More children need help before and in school

As someone who has worked with students in Michigan, Hawaii and Iowa since 1970, I thank Jennifer Hemmingsen for writing about Iowa's new Department of Education director, Jason Glass (Jan. 26 column). Glass, like so many “consultants” and educational “experts,” focuses on how we can improve teachers.

We have good teachers in Iowa. Our last wave of educational “reform” brought us the federal No Child Left Behind Act, with its focus on test scores. As teachers know, the irony of No Child Left Behind is that millions of kids have been left behind when they enter kindergarten. Children who come from homes with insufficient nutrition or medical care, or with drug/alcohol/sexual abuse and violence, homelessness or families moving constantly. Children who never have been read to, who live where television and videos blare continuously.

These kids start school behind middle class kids, and even with the overwhelming efforts of teachers and aides, many of these kids never catch up.

We need to quit trying to reinvent the education wheel and come to terms with the reality of millions of kids who need a lot more help. They need help before they go to school, and they need a lot more individualized help once they're in school. This will all cost money, but so have all the programs “consultants” have come up with since I started teaching in 1970.

Gary Sanders

Iowa City