Public education is forever derided for its shortfalls, but the voices of discontent are largely overlooking one trend in public education. About 75 percent of America’s teachers are female.

Similar trends exist in Britain, Australia and Canada.

Does this constitute a crisis? What difference does a teacher’s gender make? One plus one equals two, no matter who teaches it—right? A study by Thomas S. Dee, an economist at Swarthmore College, indicates otherwise.

Dee discussed his findings in the fall 2006 issue of Education Next. “[L]earning from a teacher of the opposite gender has a detrimental effect on students’ academic progress and their engagement in school,” he wrote. “My best estimate is that it lowers test scores for both boys and girls by approximately 4 percent of a standard deviation and has even larger effects on various measures of student engagement.”

Dee then highlighted the impact on America’s boys. “Adverse gender effects have an impact on both boys and girls, but that effect falls more heavily on the male half of the population in middle school, simply because most middle-school teachers are female” (ibid.).

Further on, Dee stated, “Similarly, these results suggest that part of boys’ relative propensity to be seen as disruptive in these grades is due to the gender interactions resulting from the preponderance of female teachers.” Boys learn less when they are instructed by female teachers. That’s a sobering find, considering that only one in four teachers in America’s schools is male, and there are a lot of male students.

But the role of men in our education system lies beyond just their academic impact. Their role as examples and role models of manhood and masculinity is absolutely critical, particularly for boys. Though they have consistently been outnumbered by female teachers, male teachers and administrators have a unique and profound impact on a school and its students. The firm presence of mature, law-abiding men is critical to the rounded development and maturity of all students, especially boys.

I speak from experience. My physical education teacher, for example, embodied what it means to be brawny, athletically competent and physically vibrant. His example inspired more than a few teenage boys to shed boyish flab in pursuit of more masculine traits such as physical strength, vivacious health and a spirit of healthy competition.

Tall and foreboding, the male principal of my high school was also a much-needed asset. An austere and serious man, he commanded the respect of even the most boisterous troublemaker. An enemy of few, friend and confidant of most, his deep voice of stability and experience empowered the dispirited and gave direction to the misguided. Masculinity means service and sacrifice, encouragement and affability—and this man was an example in all those respects.

Real masculinity—scorned as it is by Hollywood—also includes self-discipline, resilience, ambition, leadership, the courage to confront adversity, and the ability to act decisively and forcefully when conditions warrant. My male teachers taught these qualities by their example. I remember more than a few occasions where a fraught female temp teacher hurriedly recruited the assistance of a battle-hardened, 225-pound bearded colleague to quiet an unruly classroom.

My point is, male teachers, while less in number, had a disproportionately large impact, fulfilling roles that female teachers simply couldn’t. This is not to say male teachers are better or more important than female teachers. They are not. But the inherent differences between men and women mean that male teachers provide leadership and education in areas that female teachers are generally weaker in, in the same way that female teachers excel in the areas that men are generally weaker in. A balanced education supplies young students with a healthy dose of influence from both men and women.

With three quarters of America’s teachers being women, our children are not receiving that balanced education!

We need to be concerned about the void of male teachers and principals at our schools. The current ratio of three women teachers per male teacher is the lowest in 40 years. Millions of America’s boys and girls are missing out on essential elements of education.

Male teachers, according to Alexis Tibbetts, Florida’s Okaloosa County superintendent of schools, are critically important “as role models for young men, especially those who may be coming from single-parent households.” The need for masculine role models has never been greater: Today there are more than 13 million single parents (raising more than 21 million children) in America. Approximately 84 percent of those custodial parents are mothers.

Do the math. There are literally millions of fatherless boys that need guidance from strong, law-abiding male teachers. These children need the positive influence of masculine male teachers to counter the negative influence of the effeminates who dominate pop culture and the arrogance of the out-of-touch sports stars. Growing boys, naturally, learn about manhood from the men in their lives. Many female teachers admit this, and although they are generally pleased by the surge of women principals, many are worried by the lack of male teachers.

School faculties overwhelmingly comprised of women, combined with a 40 percent divorce rate robbing many homes of full-time fathers, results in millions of children with little to no male influence in their lives. Countless boys growing up without a stable, balanced man in their lives are absorbing a narrow, media-designed, shallow definition of what they are to become. Misguided, feminized boys often mature into misguided, feminized men. Never before have we had such a drastic void of stable, masculine role models.

This constitutes a serious problem for America: History shows that national success hinges on strong, masculine leadership. And masculine leadership grows out of secure, hard-working, masculine boys and young men. Strong fathers and a healthy dose of respectable male teachers in our schools are pivotal to creating future generations of high-quality leaders.

The Bible specifically warns about the declining influence of men in American society. Read the third chapter of Isaiah. Here God warns that prior to the return of Jesus Christ, strong, masculine men—outnumbered and overpowered by feminine and childish influences—will have become virtually extinct.

As frustrating as it is, the marginalization of men in America’s classrooms directly fulfills Isaiah 3. Take a few minutes to meditate upon the broader lessons here: This gloomy trend proves the veracity of the Holy Bible. Now ask, if the Bible talks about a trend as specific as the demise of the male influence in schools in this end time, what other trends does it talk about that you don’t know about?

You should investigate that question further. Begin by requesting your free copy of The Proof of the Bible.