I've had administrators who loved the kids and put education ahead of funding, but mostly not. I've had parents who respected what I was trying to do and supported me, but mostly not. I've watched teachers who put in the extra hours and effort rather than just getting home asap, but mostly not. And I've had students who genuinely wanted and needed my more personal input, but mostly not.

The educational system has failed for a long time, and there is plenty of blame to go around. Too many separate and conflicting agendas. The result is kids coming out unprepared, both intellectually and emotionally. I've written about changes that I feel would make a difference, but I don't know that anything real can be done until the divisions in our country have been not eradicated (because humans are human) but at least tempered. We can't expect kids to rise to standards that we adults are not meeting.