The Good Word: Teachers - Friend or foe?

[Bozita]

http://www.pressandguide.com/articles/2011/04/09/opinion/doc4d9f5a025e348173438938.txt?viewmode=fullstory

The Good Word: Teachers - Friend or foe?
Published: Saturday, April 09, 2011
By Morris Goodman

Most parents of public school age kids, according to polling over many years, say that their children’s public school teachers are hard-working, compassionate, very competent, professionals who volunteer outside the classroom to enhance their students’ learning and artistic or athletic talents.

Nevertheless, throughout the country and in Michigan, Republican elected officials are saying there are now far too many incompetent, lazy teachers who are vigorously protected by their unions to the detriment of the public. Moreover, they say most teachers are both overpaid and have health care and retirement benefits that are much too expensive for hard-pressed 2011 taxpayers to continue to support.

How can most individual public school teachers be perfectly satisfactory and public school teachers as a whole be so open to harsh criticism?

-snip-

So remind me how we are going to keep our best teachers on the job and attract the best and the brightest college students to want to be the school teachers of the future?

-snip-

more...

[Fearless]

1. We're not going to do that...

Arne Duncan's plan is to make education in to a profit-minded business. Most education for the least money. Or at least the least money for whatever education it provides without a whole bunch of people suing the states for violating their constitutions. They don't want good teachers because good teachers want good money. They want passable teachers at minimum cost. They don't want students taught to think, they want students how are force-fed a selected amount of information that will make them functional as drones. And it's working. Charter schools are supported to break the teachers' unions. Why create schools who use the same amount of money as the old schools, remove restrictions like fair wage and benefits and give that money straight to hard line administrators? It's a business and they are CEO's in need of their bonuses.

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. Sigh. Sadly, the comments tell the real story.

PaulinMI wrote on Apr 9, 2011 9:51 AM:
" Well, while everything you commented on may be true, your question deserves a straight answer.

"So remind me how we are going to keep our best teachers on the job and attract the best and the brightest college students to want to be the school teachers of the future?"

By allowing administrators (selected by the asset owners) to recruit and pay a market based compensation package free from intimidation and extortion by Unions.

If employees or Unions wish to be managers of others assets, they should apply for the position. "

[pscot]

3. In the current poisonous atmosphere

it's hard to imagine why any young person would choose teaching as a profession. It's truely shameful for the president to be siding with the vandals.

[MichiganVote]

4. In Michigan the real translation is: We politicians have fucked up the state with our

bullshit, failure to act and implement any kind of meaningful change for the better, given away--tossed out the fucking car window--billions of dollars to fat rich fucks and now we don't have the money you the public entrusted to us to pay for public employee health care and pensions.

But are they going to own up and swallow that swill? OH HELL NO!

They're going to bullshit people that little Miss Daisy the Kindergarten teacher who starts at a mere 28-30K will eat their entire dick for them for free.

THAT'S what politics in Michigan is and THAT'S what it will stay unless we get a Governor in office who is not a nerd, but a proper bulldog.

[LWolf]

5. This discrepancy has been obvious for years;

it's just in the last few that the publicity has escalated to the point that people are actually paying attention.

Unfortunately, too many people pay attention to the media and political propaganda rather than what's happening on the ground at their schools.

It isn't just Republican politicians, either. Plenty of Democratic politicians are on board the teacher-scapegoating express.