I’m often amazed by how much emphasis we as Americans put on results. We want our favorite teams to win all their games, and if they don’t, we fire the coaches. We want our politicians to fix all our nation’s ills, and if they can’t, we vote them out. We want our schools to prepare all their students for four-year universities, and if they miss the mark, we blame the teachers.

The reverse can be true as well, of course. There are the Dean Smiths and John Woodens of college basketball known for their winning ways, as well as their character. There are the FDRs, Harry Trumans and Woodrow Wilsons who successfully saw us through world wars. And there are schools whose stellar test scores give the impression that they alone are getting the job done.

But what makes the difference in these results? Is it just hard work and compassion versus laziness and apathy? Is it just knowledge and wisdom versus ignorance and lack of common sense? Is it just integrity versus moral indifference?

This past summer, I took my wife for her pre-op appointment for surgery. When the doctor found out I was a teacher, he politely asked what grade I taught and where. He also told me where his children went to school. We had a nice, albeit brief conversation, regarding education.

But one remark he made has stuck in my mind like a splinter in my finger. After we both extolled the reputation and the success of the school his children attend, he proudly made the following remark: “You can’t argue with the results.”

Maybe he was justifying the $20,000 tuition. And maybe he was simply bragging. But whatever he meant, his remark continued to cause me discomfort.

For one thing, the teachers where I work are as diligent and compassionate, and well-educated, as any school I have ever been associated with, public or private. We chose to teach in a public school for all the right reasons. The majority of our students are not from privileged homes, and many of them have parents who barely make $20,000 each, let alone use it for a child’s yearly tuition.

I assume that most of the children in this man’s private school have parents who are well-educated and financially successful. And of course, they would want their own children to have the privileged lives that they now enjoy. I don’t blame them. I’m glad to have lived long enough to witness my own three children blossom academically and professionally. So there’s no fault or blame there in his logic.

But if I only looked at the results of tests and financial attainments based on the students I teach, I might be looking at the wrong definition of results and success. As a teacher, if I only used test data and report cards to measure these things, I would have a hard time justifying my career. I might be tempted in a moment of discouragement to think that my life in the classroom was a mistake based on the house I live in or the one car I drive — if those things were the “results” I was looking for to measure my success.

I wish I could have told this impressive young professional that some of the kids from the school I teach do go on to elite universities, as well as serve in all branches of the military. That is success no doubt with positive results.

But most of my students will not go to schools such as Duke or Northwestern, although two recent graduates have. But does that mean my school is not successful?

I worked in private schools for over half of my teaching career, both as a teacher and as a principal. And I’d like to say those schools were successful, based on their results. But I also know that most Americans can’t afford private schools and they can’t isolate themselves with people of their same social status.

Privileged Americans simply don’t understand the dilemma many public schools face every day because they don’t have to. But when they do look at us, they seem to focus on failure and poor results, not on our success stories.

The statement “You can’t argue with the results” is certainly a truism.

But any teacher will quickly tell you they didn’t get into teaching for results. They got into teaching for children.

Larry Efird teaches at A.L. Brown High School in Kannapolis.