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Oops, you are the person doing the research. I tend to agree with the research. It shows that we teachers in Utah are doing a great job despite the highest class sizes, lowest expenditures, and lowest administrative costs in the nation.

Yet no matter how well you do, people who will complain will complain. My school's k-3 students had well over 90% in at least the nearly proficient category for reading and about 90% adequately reading for the whole school. All of my students the last two years in first grade (98% total in our grade) have tested in at least the nearly proficient categories in reading and math. This is in a lower middle-class school. But of course, people still complain. There is plenty of competition and plenty of educational choices available to parents in my state, particularly in my area. But yes, people still complain.

I find ways outside of taxes to increase the educational quality of my students by bringing in many guest speakers from the community, offering outside tutoring, keeping in close contact with parents regarding behavior and reading levels, offering reading incentives such as happy meals (given when one gets a second grade level or above and personally delivered to their house) at my own expense, and working several extra hours each week in correcting papers and other duties. Egads--I'm actually saving taxpayers money!! I wonder how much I did--let's see--at least 2 (this is a bare minimum) extra hours a day x 5 days a week x a 33-week (modified) school year x the &17 per hour teacher rate = at least $5000. That's not including weekend and vacation hours (which more than doubles it), the month's salary I usually spend each year on my students, the 2-3 hours at least a week I call parents, the tutoring time, etc. My salary? Yes, I still draw a very high salary of something around what a fast food restaurant assistant manager makes in my area. It has gone down 13% in the last 4 years. But I guess I still make more than the newspaper carriers.

Yes, I am just another liberal teacher. I believe in a strong national defense, low taxes, less government, the 2nd amendment, strong marriages (not gay), am against abortion, and against special rights for those of the gay persuasion. Oh yeah--I believe in public education too. That's what makes me liberal. Like most "liberal" teachers in Utah, I try to teach my kids the "terrible" values of not cheating, honesty, respect for the country, respect for those with differences, acting with dignity, not gossiping, working hard, respect for parents, strong families, etc. Yet I often see dishonest and underhanded dealings used by politicians and those in the business world, much to my dismay. Oh yeah, in my school we do "liberal" things like say the Pledge of Allegiance every day and we even sometimes observe moments of silence. Yes, this past Christmas we even sang "liberal" Christmas songs that mentioned deity.

Yes, I got these "liberal" values from my "liberal" father who also supported public education for his eight children, putting education first above (though his children were involved in them heavily) sports, music, and other extracurricular activities. Yes, my "liberal" father had the 'liberal" notion to be a good parent and set high standards for his children despite their going to inner-city schools (schools that some have called as failing). His kids only produced 2 valedictorians, 2 salutatorians, and minimum 3.6 GPA's. He never complained about the system and never sought government funding or tax breaks for his kids to get educated, despite semi-limited means and being out of work a couple of times or so. He passed on his "liberal" values to his kids who continute to lead quality lives as "liberals" today in supporting their neighborhood schools and .

Yes, there are better methods for improving education than simply complaining about it, trashing it, etc. What it takes is people working together and a change in attitude. Everybody seems to know what's best for education, but few actually contribute (I'm not talking moneywise) to trying to make it better. My hats are off to those who do. A little time donated actually takes no taxes at all, but it may change a life or two.

My hats of to you. This is an old post, so I was surprised to see someone responding to it. Nevertheless, my point in the whole matter was that the notion that we need to spend more money in order to deliver a good education to our children is nonsense. I believe that at the time I wrote this there was a proposal before voters in my state of Alabama which would allow lawmakers to increase taxes on us. The primary justification for the proposed tax increases was so that we could fund quality education for Alabama children and make them competitive with the rest of the nation. We overwhelmingly voted the tax increase down.

Oh yeah--I believe in public education too. That's what makes me liberal.

How does that make you a liberal? Conservatives believe in education as well - we just want it to be effective. If public education does the job, wonderful. Conservatives promote private education and homeschooling because the data shows that those options are far more effective. People often make the assumption that Conservatives just "don't care" about things. They don't care about the poor, education, the elderly, the sick, and so on. The fact of the matter is that we DO care. Caring isn't enough. You also have to do something that improves that person's overall situation.

All of your other beliefs ("strong national defense, low taxes, less government, the 2nd amendment, strong marriages (not gay), am against abortion, and against special rights for those of the gay persuasion.") point to someone who is clearly Conservative. I think that you're a Conservative that may have gotten the wrong impression about the reason for our present stance on Public Education.

As I said before, my hats off to you. You clearly care about what you do and are willing to make personal sacrifices in order to better the lives of others. You're an American hero. The purpose of this article wasn't to bash Public Education. The purpose of this article was to bash the false notion that more money is the answer to the poor performance epidemic that plagues American students in most of the country.