Welcome teachers!
We know how difficult your work is made by changes in laws and procedures, by demands for reports and paper work, and sometimes by less than cooperative parents and unsupportive administration. Classes may be overcrowded. Students often come to you ill-prepared and under-motivated - maybe even disruptive. Some of you don't even have the basic resources or proper space to do your work.
We would like to work with you in describing this dilemma and crisis of our times. We want to highlight the challenges, promote positive solutions, and display attempts at solutions. This is what the School
Center is about.
Whatever the demands on teachers from the top down, whatever pressure to prepare students for tests and produce grade improvement, we still feel education must be relevant for students and stretch their thinking about the common good and their place in the world. That's why we hope our Encyclopedia will give you a quick and ready resource to discuss matters of current interest and controversy. You can quickly print out and copy outlines for discussions. We intend all our documents to conclude with Questions for Discussion and Implications making for ready class discussions or debates.
You can also network with others in your area who care about youth and want to collaborate to improve their lives (see Networking). Hopefully, this section will help you see that you're not alone!