It is a season of drought for our children's education, from which Trump's cleavers lop off limbs and branches. And yet, in the arid season, visible are glimmers of good news for Colorado's elementary and middle school students: CMAS test results show improvement to their pre-pandemic performance in mathematics and literacy. Mathematics results are a bright spot for fourth- through eighth-grade kids compared with 2024 results. Simply put, it's pleasing to hear this for those of us who for years have lamented the poor penetration of mathematics pedagogy among some segments of our students.
Without going into the weeds, it's been shown that the study of mathematics is the keystone to understanding all science; I would furthermore posit that mathematics is the basis of all learning.
The patent lack of minority scientists has been a concern of mine, leading me over time to make rather futile proposals that nonetheless taught me a tremendous lot about how tragically fragmented the "house of education" in America is. My quest began with an erroneous hypothesis.
The idea: identify a cohort of ordinary minority bright K-12 kids and convince community colleges to set aside time and space for them. If you also engage willing community members with an interest in academic matters to take part is such a community education endeavor, I predicted great things could happen.
I also identified, called, emailed professors of chemistry, mathematics -- science in general -- at community colleges and Colorado universities: CU Boulder, DU, CSU, UNC, School of Mines, MSU, etc. I also contacted the now-banned DEI officers.
The majority didn't respond, and those who responded refused to engage with my ideas. I imagined them saying, "just another African lunatic." I have a deep reservoir of patience; it didn't bother me. It showed me that many who toil in education's trenches are overworked, poorly appreciated and worst of all, underpaid. And that sadly is the tragedy of our thinking: we seek excellence from others but fail, miserably fulfilling our own performances. To hear the most influential Americans talk, you'd think the state of America's children is of the nation's utmost importance.
Alas, the way we look at other people's children belies our stated beliefs. We disrespect our kids' teachers; paying teachers less than every other profession speaks volumes. Colorado's teachers' starting pay is $42,000 -- slightly better than Montana's $35,000 and Kentucky's $40,000. In general, it's worse in red states. My sin was, I expected K-12 and college teachers to go over and above what they are doing.
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That said, I got to know some wonderful men and women, people lucky enough their concern is learning: book people who transfer knowledge into kids' minds. And that my friends, is much more than I can say about the majority of you.
The reward for this traveler is the people he meets on the way. I had the good fortune of meeting teacher trainers: Rosanne Fulton of UNC's Center for Urban education, Brittany Lane of the MSU, Dewey Brigham, president of the Association of Black Professional Engineers and Scientists and a large number of CDE's officers. And the indomitable state Sen. Cathy Kipp, whom I observed, with the others, work on how the burden of obtaining a teacher training degree could be simplified.
In awe I watched a legislative proposal created, refined, and amended until eventually it was presented to the legislature. In May bipartisan legislation sponsored by Kipp and state Rep. Eliza Hamrick addressing Colorado's teacher shortage was passed and signed into law. The law aims to create more pathways for educators to pursue an endorsement in areas facing more severe teacher shortages.
I was particularly pleased to have been there as week after week discussions took place, with amendments from teacher leaders and university representatives. It was a time I learned terms like PRAXIS and a TREP -- relating to teacher tests; recruitment and preparation programs. And as I look back at my short journey across America's education landscape, I feel I know a bit more than before. I rubbed shoulders with the people responsible for the better test results for our K-12 students. Sadly though, things are worse than we realize.
The point is, until we spend some time informing ourselves as to what the education of our children entails, we will continue climbing an academic Sisyphean mountain. The twists and turns at the U.S. Department of Education is an example of what the uninformed resort to doing. Not pretty at all.
Pius Kamau, M.D., a retired general surgeon, is president of the Aurora-based Africa America Higher Education Partnerships; co-founder of the Africa Enterprise Group and an activist for minority students 'STEM education. He is a National Public Radio commentator, a Huffington Post blogger, a past columnist for Denver dailies and is featured on the podcast, "Never Again."