Gerstner's Speech: A speech by IBM Chairman and CEO Lou Gerstner
IBM Chairman and CEO Lou Gerstner addressed the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco in October 2000. He talked to them about what we need to do to in order to start solving the problem in public education. He is urging the new President to "attack the underlying problem." Gerstner says what we need from our new President is "a broad, consistent articulate message" which says that we are going to fix the education problem and what we are going to start with. Lastly, Gerstner wants to know if the President will update the people on the status of this educational fix, the teaching profession, curriculum improvements, etc.
I agree with Gerstner on the problems in education. We shouldn't expect the students do do work and succeed if they teachers aren't holding up their ends. I have seen and worked with many teachers who have not done any in-depth study of the subjects they teach. It shows in the classroom and students pick up on this right away. I agree that teachers need "continuous, high-quality professional development". This helps teachers in and out of the classrooms and keeps them on top of the new trends in education, especially technology. Our country isn't very invested in professional development. We need to be in order to improve the quality of education in our schools. (See "Teachers, teach thyselves" )
I also agreee with Gerstner's point about paying teachers more. There is a known fact that there is a shortage of teachers and we need to do something about it. Being a teacher myself, I agree we do not get payed enough for the job we do and the extra hours we invest in, in order to prepare for our classes and also help our students.
A Conversation with Kozol: AASA Online's interview with Jonathan Kozol, November 2000
Kozel talks about "comprimises in public leadership and his renewed hopes for the disenfranchised. I agree with Kozel in that the labels we give children end up staying with the children, hinder on their learning and end up keeping them seperate. People unconsciously label children all of the time. It is a way for us to justify treating children differently. Kozel also talks about how one of the problems is money and how more fortunate areas are able to provide more for their students and pay their teachers more as compaired to inner city schools is less fortunate areas. Being that Kozel was a former teacher, he really seems to know what he is talking about because of his first hand experience. The article has a nice personal touch to it. Many times people write articles but don't have much experience with the chilren.
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