Republican gubernatorial candidate John Dendahl made some ignorant comments about public school teachers this weekend.
Dendahl, reacting to school rankings announced last week, said teachers aren’t teaching the basics because they spend too much time on the “three S’s – sexuality, self-esteem and socialism,” according to a weekend article in the Albuquerque Journal.
“Instead of teaching the three R’s – reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic, schools are too busy trying to teach the three S’s,” he said.
The Republican Party distanced itself from his statements, and Dendahl later toned down his comments.
“It is my impression – from conversations with parents, some personal experience in classrooms and a great deal of reading – that many teachers, perhaps a majority, neither understand nor support the capitalist system,” Dendahl wrote in an e-mail to the Journal. “Many advocate views on economics that are socialist. Some punish students through the grading process for expressing conservative opinions.”
Politically, Dendahl just alienated some 21,000 teachers in the state. But his comments also reveal a lack of understanding of the situation.
The role of teachers in our society has changed drastically in the past few decades. A large number of parents have quit doing their jobs, and someone has to fill in.
Many kids come to school hungry or high on sugar because their parents don’t take time to cook. Many have self-esteem issues because parents aren’t spending time with them. Many aren’t getting any sort of sex education at home and are already experimenting.
For most teachers I know, it isn’t about socialism. It’s about ensuring that someone is nurturing these kids and teaching them about living life. If many teachers happen to be down on our capitalist system, perhaps it’s because they see firsthand the negative effects of such a system on our nation’s youth.
Let me be clear on this point: There are many excellent parents. But an increasing number are too busy or simply don’t know how to raise their children. A few just don’t care.
This is not a role that should be forced on teachers. But it’s reality.
The solution is not to attack teachers or force them to spend more time on fundamentals and less on life lessons. The solution lies with families.