A local school is terminating half of its teachers because it is a low performing school. New hires will get up to a $7K bonus for working there. They have a magnet program that tried to recruit my son. I wouldn't begin to think of letting him go there, NASA program or not. An administrator was happy when 25% of the students didn't fail at least one class (I think that was the accurate number), as most of the kids had parents in jail or just absent. The violence and drugs just add to the issue. I am not advocating throwing up your hands and do nothing, but other failures need to be addressed before holding that many teachers accountable.
I could not agree more. Education begins in the home. The problem with many lower-income homes is that the parents don't have much of an education and so it is not a big priority with them. Many parents are not even able to help their kids with their homework. It is a vicious cycle.
I have to agree with Crist on this point. I have no problem with tenure, but I do feel if often is awarded too quickly. Also, it is not fair to base teacher's pay on student performance since the teacher is not the whole story behind student achievement. I would base teacher pay on career enhancement efforts such as advanced degrees and teacher competence based on objective criteria such as testing. One problem is that teachers are often forced to teach outside their chosen field.
I don't know how I feel about the various teacher incentives. Last year, our district began an incentive pay, which our school received. I made a $2000 bonus in September from the previous school year. It was nice, but frankly, if teacher contracts and pay raises are tied to the performance of their students on standardized exams, then the inner city schools and rural schools will have even MORE trouble finding qualified teachers to fill positions. Teaching is a daunting task, even at the school where I am. The behavior of kids would really shock you. SDM, cameras in the classroom? I'd love to see the the ACLU jump all over that--both for the teachers and the students. I don't think it would work. Poor performance is not because most teachers aren't trying to teach (though, of course, there are some terrible teachers); the basis for student success has always and always will start with the attitude towards education in the home.
why cant it the punishment/reward system be within the school? i would think that would normalize socioeconomic factors. certainly there is only so much that a teacher can do, but certainly some teachers are better than others.
Personally I think this is a problem on many levels: parents, students, teachers, school districts, state education boards. There is no one simple fix that's going to make a difference on its own. You have to have parents involved in their kids' education (happening less and less these days), you have to have teachers that are competent and motivated (better pay would go a long way towards attracting better qualified teachers), school admin/districts need to quit living in fear of the lawsuit and back teachers unwilling to put up with bad student behavior detrimental to the learning environment (basic respect for teachers and classmates), state education boards need to quit looking at the "almighty" standardized test which does nothing but force the schools to teach kids how to pass a certain test rather than providing a well-rounded curriculum.
