Hmm! and just the other day I came across a middle school holding a special rally outside. The teachers were holding signs that read ”Save our Schools.”
Indeed. They are closing schools because there’s no funding for them. The way we do education – that is, the way we operated schools is from the 19th century.
Lets see: The worst teacher makes as much as the best. Teacher salaries can only go up.Teachers with modern education are laid off before uneducated teachers. A bad teacher can bump a good one during layoffs. No teacher can be paid more for merit. No teacher can be laid off for incompetence.Teachers claim they are professional yet threaten strikes. Did doctors (True professionals) ever strike?
Actually, Lewreader, since school districts are under local control and subject to different state laws, that’s not entirely true. There is merit pay in some places, and it’s becoming more common. Teachers are fired for incompetence, by the way. It’s happened in our district.
Having said that, are you sure you want to use doctors as the role model? They charge an arm and a leg, they prescribe dangerous medicines they don’t understand (this has been a big one lately, but if you don’t believe me, ask any pharmicist), they often make life-threatening mistakes but don’t get called up on it. True professionals…. Want to try lawyers next?
In any profession or sector you can find individuals who strive for excellence and individuals who are a waste of a paycheck if not the air they breathe. You can say the same thing about the ‘crop’ the individuals came in. I teach, and I have seen newly accredited teachers whose heads were so full of SLO’s, PLO’s, SSC’s, ELS’s and what other TLA’s (Three Letter Abbreviations) that the objective of teaching the student was lost in administrative mumbo-jumbo.
The fact is, the education system is broken. Were this a factory, we would shut the machine down, fix it, and then resume operations. In education, we run the machine faster. We teach double digit multiplication in 2nd grade and expect kindergardeners to know how to read words. The system forces the education downward towards younger ages in the hopes that the kids will learn by the time they are supposed to. We have taken shop classes and practical education out of high school because “no child will be left behind on the trek to a college education.”
In the meantime teachers, admin, unions, boards of education, lawyers, and professional negotiators stage a media circus bickering over money, working conditions, and expectations. And on top of all that, many parents are happy to hand over the education of their kids (the single most influential factor in the quality of life of their grand-kids) to people and a system, the likes of which they would never dream of letting touch their car.
Put the teachers in charge and the parents to watch them. School boards (as most all boards and committees) are a useless layer of administrative cost that should be the first thing cut. Democratize public education.
ladywolf17 over 14 years ago
Hmm! and just the other day I came across a middle school holding a special rally outside. The teachers were holding signs that read ”Save our Schools.”
cdward over 14 years ago
Indeed. They are closing schools because there’s no funding for them. The way we do education – that is, the way we operated schools is from the 19th century.
lewisbower over 14 years ago
Lets see: The worst teacher makes as much as the best. Teacher salaries can only go up.Teachers with modern education are laid off before uneducated teachers. A bad teacher can bump a good one during layoffs. No teacher can be paid more for merit. No teacher can be laid off for incompetence.Teachers claim they are professional yet threaten strikes. Did doctors (True professionals) ever strike?
Wonder why the taxpayer is angry?
cdward over 14 years ago
Actually, Lewreader, since school districts are under local control and subject to different state laws, that’s not entirely true. There is merit pay in some places, and it’s becoming more common. Teachers are fired for incompetence, by the way. It’s happened in our district.
Having said that, are you sure you want to use doctors as the role model? They charge an arm and a leg, they prescribe dangerous medicines they don’t understand (this has been a big one lately, but if you don’t believe me, ask any pharmicist), they often make life-threatening mistakes but don’t get called up on it. True professionals…. Want to try lawyers next?
Robert Maxell Premium Member over 14 years ago
In any profession or sector you can find individuals who strive for excellence and individuals who are a waste of a paycheck if not the air they breathe. You can say the same thing about the ‘crop’ the individuals came in. I teach, and I have seen newly accredited teachers whose heads were so full of SLO’s, PLO’s, SSC’s, ELS’s and what other TLA’s (Three Letter Abbreviations) that the objective of teaching the student was lost in administrative mumbo-jumbo.
The fact is, the education system is broken. Were this a factory, we would shut the machine down, fix it, and then resume operations. In education, we run the machine faster. We teach double digit multiplication in 2nd grade and expect kindergardeners to know how to read words. The system forces the education downward towards younger ages in the hopes that the kids will learn by the time they are supposed to. We have taken shop classes and practical education out of high school because “no child will be left behind on the trek to a college education.”
In the meantime teachers, admin, unions, boards of education, lawyers, and professional negotiators stage a media circus bickering over money, working conditions, and expectations. And on top of all that, many parents are happy to hand over the education of their kids (the single most influential factor in the quality of life of their grand-kids) to people and a system, the likes of which they would never dream of letting touch their car.
rotts over 14 years ago
“The 60s” was 50 years, and two generations, ago, rickmac1937.
’60s parents are now grandparents, if not great-grandparents.
Please stop blathering and get over it.
Charles Brobst Premium Member over 14 years ago
Put the teachers in charge and the parents to watch them. School boards (as most all boards and committees) are a useless layer of administrative cost that should be the first thing cut. Democratize public education.