Education is Magic
By Alex Cullins
“You are magic in a bottle”. This is something my third grade teacher, Eric, said to me when I was in the third grade. My parents had just gone through a divorce the year before, and at home kind words like these were rare. Eric treated me and all of his students as if we were the most special children in the world. This one singular sentence has stuck with me forever, and gave me the self confidence I needed to become who I am today.
Not only was Eric someone who believed in me when I needed it most, he was an amazing educator. His lesson plans were fun and engaging, he would mix Greek mythology into our math lessons, asking us things like how many teeth a three headed hydra would have if each head had 7 teeth, right before Hercules and would slay it. He also loved music, and would teach us songs- all of them about world peace and harmony. My 8 year old self loved few things more than when he would bring out his guitar and have us sing along to Woody Guthries “this land is your land”. Eric’s classroom had a book nook, complete with pillows and closed in by bookshelves. The entrance was a large wooden board cut in the shape of a tree, hand painted with an arch students would walk through. This was my favorite place in the world, and where my voracious appetite for reading began. On those shelves I found some of my favorite books I’ve ever read.
When my third grade school year ended, things changed. My public school faced massive budget cuts. Suddenly the number of students per class nearly doubled, and needing room for more desks and chairs, Eric’s book nook had to go. With nearly 30 students in his class, I can only imagine that his inspiring words were spread thin, so not every student received the same praise that my classmates and I enjoyed. He could still teach his Greek myth math lessons, but when they had to merge a class of second and third graders, he had to teach on a second grade level, hindering the education of the older students. Eric loved teaching more than anything and fortunately could remain at the school, but many other teachers couldn’t justify how much strain the new budget cuts added to their jobs. As students we felt the strain too. With huge classes, teachers weren’t able to be as attentive to us as individuals, the quality of our education suffered, and my bottled magic appeared to diminish.
Teachers like Eric shape lives, add light to dark times, and prepare students for the world. These things are priceless, and that’s why schools must have the funding to empower teachers and students to thrive. Reforming Prop. 13 is important to me because a properly funded school will be able to support teachers like Eric, and make sure they have the time and energy to make sure all their students know how magical they are. This isn’t just a dream I have, it’s an attainable policy decision. Only through collective action can we achieve a better future for all students.