What's Next?The US Economy has serious problems and now it we realize that the US public education system is also seriously messed up-- no, more than we ever thought.
The article (linked below) discusses how states consistantly get it wrong in the hiring, firing of bad teachers and the retention of good ones. Unions are partly to blame for this but they are not the only guilty parties. Unions, started many years ago, gave workers rights, enforced safety codes making jobs less dangerous, and helped ensure employees were not wrongly dismissed or not given benefits they deserved. However, unions they have gotten so strong that occasionally I joke with my students "the only way I can get fired is if I hit you or kiss you." I can be the worst teacher who just makes you copy paragraphs from a book while I read the newspaper at my desk and yet, I still keep my job.
So unions are partly to blame in that they are so strong it makes it hard to remove teachers that are truly "dead weight". However, as the article above points out, in each state, state law decides many rules regarding the hiring, firing, tenure, teacher licensing, and even the number of minutes students are to be in school during the year. It makes sense with their power than they employ some common sense and make decisions that will help school districts not only hire good people, but retain the best and re-train or eliminate the worst.
I can't help but think this is where the private schools should shine comparatively in K - 12. They are much smaller on average and smallness sometimes ensures goodness. Take my school for example, with over 4000 students and 175+ teachers it's a bit hard to make sure that all teachers are doing what they should be doing. All our teachers get evaluated by an administrator on some kind of schedule, but that can vary from a "here sign this form" to a rigorous Gestapo style evaluation that requires two weeks of detailed lesson plans, 1-2 hours of direct class
room observation and more. In my 13 years of teaching I can tell you the former is more common than the latter. In a small, private school I think there is a healthy level of scrutiny and this keeps teachers from getting lazy as they know people, parents, and others will talk if the level of rigor is not sufficient for the students - whose parents many times are paying thousands of dollars for their education.
room observation and more. In my 13 years of teaching I can tell you the former is more common than the latter. In a small, private school I think there is a healthy level of scrutiny and this keeps teachers from getting lazy as they know people, parents, and others will talk if the level of rigor is not sufficient for the students - whose parents many times are paying thousands of dollars for their education. Public schools deserve the same degree of attention and scrutiny.
What can we do in the meantime? Write letters-- to the editor, to your local officials, go to school board meetings.... heck, consider becoming a teacher yourself! There are worse ways to spend your career.
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