Opinion
Teaching Profession Letter to the Editor

More Than ‘Professional Capital’ Is Needed

July 17, 2012 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

To the Editor:

“Reviving Teaching With ‘Professional Capital’” (June 6, 2012) sets forth a well-reasoned analysis and suggests a well-intentioned approach for advancing the teaching profession. However, the Commentary’s authors fail to consider their own most insightful observation: The main driving force in U.S. education is short-term and nonrenewable business capital, which “favors a teaching force that is young, flexible, temporary, inexpensive to train, lacking in pensions, and replaceable wherever possible by technology.”

These driving forces are corporate-based and are succeeding in restructuring the American educational system to serve their interests. An inexpensive and inexperienced teaching profession using a highly structured curriculum and held accountable to standardized tests produces and reinforces a system that serves as a training institution for developing workers as replaceable parts.

Teachers cannot give students what they do not have themselves. Gone to other professions are many teachers with critical-thinking abilities, self-reliance, and aspirations. Gone is the development of citizenship and civic values. And, going is the idea of schools for a democracy.

Reviving teaching with “professional capital” is an honest and laudable idea. However, the authors miss the underlying factors that have created, and seek to perpetuate, the reduced investment in teachers and public education.

Tedd Levy

Old Saybrook, Conn.

A version of this article appeared in the July 18, 2012 edition of Education Week as More Than ‘Professional Capital’ Is Needed

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Webinar
The Future of the Science of Reading
Join us for a discussion on the future of the Science of Reading and how to support every student’s path to literacy.
Content provided by HMH
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
College & Workforce Readiness Webinar
From Classrooms to Careers: How Schools and Districts Can Prepare Students for a Changing Workforce
Real careers start in school. Learn how Alton High built student-centered, job-aligned pathways.
Content provided by TNTP
Student Well-Being Live Online Discussion A Seat at the Table: The Power of Emotion Regulation to Drive K-12 Academic Performance and Wellbeing
Wish you could handle emotions better? Learn practical strategies with researcher Marc Brackett and host Peter DeWitt.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Teaching Profession Opinion What Teachers Need to Know About Navigating Political Turmoil
Educators share guidance on how to deal with the present moment.
1 min read
Photo of U.S. Capitol building.
Education Week + Getty
Teaching Profession Want to Teach in Oklahoma? You May Have to Prove You're Not 'Woke'
The state is partnering with PragerU to develop an assessment for incoming educators.
3 min read
Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters holds his hand over his heart during the National Anthem at inauguration ceremonies on Jan. 9, 2023, in Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters holds his hand over his heart during the National Anthem at inauguration ceremonies on Jan. 9, 2023, in Oklahoma City. Walters announced plans for a new test to screen teachers from states considered “woke.”
Sue Ogrocki/AP
Teaching Profession ‘You Can Lead Now’: Inside the NEA’s Plan to Engage New Teachers
In an aging workforce, the nation's largest teachers' union seeks ways to engage younger educators.
3 min read
Em DePriest of Kansas speaks on behalf of a proposal to create an early career teacher working group. Members of the National Education Association's Aspiring Educators Program move to bring an initiative to a vote during the NEA Representative Assembly in Portland, Ore., on July 3, 2025.
Em DePriest, a teacher in Kansas, speaks in favor of a proposal to create an early-career teacher working group. Members of the National Education Association's Aspiring Educators program moved to bring the initiative to a vote during the NEA representative assembly in Portland, Ore., on July 3, 2025.
Kaylee Domzalski/Education Week
Teaching Profession Can the National Education Association Win Over Republican Members?
Union leaders seek common ground with conservative teachers while managing an active, mostly liberal membership.
5 min read
The National Education Association's Republic Educators Caucus tabled at the NEA Representative Assembly on July 4, 2025, in Portland, Ore
The National Education Association's Republican Educators Caucus had a table at the NEA representative assembly on July 4, 2025, in Portland, Ore. The national teachers' union has been working to engage conservative teachers and communities.
Kaylee Domzalski/Education Week