For the first installment of his "Dave's True Stories" audio series, Dave Grohl discusses how teachers have influenced his live in a litany of ways.
The Nirvana drummer/Foo Fighter frontman not only recalls his days as a "terrible student" but also praises teachers like his mother, who was an "engaging educator, invested in the well-being of each and every student who sat in her class."
Now, in the uncertain era of school closings and reopenings in the COVID-19 pandemic, Grohl ponders how teachers can be protected, knowing they are "as essential as any other essential workers."
"America’s teachers are caught in a trap, set by indecisive and conflicting sectors of failed leadership that have never been in their position and can’t possibly relate to the unique challenges they face," Grohl explains. "I wouldn’t trust the U.S. secretary of percussion to tell me how to play 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' if they had never sat behind a drum set, so why should any teacher trust Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to tell them how to teach, without her ever having sat at the head of a class? Maybe she should switch to the drums."
Read his entire essay via The Atlantic here.
Listen below:
