A lot has been said about the coming year and what is happening with education throughout the country. There is a teacher shortage as thousands nationwide leave the profession. Some governors have attacked this sitting down by forming commissions and committees to study the problem.

Greg Abbot’s first commission included only one teacher. That notion would be like polling 50 white guys about the black experience or women’s issues. A number of people have mentioned teacher pay. Give teachers a substantial raise and I’m sure more would stay. No one is going to turn down more money. However, that isn’t the main problem. Most teachers knew they would never earn a lot of money. So, to say pay is the main problem is overlooking a ton.

I wish I could say that the problems impacting teachers are unique, but they aren’t. In essence, you have a group of people that are trained professionals but aren’t treated as such. Obviously, this can vary depending on local administration in the district and campus, but as a whole this is where things are. My wife is fond of saying two things about educators. First, we love to complain. It’s like an Olympic sport for us. Secondly, she has marveled at how poorly we are treated in terms of professionalism. We have to ask to leave campus. We get 25 minutes for lunch. If we miss multiple days we need to provide a note or ask for permission in advance. She protects our astronauts and still has far more freedom than we do.

What has happened in recent years has been a nationwide breakdown in how subject area experts are treated. Think about how Dr. Fauci has been treated. Suddenly, whether you place your faith in a specialist that has been doing it for 50 years identifies your politics. Do your own research. Here, watch this YouTube video. Listen to this pediatrician that may not even be accredited. Here comes somebody that’s an eye doctor. They know more than stupid Fauci. The obvious problem is that this distrust of subject area experts spreads to other subjects. Now, various states are changing curriculum to remove the parts they don’t like. Teachers don’t have the collective wisdom or skills to teach those things even though that’s what we went to school and hours of professional development to do.

There is a dark irony in watching people argue that we shouldn’t teach certain things because it will make their children feel bad or will be propaganda, but we should give those same teachers guns to protect those same children. Which is it? Are we qualified to be Clint Eastwood or Wyatt Earp or are we just baby sitters that can’t challenge our students to think?

The cold, hard truth is that people don’t do their own research. They never have. So, the question is who you trust for information. That didn’t used to be a problem. We generally accepted the word of experts. Sometimes they were wrong, but they were right more often than not. Now, there is an attack on intellectuals in this country. We happen to be a part of that group. People now look for someone that says something that echoes what they want to hear.