RE: Please Stop Saying "Failed Education System"
When I hear "failed education system" I certainly never think it's the teachers - it's the bureaucracy. If we gave each teacher their own classroom budget - and let them spend it to educate the kids we would probably have the best education system in the world. I'm in the camp that teachers don't get paid near enough. The nation's future is in your hands and you should be paid dearly to educate them into the leaders of our future. This was a very impassioned post - and yes, lengthy, but you obviously feel very deeply about our education system and I appreciate you for that!
I get it, everything costs money, and we absolutely have to be very careful about budgets and the impact taxes have on other facets of society. But regardless of where you stand on that issue, please stop referring to the "failed education system." The truth is, we have failed education. The system is ours, and dismantling it and getting rid of it is certainly one choice, but I really don't thin that is what most people want. The system is actually quit effective and successful, and what we really need to make it even better is an engaged public that it totally invested, financially and emotionally, in making it work.
Thank you very much for the thoughtful comment. I imagine most people don’t necessarily think of the teachers when they hear the phrase, but as I was just saying to friend of mine that teaches middle school, I think the negative campaign influences the perception that parents have of teachers — if it’s a failed system then I think it’s harder for people to see the teachers as trained professionals. I live in a state where the governor railed on teachers during his first term and it really had an impact on public perception.