For the first time in years, Iraq is financing it public schools, teachers and supplies. Under Saddam, education was not given funds needed to keep schools open.
The old regime viewed education as contrary to their interests and kept the schools sorely underfunded, the teachers ill paid and the classrooms without supplies.
Much needs to be done, but now under the new government, schools are being funded, and although still short of books and desks, classrooms are being repaired and teachers salaries have gone from as low as $3 per month to $200, a living wage bringing teachers back to schools along with the students.
Removing Saddam freed teachers to teach and students to learn, a fundamental strength for a growing and prosperous economy.
In what are certainly difficult times, educating the children of Iraq is a bright spot for the future.