6 What the Public Should Know About the Education System

One thing I wish the general public understood better about the education system is how complex and multifaceted teaching is. It's not just about delivering content or grading papers. It's about building relationships, managing diverse student needs, adapting to constant changes in curriculum and policy, and often stepping into roles far beyond the classroom. Teachers are counselors, tech support, mediators, motivators, and mentors, simultaneously.

Education news can help bridge that gap by telling the real stories behind what happens in schools. When journalism highlights both the challenges and the triumphs, whether it's underfunding, student mental health, or innovative teaching strategies, it gives the public a clearer, more nuanced picture. Accurate, empathetic reporting can foster understanding, build trust, and ultimately support more informed conversations about what schools and students truly need.

I am a veteran teacher with 14 years of experience in the state of Florida. Prior to that, I worked as a substitute teacher in New York for two years. One aspect that the general public needs to understand better about teachers in Florida is that many are working under intense pressure with limited support and increasingly restrictive policies—yet they continue to show up for students every day.

In recent years, Florida teachers have faced:

-Low pay relative to national averages, often requiring second jobs to make ends meet.

-Legislation that limits what they can teach, especially around history, race, gender, and identity.

-Curriculum constraints that leave less room for creativity and critical thinking.

-Staffing shortages, meaning more students per class and less time for individualized instruction.

Despite these challenges, Florida teachers are deeply committed to helping their students succeed. They aren't just delivering lessons—they're filling roles as counselors, mentors, and advocates in a system that often doesn't fully recognize or support them.

People often place unrealistic demands on teachers without fully considering all the challenges educators face daily. Schools are meant primarily for academic instruction, while broader education and character building should start at home. Education news can bridge this understanding gap by highlighting these complexities and helping the public appreciate the distinct roles of schools and families.

After coaching many professionals learning to code through a pathway that isn't a traditional CS degree, including those with bachelor's, master's, and even doctoral degrees, I've observed that the education system at the university and college level doesn't do a great job of connecting learning to students' and graduates' career development at each step in their education-to-career path. If done well, this connection is a great way to bolster and strengthen students' ability to make informed choices, follow through on plans, and achieve goals.

Through years of career coaching, I feel many higher educational institutions miss this critical step on how to navigate the professional world. They also fail to take the time to highlight what career possibilities exist for students based on the education and classes they are taking.

Achieving a degree is a great accomplishment, but professionals don't typically work at the same job for decades like generations before us, given all the layoffs and transitions we see these days.

There is a real opportunity and need to give graduates skills on how to navigate interviews, evolve their resumes, understand the importance of building a professional community, know what to do if they don't like their chosen career, learn how to advocate for growth, promotions, raises, and so much more.

This is especially critical for first-generation college students and professionals who didn't grow up with access to all of this information from their families.

Failing to do this is a missed opportunity to equip young professionals with skills to have a more successful career, and it's truly a disservice to them in today's corporate climate.

One thing I wish more people understood about the education system is that it wasn't designed for today's world—it was built during the Industrial Age to address specific economic needs. Its main goal back then was to produce efficient workers: obedient, punctual, and able to follow instructions. That's why the system is heavily structured, standardized, and focused on uniform outcomes. It made sense for its time, but that same model struggles to serve a generation that values creativity, flexibility, and emotional intelligence. In short, we're preparing students for a future using tools from the past.

This outdated structure is especially visible in the Philippines. Although the current curriculum is performance-based and encourages student-centered learning, most classrooms still operate in a teacher-centered way. Traditional teachers, trained in rigid, lecture-driven methods, dominate many schools. Even new teachers, who are just introduced to modern approaches, often carry those old habits into their practice. This means that despite the curriculum's goals, lessons often focus on delivering content rather than fostering critical thinking or creativity. The result? Students mostly listen, memorize, and follow instructions, rather than actively engaging or exploring ideas. This gap between curriculum design and classroom reality shows how deep-rooted old methods still are, especially in a system that struggles to adapt fully to diverse student needs.

This is where education news can step in and shift public understanding. When done right, it can highlight efforts that embrace diversity in learning—like personalized education, multilingual programs, project-based learning, and social-emotional development. Instead of focusing only on standardized test scores, education reporting should spotlight real stories: the teacher who adapts lessons for visual learners, the school that supports kids with trauma, or the program that helps first-generation students thrive. These stories humanize education and break down the idea that there's only one way to succeed in school. By amplifying these voices and innovations, education news can challenge outdated assumptions and make room for a better system—one that reflects today's needs, not yesterday's economy.

I often see people struggling with basic health issues because they were never taught how to care for their bodies in a practical way. I've worked with countless individuals worldwide dealing with conditions like Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, and many tell me they wish they had learned about nutrition and digestion in school rather than just memorizing facts for a test.

Education news can bridge this gap by highlighting how schools can weave real-world health topics into their current curricula, showing the impact with stories from people who have suffered due to that missing knowledge.

In my practice, I've seen patients transform their lives just by understanding enzyme function (something a simple high school lesson could introduce). Let's push for education that equips students for real life, not just exams.