We can not wait until we have enough trained people willing to

Major Owens, a servant of the people and defender of learning, once proclaimed: “We can not wait until we have enough trained people willing to work at a teacher’s salary and under conditions imposed upon teachers in order to improve what happens in the classroom.” In this declaration burns a fierce urgency, the cry of one who understood that the future of a nation rests not upon armies nor upon treasuries, but upon the teachers who shape the minds of the young. Owens warns us that to delay reform, to wait until conditions are convenient, is to sacrifice generations upon the altar of neglect.

The origin of these words is found in the struggles of the late twentieth century, when schools in America cried out for renewal, yet teachers bore the burden of poor wages, overcrowded classrooms, and limited respect. Owens, himself once a librarian, knew the battlefield of education firsthand. He had seen the disparity between the lofty praise given to teachers and the meager reward they received. Thus, he demanded action, not in some distant future, but in the living present. For he knew that time is the enemy of children; every year of neglect steals opportunity that cannot be restored.

History testifies to the truth of his warning. Recall the example of Horace Mann, the great reformer of American education, who in the nineteenth century declared that the classroom was the true foundation of democracy. He fought for better training, higher pay, and improved conditions for teachers, for he saw that without strong schools, a nation’s freedom would wither. Owens walked in the same spirit, knowing that the dreams of children cannot be postponed until the world grows ready — they must be tended now, with urgency and devotion.

Consider, too, the story of post-war Japan. After devastation and ruin, the leaders of that nation resolved that rebuilding would not rest on weapons but on education. Teachers were honored, trained, and supported, for they were seen as the architects of the future. The nation rose from ashes into prosperity not by waiting for perfect conditions, but by investing in the classroom immediately, even in hardship. This is the lesson Owens pressed upon his people: to wait is to perish, but to act is to thrive.

The message is clear: a society that undervalues its teachers undermines its own future. To pay them poorly, to burden them with impossible conditions, yet to expect miracles from them, is folly of the highest order. The work of a teacher is not merely the transfer of facts, but the shaping of souls. And when that sacred work is neglected, the cost is borne not in coin, but in the hearts and lives of the young. Owens calls us to recognize this, and to act with urgency, for children cannot pause their growth while leaders delay their duties.

What, then, shall we do? We must raise the honor of the teacher above that of the politician and the merchant, for it is the teacher who prepares both. We must fight for wages that reflect the nobility of their labor, and for conditions that allow them to teach with strength rather than exhaustion. Communities must rally around schools, offering support, respect, and resources. And parents must remember that they, too, are teachers, partners in the sacred task of raising minds to their highest potential.

Therefore, O seekers of wisdom, hear the voice of Major Owens: We cannot wait. The time to strengthen the classroom is not tomorrow, but today. The time to uplift the teacher is not in another generation, but in this one. For the future is written not in laws nor in battles, but in the quiet lessons of the classroom. To honor and empower the teacher is to secure the destiny of the nation. To delay is to betray the children. Act now, and rejoice, for in lifting the teacher, we lift the world.