“If you want to make a difference in the life of our nation; if you want to make a difference in the life of a child—become a teacher.” ~ President Barack Obama, State of the Union address 2011

OK, let’s get this out before Rush and the other conservative lemmings begin parroting each other like the sea gulls in “Finding Nemo”. When President Obama spoke last night during the State of the Union Address about people making a difference in the life of our nation by becoming teachers he wasn’t saying teachers should replace parents as the most important people in our children’s lives. And yes, I’m already hearing people “pointing out” how parents are more important, blaah, blaah, blaah …

First, some, it would seem, need to wake up to the fact that for far too many of our children in this country there are no adults who seem to give a flying fig what happens to them, and for many of them teachers fill that great big empty void.

And second, when was it ever bad for our children to have multiple good adult roll models in their lives?