Assaulting education doesn’t promote career

The debates in state legislatures in Wisconsin and Iowa have led me to ask: Who will educate our children? As a school counselor, I have encouraged some of our brightest students to pursue education as a vocation. Promises of higher pay and benefits have led many into these career paths. But I fear that I should apologize to those students.

I don't want to go into how expensive college has become or how the future looks for the teaching profession with funding cuts to college. Nor will I address the issues being discussed on collective bargaining.

We have a real public relations problem. The assault on education has had a negative effect on who might choose education as a career. Both Govs. Culver and Branstad have gone on the record of wanting to recruit the best teachers possible. Is the debate in Des Moines and Madison encouraging this or is it helping bright students to choose different fields?

I believe Iowans did not support the Democrats' effort of the past few years to expand the focus of collective bargaining nor do they support the Republican effort to narrow that focus. Iowans are proud of their rural schools and hope to keep and recruit good young teachers and hopefully can continue to maintain our graduates in education.

Steve Milder

Maynard