So the next day I dropped by the class, apologized about having a son who was so serious about his grades and showed her the problem. I assumed she would laugh, mark it correct and change the grade.
That's not what happened. She said he got it wrong. I did the math and said, 'See, it's right'... She pulled out the teachers copy of the math book and showed me the answers in the back of the book. The publisher had a misprint... so I said 'that happens - and the answer in the back of the book was wrong. She got angry and asked if I thought I was smarter than the people who wrote the book. At that moment knew she didn't know how to do simple math.
I also knew she would take this out on my son because she was not only stupid, she was mean... and I backed off. I'm not even going into all the notes sent home to me - and other parents - with massive spelling errors... etc.
My position from that time forward is that teaching should be a full time position, (40 hours a week) and teachers should be paid like they're professionals and BE professionals. Now the professions is a sinecure for people too lazy or stupid to work in real jobs. And yes, I have known heroic teachers who not only teach but buy supplies out of their own money and work many more hours than they're paid for ... but I also know they're the exception and many more teachers haven't even updated their tests materials in 15 years.
We don't see this one the same way. The 'teachers' of today are the folks who would have been clerking in a dime store in my day... we're pulling in the bottom of the barrel and our kids deserve better.
Most of the 'teachers' we have today are over-paid ... waaaaaaaay overpaid. Fire most of 'em and change the system.
The days you are speaking of were when students could actually be disciplined, unlike today.
During those days Dunbar High School in D.C. was one of the best HSs in the country, all Black. Today’s schools have been completely ruined by the Left. But that is before 80% of Blacks are born out of wedlock. That was before they became cafeterias, that was before the gangs intimidated and persecuted those showing any inclination for learning. Did teachers want chalk boards remover from the walls.
Like most drastic solutions yours is ineffective and does not address the actual problem. My high school life was idyllic.
Teachers in the Inner Cities are not overpaid when you factor in combat pay. You should consider that these teachers are more like Prison Guards than teachers. Their real function is keeping some of the thugs off the streets for a few hours.
It looks like a teacher today basically just needs to know how to plug in a computer. Hate to be so cynical but I’m a grouchy old man.
There are teachers like the one you describe. At the point that you learned that the teacher would set your son back in his math education you should have taken steps (I suspect that you did because he went on to do well). One bad teacher can hurt the kid’s interest in going to take the next course. But in the long run, if the kid keeps plugging away, they will overcome a bad teacher by having good teachers in the subsequent years.
I used to work with my son nightly on his math. It was a requirement from me that he go as far as high school calculas and he did. He went on to take college business calculas and said it was a breeze after his HS experience. That is what you want from HS. Setting the groundwork, and teachers like the one your son had would not make it through this exam.