Why I started this blog

I am a teacher working in an award winning school in an award winning school district.  While listening to the pundits on television drives me crazy, it is usually because they are talking around the real issues of why education is in trouble.  Yes, they make good points, but when you get to the heart of the problem, the future of this country will truly scare you.  (BTW, you will notice, I am NOT an english teacher.)

First of all, let's clear the air about a couple of things that people will target right away.  Yes, there are bad teachers out there.  What gets left out of the conversation is the fact that there IS a way to fire a tenured teacher who is not doing a good job.  The administration (principal/superintendent) simply has to fill out the proper paperwork to prove the teacher is doing a poor job and have the guts to follow through with the actions.  Why doesn't this happen?  Yes, it can be a pain in the butt when the teacher challenges the decision and has the union go to bat for them.  But it is this process that also protects good teachers from being fired for the wrong reasons.  I have honestly found that either administrators either don't want to mess with the hassle or that the teacher in question has worked their way into the "in crowd".  Remember high school?  The same cliques happen amongst educators.  It is wrong, but it unfortunately happens.

Most of the people I work with in my building are good teachers.  How do I define a good teacher?  These people care about the children, work very hard to help every child succeed and most importantly, good teachers will speak the truth, which will unfortunately, not make everyone happy.  I have seen many very good teachers truthfully tell parents how their child is doing and what needs to change for more success.  Some parents really appreciate this input.  Some parents become very resentful.  There is a fine teacher in my building who teaches young children.  She often has the most difficult students in the grade level.  Word has gotten around that she is tough.  She pushes every single kid to do their best and demands good behavior from them.  The children figure out much sooner than the parents that she loves them and has their best interests in mind.  Now that it is her third year, her first batch of parents is beginning to realize how good she is. 

To wrap up this first post, the first thing wrong with education is that we are dealing with people.  The children are not products, they are people.  The teachers are people, the parents are people and the administrators are people.  I have found all people to be flawed.  Education is a high stakes field.  If an educator makes a mistake, it may cause a minor event with drama and hard feelings.  Unfortunately, educators can also make mistakes that affect a child for their entire life.  But then again, that opens up another can of worms for another post.