If Only...

If only we had more funding,
If only we had no unions,
If only we got the best and brightest of the bunch,
If only we had unlimited resources,
If only we didn't have to deal with parents,
If only we didn't have to deal with behavior,
If only we didn't have all that paperwork,
If only the teachers before us had done their job,
If only No Child Left Behind worked,
If only there was no state testing,
If only,
If only,
If only...

There's a plague among American educators called blameitonsomeoneelse-itis. In classrooms and workrooms across the country sit angry, bitter, tired faculty and staff who are playing the blame game. They are playing the what ifs, the if onlys, and the only thing that it seems to be affecting? Increasing negativity.

Thankfully not all individuals in education are like this, but there are far too few of them.  They are the administrators, teachers, aids, and secretaries who know that it does nothing to blame; to say "if only." They know that the time spent complaining is time lost from planning, collaborating, thinking, and making a difference.

We can have summits and conferences and debates in the government and the private sector about how to fix education and "who's to blame," but until we stop pointing fingers at others and start pointing them back at ourselves, it seems as if nothing much is going to change.

Yes, there are issues that must be dealt with in education: and they're whoppers. In the meantime, though, change can be occuring in small pockets everywhere by asking, "How can I do the very best that I can with my students, with my resources, and my circumstances, right now?"

Then, and here's the hard part: we have to actually do it.