"One of the Best"....

While reading some news online this morning, I came across an article stating that Sarah Brown Wessling accepted the teacher of the year award yesterday in Washington D.C. Reading that Wessling was an English teacher in Johnston, Iowa I couldn't help but have some Iowa pride and smile a little to myself. This led me to thinking about that little phrase I heard so much growing up...."Iowa has one of the best school systems in the country". While I still believe this to be true, I do know that many other students who reside in other states hear this same thing with their state substituted for Iowa. Who's right? What makes a school system "one of the best"? Is it improving scores? That could really be from funding and available resources. Is it the amount of funding and available resources? Could be...but many wonderful learning experiences don't even involve a funded classroom. So what is it? My conclusion: the teachers. At the beginning of the semester, I had the perspective that funding was the first to be blamed, then the parents, then the teachers. Now, I would argue that teachers are last on the list to be blamed. Yes, of course there are some not so good teachers as with anything else. But there are some great ones. Great teachers facilitate students to learn on their own and explore the world around them. These teachers are what make schools "one of the best". And they're also the ones who never get the credit. They barely get paid, rarely get thanked, and once in a blue moon get recognized with an award. So congratulations Sarah Brown Wessling. And thank you to all the wonderful teachers I have had so far in my life.