Single White Female

I have always been what I affectionately refer to as a "psuedo feminist". My fiancee calls it my "bleeding heart". I do not consider myself a liberal or a democrat, but I am certainly not conservative or a republican. I am also not apolitical. I think I simply believe in the inherent good inside myself and others and rarely, if ever, feel like particular groups or rights should be excluded.

Therefore, it always burned me a bit that I knew in my heart and soul that I would become a teacher. I knew about the critical shortage of women in math and science careers (alas, my two worst subjects). I also knew that caucasion females are not exactly in short supply in schools today. When I saw this modern-day Rosie the Rivetor magazine cover, I was still in the early stages of my career and was shamed when I looked around and saw 2 dozen faces just like mine leading the classrooms in my school, but only about 6-8 students participating in the lessons who fit the "caucasion female" bill.

Why is it that caucasion females are attracted to elementary schools? Is it because this was a happy, safe place for us in our youth? Or maybe it's because OUR teachers were caucasion females, successful and secure women we looked up to?

By those standards, there are few students in my current school who can relate to me, at least on the surface level. It is a struggle to remember that all kids do not learn they way I learned... that is, exactly as my traditional teachers taught me. This country has a major problem: a plumetting national reputation and "failing" subgroups barring us from federal funding.

Can our predominantly caucasion female workforce solve this problem? Honestly, I think so.

Rosie is the symbol I chose here because women have a history of righting the wrongs of society. In general, women are empathetic and motivated (at least those of us who chose to go into teaching tend to be). What better qualities could there be to right the current wrongs of our schools?

Our schools are designed to educate as many people as possible as similarly as possible. Is this really the best plan in this day and age? If we are truly leaving "no child behind", then we ought to start teaching as many people as possible as effectively as possible.