In our modern, contemporary times we tend to think that what we personally have today is the result of our individual abilities and hard work. Many of us look with pride upon our degrees and certifications, on wealth amassed, or positions we hold.
Yet, none of us can truly take full credit for our successes in this life. We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to previous generations, especially our parents, teachers, and mentors, who taught us how to read and write, think, work, and live good, moral lives.
While each of us has innate talents, we started life as helpless infants and went through most of our childhood utterly dependent upon those around us to both do and provide what they believed best for our futures.
Personally, I owe a special debt to my mother for my education. As a single mom cleaning houses for a living, she did her very best to make sure I had a good one.
From kindergarten to second grade, I was enrolled at the local public school in the GATE program. In third and fourth grades, I and several of my classmates were enrolled in the local Lutheran school since the public school we previously attended was known to have a sub-par third and fourth grade GATE program.
The school district then built a new elementary school on my end of town and so some of us moved from the Lutheran school to the grades five and six GATE program there.
Alas, the local junior high school was also known to be something of a disaster when it came to education. My mom, unable to afford any other options, chose to homeschool me. Humorously, what that looked like was her away, cleaning houses during the day while I was left at home with a list of chores, a pile of workbooks and curriculum, and instructions for what I needed to learn that day.
Looking back, you may be surprised to know I believe homeschooling during junior high school was the period in my K-12 education that I probably learned the most – aside from learning the basics early on and then Mrs. Zerwas’s math drills. Nonetheless, homeschooling oneself as an only-child isn’t ideal.
My mom applied to transfer me from our school district to the adjacent one and its high school since it had AP classes. Thankfully, the transfer was approved, and I was able to catch a ride with a neighbor who had done the same.
From high school I went on to Hillsdale College. It was my mom who made me go visit. She scrounged up enough money to put me on a plane and off I went. Once there, I was amazed at the depth and sincerity of the classroom discourse. It was unlike any of the other colleges I’d visited and a radical change from high school. When I met with the admissions counselor, I signed up to attend the school right there and then.
As a child we don’t know what we need to succeed in life. If you were to put a bowl of candy and a bowl of stew in front of a child and give him the choice of what to eat, you’re most likely to see the candy devoured and an upset tummy later on.
That’s why it’s our role as parents, mentors, and educators to do our very best to instill in the next generation everything they need in order to be an adult who can meet the challenges of the world head on.
Sadly, I fear that nearly across the board our public education system is no longer doing so.
In both 2023 and 2024, only 52% of high school sophomores in the state were found proficient in reading by the Minnesota Department of Education. The other 48% are struggling to read at a higher grade level while some are effectively functionally illiterate. Worse, by 11th-grade in Minnesota’s public high schools, only 35% of juniors are considered proficient in math.
As a state and as communities, we are failing future generations in our duties. We must remember that our successes in life are largely dependent on what previous generations did for us, and we have a duty to do the same for the children of Minnesota.
My tremendous thanks goes out to my mom who worked and sacrificed to make sure I had a strong future, and to the teachers and professors along the way who played such critical roles.
Thank you to the parents who are doing everything they can to get their children a quality education. Those kids may not thank you now, but they will!
I’d also like to thank the teachers who are stuck in a failing education system for doing their best to equip the next generation with the tools and knowledge they need despite all the challenges. I’ve heard enough horror stories to understand it’s a daily battle.
Thank you, too, to the teachers in private schools who sacrifice greater pay, benefits, and a pension, to be in a school where you feel you have greater freedom to practice your vocation. In speaking with many of you, I know it isn’t easy.
Thank you also to the advocates, parents, and elected leaders in Minnesota and around the country who are working tirelessly to achieve school choice and Education Savings Accounts (ESAs). Hundreds of thousands of families desperately need the freedom and resources to find the best education for their children. You are helping make that happen!
And, finally, thank you for being a part of OAK and our mission to achieve school choice in Minnesota.
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Image Credit: Andreas Overand, CC BY 2.0
