John Kuhn Kicks-Off the New School Year First Lecture - We Can Change the World
August 21, 2015 -1:00-3:00p.m. - Cullen Perfomance Hall
- Students can pick up their First Lecture t-shirts in the Cullen Performance Hall Lobby immediately before the event.
- COE will be passing out Dream Pops after First Lecture for all attendees.
John Kuhn, Superintendent of Perrin-Whitt CISD and educational activist, will speak to College of Education students at this year’s annual First Lecture. Kuhn works in a small, rural town, but the strides he’s making impact every corner of our nation.
As a native of Perrin, TX, Kuhn felt the importance of returning to his hometown and working in the same district that shaped who he is today. “The schools are the center of the community, and I felt honored to return and be a leader in the same school system that made such an impact on me.”
Kuhn first came to the public’s attention when he posted the Alamo Letter, a letter comparing the struggle of Texas freedom fighters at the Alamo to that of teachers and administrators besieged by budget cuts. As he listened to a Texas State Senator speak about upcoming budget cuts and non-negotiable expenses to be allotted for standardized testing, Kuhn could not remain silent. In the open letter, he criticizes the notion that making cuts in the classroom, the heart of the school, is permissible while funding standardized tests is not.
Since then, Kuhn has taken it upon himself to be the advocate the classroom needs. Balancing his duties as superintendent during the day with activism in the evening, Kuhn has made it a priority to spread the message of the importance of what teachers do. “What teachers do is what makes our tomorrow,” says Kuhn. “I don’t think there’s a better career or a more noble profession than to teach.”
Kuhn has made several appearances at Save Our Schools rallies where he delivered a call to action to all public school teachers to fight for their students and to never allow yourself to be confined by budget cuts and test scores. Kuhn believes it is time for Texas to “improve accountability” and start “labeling their lawmakers like they label teachers.”
Kuhn has also published these notions into two books, Test-and-Punish: How the Texas Education Model Gave America Accountability without Equity and Fear and Learning in America: Bad Tests, Good Data, and the Attack on Public Education.
The perk to this unexpected celebrity is that now Kuhn has a platform from which he can motivate our teachers. “What teachers are choosing to do with their life is extremely important,” says Kuhn. “They’re knitting the fabric of our future.” It’s with that message in mind that Kuhn encourages our current and future teachers to go out into the classroom and give it their all, every day.
“After hearing Mr. Kuhn speak at another event, it was clear that he would be an inspiring speaker at the First Lecture event and will aspire to motivate not just College of Education students, but faculty, staff and others that share the same passion and intention,” said Robert McPherson, Dean of the College of Education.
“Be compassionate, be passionate, be focused on the kids,” says Kuhn. “And be advocates. Be advocates for the system and the promise it holds for kids. Public school teachers have to advocate for the kids and for themselves. Teachers are usually hesitant to advocate for themselves, but they have to be more forceful about what they do and what it means for the state and for the nation.”
The College of Education invites you to celebrate the beginning of the new school year at First Lecture.