“Did you know that NAEP scores in 4th and 8th grades in math and reading have trended upwards for most of the past 30 years—not by a little, but a lot?” In his op-ed for the Huffington Post, MƒA President John Ewing explores the role of crisis-mongers in education, ones who say that our test scores are declining, our graduation rates are abysmal, and that we’re falling behind the rest of the world. Dr. Ewing argues that the dramatic proclamations of an education crisis are inaccurate, and, even worse, have lasting negative ramifications on our education structure and the teaching profession:

“But the most serious consequence of this fake crisis is that we are destroying the most important part of education’s infrastructure—our teachers. After thirty years of crisis-mongering, some of our best teachers are giving up and leaving. Many teachers are demoralized, burned-out, tired of having to defend themselves and their profession from attacks by the media, the pundits, and the politicians. Worse, they are telling their children and students to stay away from teaching as a career. Is it any wonder that fewer and fewer bright, young students show an interest in teaching as a career?” 

Read Dr. Ewing’s entire piece on the Huffington Post.