedicate their lives to serve our little ones, how do we expect to retain quality teachers that can help parents build an adult population that is eager to learn, work, and live as prosperous adult citizens?

Parents are our first educators and must be equipped with information that enlightens them to the value of a quality education for those who will truly represent our future.

Dr. Sonya Rogers—a certified counselor who lives in Daphne—writes this column twice a month for the Bulletin.