During the #OklaEd Twitter chat last week, Rob Miller made a brilliant suggestion:
This week's Blogger challenge: If you were “King or Queen for a day,” what would you do to improve #oklaed (<600 words). This will be fun!
— Rob Miller (@jmsprincipal) March 23, 2015
I wrote a list of 10 different things I would change if I were Queen Of #OklaEd For A Day, but I was so busy grading papers and students' missing work for the end of the nine weeks, I didn't get that post written. I did spend some time skimming over a few of the suggestions made by our other education bloggers, so I'm going to share with you their brilliant suggestions:
- Jenks Middle School Principal Rob Miller: If I Were King Of #OklaEd
- Multiple recommendations based on Monty Python's Search For The Holy Grail. You gotta love this!
- Moore Public Schools Assistant Superintendent Rick Cobb: Blogging From A Prompt: If I Were King
- Raise teacher pay
- Get rid of No Child Left Behind
- Retired Norman Reading Teacher Claudia Swisher: #OklaEd Queen For A Day
- A call for a moratorium on unfunded mandates
- 5th Grade Teacher Tegan Sexton: Queen For A Day
- Move to elect the State Board of Education
- Math Teacher Scott Haselwood: If I Am The #Oklaed King For A Day
- Redesign high school with project-based learning
- Keep the cafeteria open all day
- English Teacher Shanna Mellot: Another Brick In The Wall
- Get rid of high stakes testing
- Blue Cereal Education: #OklaEd King For A Day Submission
- Eliminate the cult of college readiness
- Get rid of semesters and required cores
- Nicole Shobert: If I Were Queen Of Education For A Day
- Get rid of unfunded and underfunded mandates
- Show real respect for the hard work teachers do
To this list, I'd add that we need a cultural shift in our perception of education and service. Instead of rewarding people for being famous (insert name of well-known socialite), or providing entertainment (you can mention any music or sports superstar here), we should reward those who dedicate their lives to elevating our children, to providing our next generation with the educational foundation they will need to create tomorrow's society, economy, and culture.