Posted by Tina
The above quote is the concluding statement in an article by Paul Crookston at The Corner, National Review. The article covers results from an aggressive school reform program instituted by the mayor of Washington DC and the chancellor he hired, Michelle Rhee. The program, titled IMPACT, used student performance and four other job-performance factors to evaluate teachers. Those with excellent results were rewarded with bonuses and those who were ineffective were fired. The success of the program was evaluated over the period from 2007 to 2010. Student performances were up and the schools had a better retention rate of teachers who scored well.
More information is available at the American Enterprise Institute
Teachers in America have been failing many students in many districts for many decades. This plan appears to be one well worth a look for failing districts hamstrung by teachers unions and good-ol-boy type administrators.
This is an excellent example of the importance of power at the local level. When parents and students have choices and can demand excellence in their own districts good things happen. The children are our future. Wouldn’t it be great if America was once again performing at the top in education worldwide? Isn’t it time to make American education great again?
Yes it would. And Yes Local Level is where it starts.
That Said Devos and even some Dems like Cory Booker are trying to push for profit schools and end public schools. The records of these profit schools is largely bad. While 1 or 2 may be real the real deal is the sucking of tax dollars for the profit of others.
So many rip offs have occurred it is insane especially in CA. Bottom Line it is imperative we reform our education system and upgrade the public system to reflect the Modern times.
Think about this…. Many EU countries have students graduate by 16 or so and they speak 2 languages.
High school is a waste. When a student can pass the efficiency test by 10th Grade they should be offered community college or trade school. Those who are not yet ready should be able to continue into high school.
12 Grades is just not necessary for all students.
If a Student knew they could move on to community college or trade school by working hard they may just work harder.
Remember when it seemed like you would never get out of High School and you were ready to move on to more challenging subjects?
Public Schools are the back bone of Equality in the USA. A chance for all to educate. Why are we dragging it out into a prison sentence in the minds of our Kids?
“The records of these profit schools is largely bad.”
Not true, Dewey.
First of all your knee jerk response is unclear. Not all Private schools are run “for profit,” in fact, many of the smaller ones work on a pretty tight budget.
Second, many are completely independent; parents PAY their child’s full tuition each year.
Third, Charter Schools are working better, more often than not:
These schools do not run “for profit” and the teachers that are not unionized usually accept less pay in exchange for the opportunity to be creative with the students with freedom to challenge their students to higher standards. A lot of kids from poor neighborhoods are getting a better chance to succeed because of these schools.
Fourth, Charter Schools that don’t perform well also don’t survive, unlike failing public schools where the union and administrators protect bad teachers, putting their jobs before the success of the students.
Information from an article in The Week:
Parents choose some private schools for the atmosphere. A quote from the same article:
How can we tell that public schools are failing our children? Over the last five or six decades US students have scored more and more poorly when compared to other students around the world. US students used to be at the top.
To be fair, some of the change is a result of massive immigration from very poor nations. But a lot of the difference is based in the lack of discipline, lowered standards, and poorly trained teachers, especially in poorer districts. I strongly believe that teachers today are less well prepared than teachers of sixty years ago. It doesn’t help that we have also been failing as a society to uphold social and work standards.
The fact that Europeans speak two languages isn’t all that surprising. In Europe the incentive to speak more than one language is greater for several reasons. It was clear to Europeans after WWII that English would become the language of business. Teaching English both in school and at home was high on the education list. Secondly, travel in Europe across borders is like travel across borders in the US. The difference is that in the US we all speak English…no need to learn another language.
Some students are attending jr college classes prior to HS graduation now. Their choice to move ahead faster doesn’t change the fact that K-8 students in the US are under served and therefore under performing compared to other nations.
Public school is not the backbone of equality. The Constitution is. Public schools have an obligation to our nation’s children. When they are failing something should be done. I don’t know why you would have a problem with that.
America has always been about choices. Choice mean competition and competition breeds excellence. Parents and students should have the freedom to choose what schools and programs they attend, especially when the schools in their districts are failing the students.
If a parent chooses to send his child to a school that runs at a profit that is their business. They are paying taxes for the private schools in their district as well as the tuition for their own child/children. Seems to me that is none of your business.
“Why are we dragging it out into a prison sentence in the minds of our Kids?”
What the heck does that mean?
Teachers should not be held to different standards than others in the work force. If they perform badly it is the students that suffer the consequences. Schools must be able to fire poorly performing teachers and in my opinion, have an obligation to reward excellent teachers. Those rewards act as incentives to other teachers to do better.
The responsibility for education should be the parents first and schools must answer to the parents. Therefore schools should not have to automatically accept students that are disruptive or refuse to do the work. If we adopt higher standards as a society, parents, administrators, teachers and students will be pressed to perform at the higher standard. Human beings are notorious for taking the easy path. It’s irresponsible to support that in our schools.
I agree that we also need paths other than college for students following eighth grade. Not all students are college material. Their alternate interests and skills should be developed with as much passion as we give to college bound students.
Tina not even going to read that biased RW crap.
FACT? IT IS TRUE!
Get the DATA>
And also explain why my tax dollars should be given to a company who’s sole goal is to make money off it not educate.
Tina do you realize how fascist you are becoming? Look At the California Charter rip offs. most are down south. It’s like you never see real news.
We do not pay taxes for people to start a business for profits where the goal is to make money not educate period.
Why do you love fascism we are not a Business for the rich to make money off us.
We’ve all had good teachers and bad teachers – they BOTH stand out in our memories.
Any grading system of teachers should somehow include input from both students and parents since they are the ultimate recipients of what comes outta the classroom.
Very few schools, colleges and universities use the merit system to establish the pay and employment for faculty, administrators and staff. Most use the step and range based on years of employment, according to union negotiations. Administrators negotiate their salaries and benefits directly with the school board or regents.
Under the step and salary promotion is automatic until the employee tops out for both, with only increases in pay afforded faculty and a few staff for additional educational units/EUs earned or a higher degree awarded.
There is no incentive to do a better job for the students. It’s strictly up to the dedication and motivation of the individual. And there is no penalty either.
It’s almost impossible to fire a faculty member. I’ve seen some faculty who have no classes because the students refuse to sign up for them. And because of their seniority have the right to bump out a really good instructor with a full class of students. The students are stuck because school has started, they need the class to graduate and they have no other class options. If there are no classes for the instructor to teach they’re assigned “busy” work under the supervision of their administrator and will get paid their full salary whether they work or not.
I’ve also seen many instructors refuse to drop students enrolled in their classes. And the admissions office has no idea the class is below the minimum allowed by the state for funding. The instructor gets paid and students end up with a W/withdrawal or a failing grade on their transcripts. If students don’t complete MORE than 50% of their total units ATTEMPTED they’re put on probation and can be disqualified.
I retired from education, served on the negotiations team for decades and was union president for five years. I wish all schools at every level was run by the merit system. It’s the only way the students will ever come first.
Taxpayer funded employees hired and negotiating with taxpayer funded management who in turn are hired by taxpayer funded schools boards don’t have the interest of the students as their top priority.
Newsflash Run for school board that is how ya do it. Kick out these political plants in our civic committees ect
being a Teacher let alone a Prof is a Poverty sentence
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