One consequence of the way teachers are compensated is that longevity of employment usually means a higher salary. And that means higher pressure on the board or the principal to find a way to get rid of the teacher.
As to coaches teaching special ed., I will NEVER get over this: My kid had a kind of destructive infantile epilepsy which left her with an amazing combination of abilities and disabilities. For example:Her vocabulary and delight in language always tested super high, while diagrams of any kind baffled her.
So she was in special ed math. On parent night - 4 weeks or more into the term, I dutifully showed up and made the rounds. Her math teacher had not even opened her file to read her history. He excused himself by saying he was the varsity football coach and had been very busy. A few years later his team had an undefeated year.
Since then I have suspected that high schools sometimes (often?) just give up on the special ed kids and give the appearance of "serving" them while in fact warehousing them with athletic coaches as their guards -- so that the coach can concentrate on more important matters than, um, education.
I thought this was more common in private schools, where the teachers needed supplemental income (because they only worked 180 days per year, from 8 to 3, and were paid accordingly); I didn’t know this was done in public schools. I see your point, though; that is disgraceful. To be honest, I think most parents going to the conference that night were dealing with the same attitude and lack of preparedness; contrary to the unverifiable assertions mad by public school teachers, they DON’T bring work home.
football and “baskaball” are DEATH for American schools. Worship of dim-bulbs...