Some of us can sometimes think that these things aren't that close to home, but they are if we broaden our view, because a leaky faucet in our kitchen, broken radiator in our hallway, those parts of the house that we always say we're going to get to next week, they're devaluing our whole property.
I found the speaker’s analogy about a leaky faucet especially powerful. It illustrates how small, overlooked issues within our public education system can quietly devalue not just individual student outcomes but the overall health and potential of our society. Just as neglecting small repairs in a home can lower its property value, neglecting the foundational needs of our schools- such as adequate funding, mental health resources, and teacher compensation- undermines the value of public education as a whole. If we, as a nation and especially as educators, begin to advocate more fiercely for equitable resources, livable wages, and meaningful student support systems, we can start to reverse that decline and restore public education as the great equalizer it was always meant to be.