Highly Qualified Teachers Need Not Apply -- Bush is trying to weaken teacher credentialing

The New Jersey Teachers Union ^ | President of the NJ Teachers Union

[skip2myloo]

EXACTLY -- if the federal government starts regulating private schools, they won't be PRIVATE anymore !!

DUH - hello, anybody home !!

In the first place, public schools ought to be regulated, and they ought to provide a quality education to those who go there.

Once a parent decides to send a kid to a private school, it's their choice and they are responsible for the efficacy of that choice.

Hopefully, they choose wisely.

But, in a FREE country, we all should have the right to make bad decisions, and then be prepared to live with the consequences.

[summer]

Yes, I think you are right; there is a lot of spin going on here, and, all the time in education. It is sometimes very difficult to see the actual issues. But my own experience is what I look to in trying to understand all the talk.

[Neets]

I think the Teachers Union's do more to hurt teachers than they do to help them.

I am sure there are plenty of well qualified teachers out there; yourself included.

Get rid of the union and maybe, JUST maybe the good teachers will rise to the top.

[11th Earl of Mar]

You think Bradshaw would be any worse that the average high school gym teacher?

[summer]

if the federal government starts regulating private schools, they won't be PRIVATE anymore !!

True, but once private schools start receiving txpayer funded vouchers, then, how private are those schools?

[summer]

txpayer = taxpayer

[11th Earl of Mar]

Also, I wouldn't want Ross Perot to be my busines teacher. But I would have to admit that he is qualified to teach the subject.

[summer]

I am sure there are plenty of well qualified teachers out there; yourself included.

Thanks. :)

I am still teaching, but the only reason I am, is because I found a sympathetic ear in Gov Jeb Bush, in that he understood the concerns I had better than the union. I know he is a "politician" but I also believe he is very much for teachers (and students). I also know the union would never say that; however, that was my experience with him.

[Swing_Thought]

People choose private schools voluntarily, so in that case it should be left to the consumer to decide on the quality of the school. There is no (or at least less) need for government regulation there.

This is fine for private schools that don't get tax dollars, but why shouldn't teachers teaching in those schools that accept vouchers be held to the same standards as public school teachers?

These "highly qualified" standards aren't all that difficult to meet. Basically, (in VA at least), a teacher is highly qualified when she's certified to teach her subject. That's little more than a measure of basic subject knowledge competence. Seems to me quite reasonable to require these teachers to meet the same minimal competency standard if they're getting my tax dollars.

[Savage Beast]

"Bush is trying to weaken teacher credentialing"

Considering the strength and viewpoint of teachers' unions and the deterioration in quality of teachers and education--weakening their credentials might not be a bad idea. During the past few decades, the emphasis on credentials has been accompanied by a dismal drop in quality. Education was much better and students much better off when the local schoolmarm was less credentialed and more responsible.

[Trickyguy]

I graduated from the college that is the largest producers of teachers in Illinois. Which is not a small state. I never met one I thought was qualified. All of them were right at the bottom intellectually. The best thing that could happen to the schools is to get the government out completely, and let whoever wants to teach, teach. The free market can decide who's qualified and who isn't, just the way it decided the Yugo wasn't any good. Certification is worthless.

[Zeppo]

Seems to me quite reasonable to require these teachers to meet the same minimal competency standard if they're getting my tax dollars.

Seems to me that legions of public school teachers have been getting your tax dollars for years and years without meeting those minimal competency standards. Why not allow private schools to get tax dollars for an equal number of years before they are required to have teachers reach those standards? (I am only half-kidding)

[samtheman]

Good point.

[skip2myloo]

I agree with both your sentiment and your trepidation.

But, from the perspective of the NJ Teachers' Union, it appears their interpretation of the Bush plan, does in fact, help preserve the "privacy" of private schools.

That's what this union objects to - they want private schools regulated just as they are.

Besides, I think every state has minimum standards that private schools and homeschoolers are required to meet.

My kids go to a private school, and they have to comply with state imposed regs for class size, days of school, etc., etc.

[Swing_Thought]

Why not set high standards for both?

[cynicom]

Fortunately, the one excellent teacher was the science teacher.

[summer]

My kids go to a private school, and they have to comply with state imposed regs for class size, days of school, etc., etc.

Well, FL is very different in terms of state laws with respect to private schools. FL basically has one or two laws pertaining to private schools - and that's it. FL's attitude has always been to allow private schools to function as a business, with the owner of that school making the decisions with respect to almost all maters (I think the building code is the one area where they must comply with a state law. And, they have to get a license to operate. But that's it.)

However, once vouchers came along - there were more requirements placed on those private schools choosing to accept the vouchers, because some private schools poppoed up solely for the purpose of collecting that money, and were in fact bogus.

Thus, in FL, I think we now have two kinds of private schools - those accepting the vouchers (and agreeing to comply with certain new requirements) and those private schools not accepting the vouchers (and maintaining a very high level of freedom as to how they operate in this state).

[summer]

My kids go to a private school, and they have to comply with state imposed regs for class size, days of school, etc., etc.

Well, FL is very different in terms of state laws with respect to private schools. FL basically has one or two laws pertaining to private schools - and that's it. FL's attitude has always been to allow private schools to function as a business, with the owner of that school making the decisions with respect to almost all maters (I think the building code is the one area where they must comply with a state law. And, they have to get a license to operate. But that's it.)

However, once vouchers came along - there were more requirements placed on those private schools choosing to accept the vouchers, because some private schools poppoed up solely for the purpose of collecting that money, and were in fact bogus.

Thus, in FL, I think we now have two kinds of private schools - those accepting the vouchers (and agreeing to comply with certain new requirements) and those private schools not accepting the vouchers (and maintaining a very high level of freedom as to how they operate in this state).

[the invisib1e hand]

union blather.

ARE we really satisfied to have public education dominated by members of unions that routinely engage in deceptive public relations activities -- in other words, that tell lies and try to make as many people as possible believe them?

[summer]

poppoed = popped