Teachers are the experts in the education field and their voices need to be at the forefront of changing the way this country’s children get educated.  Unfortunately, no one is listening.

            Credit should be paid to NBC News for devoting days of coverage this week to a national discussion on education reform.  But why wasn’t an outstanding teacher the guest on “Meet the Press” instead of Education Secretary Arne Duncan?

            A big “thank you” to Bill and Melinda Gates for donating billions of dollars to public schools.  But Microsoft should not be the face of education reform.

            Creating a reality TV show with Tony Danza as a classroom teacher may garner ratings, but all it does is bring more attention to Mr. Danza than those who year after year positively impact young people’s lives.

            Congratulations to filmmaker David Guggenheim on his education documentary “Waiting for Superman” but he shouldn’t be the one on Oprah.

            The people who deserve to be in the spotlight, who should be the stars of the public school reform show, are the classroom teachers.          

            Many bright instructors are in America’s classrooms right now who could do wonders in transforming public schools if given the opportunity.  Why won’t anyone listen to them when it comes to how schools should be run?

            When 46 of the nation’s governors held a groundbreaking meeting on high school reform in February of 2005, no teachers were present.  This is like holding hearings on tort reform without a single attorney there.  Why would anybody intelligent do that?

            It seems no matter how hard they work, when it comes down to it, teachers are shut out from the decision-making process.  Just when teachers feel they have reached a certain level of respectability in their profession—sit on committees, chair departments, mentor other teachers—they quickly slip back to reality:  they wield no authority.  Despite their achievements, in the eyes of those in charge, they remain teachers, nothing more, and most definitely not needed for establishing education policy and reform.

            Whenever politicians talk about what needs to be done in education, they always seem to forget to invite the people who have the most direct connection to the students—the teachers.  Despite many of them sending their own kids to private schools, and having never spent a single day teaching a class, these lawmakers think nothing of dictating educational policies without the representation and advice of the people who do the teaching.  It makes about as much sense as having these same politicians debate a new surgical procedure and not having a single surgeon in the room.  That would never happen in the medical community, but it happens all the time in education. 

            It is frustrating for teachers to work in a system where they are accustomed to being the leader in the classroom, yet subservient to principals, superintendents, and, above else, politicians.  Teachers’ thoughts and concerns are ignored, discounted, overruled.

            The California State University found that “having meaningful input in the decision-making process” increases teacher retention.  Teachers not feeling that their input is valued end up exiting the profession.

            The time has come for teachers to be in charge of their own profession.  Teachers need to chair committees, lead state school boards, run for state superintendent positions.  The President of the United States should create a new position of Education Czar, a post that carries one stringent requirement:   several years of exemplary teaching experience.

             The greatest resource a school has to offer is its finest teachers.  If given the chance, they might just be able to transform America’s schools.