Are schools in trouble? David Brooks explored that question in a recent editorial for The New York Times, and his answer was unequivocal: “America Should Be in the Middle of a Schools Revolution” (Feb. 16, 2023).

My own research - anecdotal all - paints a more complicated conclusion: Yes and no. Schools are experiencing deep challenges, but the kids are all right (mostly), and teachers continue to be amazing (virtually no exceptions).

But back to David Brooks. Brooks points out that schools have diminishing enrollment. There is also evidence of steep learning declines. Add to this, rising absenteeism (students, mostly) and increased discipline problems (again, mostly students, but teachers can get wild!) Add to that the political divides around racial equity, curriculum, and more. It’s a mess.

But I want to tell you stories of a sweet and simple truth: Teachers want to teach, and students want to learn. It’s amazing, it’s incredible, and it’s true.

Since I retired from public education, I have time to read now about all the topics that matter to me. Schools, teachers, mental health, English language arts, and the thousands of subjects that fall under those banners. But I also talk to teachers, and I visit schools.

And while I can deeply acknowledge the profound problems we face, I can also witness the tenderness, beauty, and love that is ongoing in so many of our nation’s classrooms.

So this is a lovesong for the classroom. Maybe you think, as a former public school educator, that I’m just longing for the past, but this is not the case. I’m happily retired, I assure you!

But having been in the classroom, I can see other teachers in a way few others can access. It’s a shame, really, that more people can’t witness what is taking place in classrooms around this country. Or maybe just New London County. I don’t really know any place other than my own backyard. Here are a few examples:

Anthony is an Army veteran who’s currently student-teaching at Groton Middle School. Anna is a young mother who is student-teaching at Norwich Free Academy. Through these two brave and dedicated new teachers, I see teaching and learning is alive and well.

I see their cooperating teachers, Catherine and Thomas, supporting and guiding. I see the students, showing up, raising their hands, and being a part of something so big and so important, that the mind staggers to measure its girth (even if they don’t know it).

I see Maria at Old Saybrook High School, managing her teaching responsibilities along with directing the musical “Legally Blonde” (performed March 17-18). I see Jessica’s students will be performing “101 Dalmations” at the Garde Arts Center.

I see Tim at Dean’s Mill, so creative and positive! In short, I see teachers near and far doing the work that continues to spark students and keep the flame of learning alive.

But it’s not just teachers who bring us hope for the future of schools. It is, of course, the students themselves.

Even though I no longer teach in the brick and mortar classroom, I still teach students. It’s all one-on-one now, a part of Brooks’ report on the mass exodus from the institution of the past.

These are homeschoolers, global learners, travelers, world families, as well as students currently enrolled in schools but who are looking for personalized instruction, as luxurious as that sounds (and it is).

But putting that aside for the moment, I think only of their faces. Their curious, “make-me-care” faces that speak to the ancient transfer of knowledge, understanding, information, one generation to the next. Can we make it that simple, even now?

I believe that we can.

So much of our current circumstance feels like a case of overblown bureaucracy, a systems overload, where the structures of our institutions get severely top-heavy, and our girders begin to buckle.

Take health care, political infrastructures, and just about any institution you can name right now. If it’s been around a while, it’s struggling. It’s not just schools.

Consider this: schools cannot fix what society fails to address. Such a true statement, and so helpful in understanding just what is taking place and why schools are as bogged down as they are. Even if it’s not apparent in our backyard, it’s still vital to heed the warnings of Mr. Brooks, and recognize that as much as we’d like to imagine otherwise, the work of teaching and learning is not without profound challenges.

But meanwhile, we need to remember the simple truth: Teaching is happening, and learning is ongoing. We can so easily get swept up in the political arguments to and fro, but the fact remains: schools are good places, and filled with positive educators and hopeful students.

Gay Collins, a retired Waterford teacher with a master’s degree from Connecticut College, lives in Preston.