Maggie's Farm

I don't disagree with a lot you say, DA, but that is only a small part of the issue (the link related pretty directly to unions and not to teacher performance).

Getting our kids to learn is not just the responsibility of teachers, the parents and the students themselves should be at least equal partners. However, in the last forty years, there has been a lot of goofy, touchy-feely, clap trap that has been passed as education. For example, in the lower grades, it seems that teaching things like times tables is a thing of the past. Is it any wonder that kids don't know how to make change, determine which product gives the best value, etc? Could this be part of the reason that US kids are less interested in technical disciplines? Another example is that there is less emphasis on homework and reading (especially the classics). My daughter was a senior in one of the better high schools in town and one of her assignments was to WATCH the Disney ANIMATED movie (cartoon), The Sword in the Stone and write a report on it. This is joke that is not funny. Certainly, my daughter had some good teachers too, so I do not condemn them all, but there seems to be an establishment that is directing education in a bad direction.

I understand that many teachers have advanced degrees. I think that is fine, but it doesn't necessarily determine quality of teaching. Two points about that: 1) I don't know if it is still the case, but in the dark ages (1980s) when I was in college, the undergraduate education school in my college was a joke. I've heard similar stories from all over so I don't think that was a unique situation. 2) Prospective teachers who know a topic can not get in to teach in spite of the fact that there a lot of teachers who teach who don't know their subject. Advanced degrees are nice, but when I went to school, I don't think any of my teachers had a Masters and I suspect that the overall quality of teaching was at least as good as now and likely better.

I also dispute the necessity of tenure for teachers in primary education. The original reason for tenure was so teachers with unpopular ideas could not be fired for them. This is an argument for college professors, not primary education teachers. It has become a way for some teachers to have a job for life with little accountability.

That being said, the article was about the unions and I am hard pressed to find anything good to say about them. I don't know the specifics of the demands (how do you like that?) of the unions in Wisconsin, but if they are anything like New Jersey, I don't know why anybody puts up with them. (In NJ) They don't want to even pay a little toward their health insurance and they want to retire early with generous benefits and pensions. My daughter's first grade teacher has already retired - I don't think she's 50 yet. Do the math. This is unsustainable. You don't think their protesting the fact that parents and students aren't doing their share or that when compared to the rest of the world, our students rank toward the bottom, do you? NO, they're protesting for their own benefit. Since the unions have come into into vogue, our education system has declined relative to the rest of the world and relative to our past.

As I said, the (lack of) quality in our schools is not the sole responsibility of teachers and they should not shoulder all the blame, but let's not kid ourselves that there shouldn't be massive reform in the way we deal with teachers and school administrations.

Thanks, DA.

I don't defend tenure on any level, but I understand the need for it more for college professors.