[gridlock]

It is a question of justice and job security in their memebership's eyes. Most teachers have passed hurdles (degree requirements, continuing education requirements, licensure, etc.), put up with poor pay, unjustifiably irate parents, absent parents, disruptive hoodlums for students (in some cases), etc. They see vouchers as means of syphoning off the best and most well behaved students leaving them with nothing but the "hard cases."

So, should the best and most well behaved students be made to suffer so public school teachers are not left with nothing but "hard cases"?

It is not the function of the student to brighten the teacher's day. That may happen from time to time, but it is not the student's job.

If the system is disfuctional, there will be a lot fewer well behaved students and a lot more hard cases. There will always be some disruptive students, of course. But they should not be allowed to drag the whole system down.

[Lucky Dog]

So, should the best and most well behaved students be made to suffer so public school teachers are not left with nothing but "hard cases"?

In a word, the answer to your question is no. However, every student's parent is a taxpayer (nominally, anyway). Are you proposing to "punish" some who are not "the best" but may be "well behaved" by forcing them to lumped into the "behavior problems" because they could not qualify as the "best?"

It is not the function of the student to brighten the teacher's day. That may happen from time to time, but it is not the student's job.

Could not agree more. However, it is not the teacher's to function as a surrogate parent for neer-do-wells, thugs and hoodlums, either. If you want to hire drill sergeants and presion guards (probably at higher pay scales), you could probably solve the behavior problems but would you solve the education issue?

There will always be some disruptive students, of course. But they should not be allowed to drag the whole system down.

This is one of the cruxes of the problem. A solution that satisfies everyone is difficult: the school board ( a political entity), the administrators (a bureaucratic entity), parents (an emotional entity), students (a entity of potentially unlimited potential to boost or degrade society), taspayers (the payers), and finally teh teachers (the providers of that which shapes the raw material).