I am lucky to have had, and have, some great teachers in my life. My wife is a pre-school teacher, my grandmother was a remedial reading teacher, and my daughter is a student teacher who will become a teacher in a few months. Education is our future, it's how people get ahead, learn to help others and get along. Individuals who become teachers do so because they care about people and want to help them succeed.
I've been in a variety of classes/seminars where people are asked to name the most important person in their life and very often they will name a teacher who helped them at some critical stage of their development. I can't think of any more important job than a teacher who is in a position to make a difference in a child's life, at a point where it can make a huge difference for that child's future.
Barack Obama not only has a cool looking website at BarackTV, with license plates that link to videos from New Hampshire, Texas, Iowa and Pennsylvania - but more importantly he has continued to address and articulate clear plans for achieving the goals people care about.
In this video he talks about education and shows his grasp of the issues - including early childhood education, teacher pay, art and music education, math and science education, and helping people afford to go to college. He's clear headed about it and says he knows not everyone will excel, and it's not the job of government to make that happen - but as Americans we all need to work together to create a world class educational system that gives every child a chance to excel.
