Reply #1: As a former teacher, I can comment on a couple of his points [View All]

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

First of all, I'm not teaching any more because here in the enlightened state of Arkansas I was told that since I wasn't related to any member of the School Board I could kiss the chance of getting a job good-bye. Oh, it is ok to substitute, because I was paid the same as any high school graduate who walks in off the street. And it is very funny that I was called on to do a long term substitute gig in a classroom that had four students who were children of School Board members. Truly, in this state who you know means more than what you know. In another case, I knew of two teachers, both raised here, who applied for a job in their local district. One had two years experience, the other none, so it wasn't a matter of a huge gap in salary to choose between them. The less experienced one got the job because she had more relatives on the school board. I let my certification here lapse as I realized it was a hopeless cause, and went into other fields of work.

Arkansas still ranks 49th among all the states in the union on education, despite all the hype about testing teachers and kids. The governor is revising state standards and devising a special Arkansas only test for the kids so things don't look so bad.