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Guest Column
By Tom Watkins

Welcome back to school: Public education remains vital in the U.S.

A quality education in America today cannot be considered a luxury, it is a necessity. In today's fast-paced, unpredictable, disruptive, technologically driven, global knowledge economy, a child without a decent education may become the adult without much of a future tomorrow.

When we think about our children and students, we need to create every opportunity and condition for them to be successful learners.

Preparation begins with the parents, so here's a message to Mom or Dad or the caretakers of kids: YOU are your children's first and most important and lifelong teacher. Please hug, love and read to them — even before they pop into this world.

Don't stop being engaged as they leave elementary school to enter those challenging teen years — stay involved!

Child development brain researchers and Nobel Prize-winning economists have determined that up to 85 percent of the human brain is developed in the first five years of life (See National Scientific Council on the Developing Child @ http://www.stpt.usf.edu/fsc/documents/CradleofProsperity.pdf).

Investing in these early years has the best economic impact for the child, community, state and nation. Send your child to school ready to learn, whether it's to kindergarten or senior high school.

In today's economic and political rancor, teachers may find it hard to recall why they devote their lives to this vital profession. But teachers DO make a difference and will be re-energized when they see students seated in a classroom ready and eager to learn. Teachers truly touch our collective futures with every lesson taught.

When we stop and think for a moment, public schools — whether traditional or charter — are the true Statues of Liberty in our great country. Can you name another American institution that takes the tired, hungry, poor children, kids with disabilities to give them the opportunity to learn? That is truly what our schools are all about.

If you believe as I do, that our schools are symbolic Statues of Liberty, then teachers are indeed the torch bearers, lighting the way for us all.

THE BEST YEAR EVER!

So as the new school year begins, let's remember these three basic ideals:

• In spite of the current economic challenges, great things are happening in our schools every day thanks to dedicated educators.

• The world is changing in dramatic ways as educators struggle to embrace and lead these changes.

• Our future is sitting in our classrooms today. The vitality of our state, the strength of our economy, the quality of our lives, the vibrancy of our democracy, and our place in the world depends on the quality of our schools.

All of us might reflect on the value of a quality education, re-dedicating ourselves to do our part in assuring our children, ALL of our children, get the education they need and deserve.

Let the school year begin. My hope is that this might be the year, as Bill Cecil, Michigan's 2003-04 Teacher of the Year (http://www.bestyearever.net/) calls it in his book, “The Best Year Ever!”