Many years ago, a Republican governor of Iowa made my public school a priority.
When I was in fourth grade, my teacher told us that Iowa’s public schools were some of the best in the country. I was shocked. Our school? Really? My classmates and I wanted to know why. She explained that Iowans were smart and had always made education a priority.
Skeptical, I wrote to Gov. Terry Branstad, inviting him to visit our school. I didn’t think he’d answer. Surely, I thought, he didn’t care about me or my school. But I was wrong. In 1986, 150 of my classmates and I welcomed Governor Branstad into our cafeteria by playing “Hail to the Chief” on our recorders. That day, he proved he cared about the students at Gertrude Fellows Elementary — a public school in Iowa.
If my 1986 haircut isn’t foreshadowing for a teaching career, I don’t know what is. When I started, the climate was positive, even when we faced challenges such as the No Child Left Behind law . Those were uncharted waters, but they were met with determination.