Replies

I’d like to see a system that allows for good teachers to stay in the classroom and poor ones to be fired. I have a problem with ANY organization which promotes the same type of “shuffle them around if they aren’t good but don’t fire them no matter what” MO that we see on the federal employee levels everywhere. I hate that poor teachers often get moved into administration rather than “let go”. If they cannot teach they have no business making decisions which affect what happens in a classroom because academics is clearly not their forte. Private school teachers do not pay union dues, do not get that level of protection and are dismissed if they are not qualified. It’s one of the reasons that private schools succeed where public ones cannot. Not the only reason, mind you — but yes, it’s part of the equation.

I must disagree. I know many private school teachers who are utterly unqualified to teach. They don't even have college degrees, let alone teaching credentials. They ape professionally-trained teachers to enable the students to pass the state Regents exams. If you would ask them a question to explain something they taught, I guarantee you they would look at you like a deer in the headlights.

One of the reasons that private schools succeed where public ones cannot is the POPULATION of the school. Private schools have a select group of students whose parents can pay the tuition and whose parents care about their schooling. If the students misbehave, there is definitely a responsible parent at the end of that telephone number.

If you try to call a public school student's parent, I can tell you with certainty you have about a 25% chance of actually getting hold of that parent. Plenty of times you hear "Doo ooo ooo; this number is no longer in service." Also, if a student chronically misbehaves and disrupts a private school class, they will be tossed out the back door to public school. Can't do that with a public school student. If a private school student is having academic problems, in addition to the student's willingness to spend extra time with the teacher for extra help, the parents are right there ready to help them with their studies or hire a tutor. Many of the public school parents don't even speak English or have any education, let alone money to hire a tutor. If you schedule a help session for students, guess what? Nobody shows up. And they grin at you the next day, because you HAVE to pass them anyway or be harassed about "poor passing statistics".

Here is the thing public school needs. Not "Core Curriculum" socialist indoctrination, not all these fancy BS ivory tower methodologies, but DISCIPLINE. The ability to discipline the students without having charges brought up against you. That doesn't mean beating over the head with a birch rod, but it does mean that there are real consequences for bad behaviors. That you can tell them to be quiet, that your referrals for detentions and suspensions are actually followed up on.

The way it is now, if you so much as "make the student feel NER-VOUS", whatever that means, you can, in NYC, be brought up on CHARGES. That a bunch of the student's cronies will absolutely fabricate stories about what you actually said or did, and they will have been COACHED by the administration to include all the right buzz words.

So, it doesn't matter what you know or how well you can put it across. If you don't have the ability to have authority in your classroom, because you have been cut down at the knees by your administration, which in turn is told to do this by demagogue liberal non-educator politicians, you might as well not even get out of bed.