Replies

Ironically, under the newly enacted District of Columbia voucher law – a major priority of the Bush administration and its allies in Congress – teachers in private and religious schools receiving taxpayer-funded vouchers don’t even need to possess a college degree.

This is the first I've heard of this new law. I was quite surprised.

However, from my perspective - I taught in a failing, all-black, inner city school as a new teacher - there are two major issues I think this union president omits:

1) If the new law only applies to private schools receiving vouchers, then, the new law concerns students who may be leaving failing public schools.

Now, who usually teaches in failing public schools? New teachers. Why? Because experienced teachers will often refuse to teach in those schools.

In Jacksonville, FL, the local union actually tried to address this well-known problem in education, by asking experienced teachers to transfer to these failing public schools. Some experienced teachers agreed to do that, and student achievement improved.

But, by and large, the union is not asking experienced teachers to consider going to the worst public schools. Thus, not only is there a shortage of experienced teachers for the students, there is also a lack experienced teacher mentors in these schools to help the new teachers.

So, what we have had in this country is a revolving door in these schools with respect to new teachers arriving, and then leaving as quickly as possible to a better school, if they don't leave the teaching profession altogether.

This is an extremely serious problem but the union has never aggressively recruited mentors to support new teachers in these schools, nor have most local unions ever asked experienced teachers to transfer to these schools.

So, now, there may be vouchers -- and alternatives for these students.

And, frankly, I say this to the NJ Teachers Union President: Wake up. You didn't want to acknowledge or solve the problems. So, someone else is trying.

2) This new law -- requiring NO college degrees for people willing to tackle the job of teaching these kids from failing schools -- will have no impact if consumers reject it. Here in FL, where we have had vouchers, only a small percentage of parents whose kids are eligible for vouchers actually used the vouchers and enrolled their kids in private schools. Why more parents did not, I don't know.

Also, vouchers or no vouchers, most private schools seek to sell their services by competing -- and always want to tell parents/consumers: "Oh, yes, all our teachers have the same level of certification requirements that public school teachers have met." Otherwise - no sale to some parents.

So, I don't know how much of an impact this new law will really have. But, I think GW is trying to address the question of who will teach these kids that others do not want to teach. And, you have to make that new applicant pool of teachers as large as possible, since it is already smaller than most imagine. (But this union president surely knows that.)

And nothing about their wonder boy, Jimmy McGreevey, who promised them the world while campaigning and once in, has not increased educational aid.

Throughout our history, many parents with little education, home schooled their children (including those who later signed our declaration of Independence) or the had their child educated by religious schools, some presidents were homed schooled, wasn't Abraham Lincoln?

Many nuns in Catholic Schools did not have college degrees, but most do now. So what? For decades, Catholic Schools have been educating some of our more productive and successful citizens of this Great Country.

And who is to say that a piece of paper automaticly qualifies someone to teach? There are tons of teachers out there with piles of degrees who can't teach a thing.

Here in FL, where we have had vouchers, only a small percentage of parents whose kids are eligible for vouchers actually used the vouchers and enrolled their kids in private schools. Why more parents did not, I don't know.

My limited experience, in just one year spent teaching, suggests that one reason many kids are failing is that their parents don't give a damn. Only a parent who gives a damn is going to jump through voucher hoops.

The funny thing is, if there are more schools opening up, public or private, there are probably more teacher jobs -- even if the new jobs are all non union, the union teachers will benefit because the municipalities will have to raise pay to hang on to teachers. This is trivial economics, but the unions don't get it. They actually believe their class-war nonsense. Or they really, deep down inside, believe that their members are overpaid, relative to their market value.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

teachers in private and religious schools receiving taxpayer-funded vouchers don’t even need to possess a college degree.

Notice the subtle jab at private schools and vouchers here.

I'm not suggesting that private schools hire unqualified instructors, but the idea of the government dictating the rules to private organizations that receive voucher money makes me uneasy.

What next? Will they start telling grocery stores that accept food stamps what they can and cannot sell?

Equating 'qualified' with 'quality' is of course a bugaboo. Good teachers are not made by college degrees or credentialing. Motivation is what makes good teachers.

And who do you suppose reccommended the strict licensing requirements for teachers and controls the material in the teaching textbooks. I am told that the first chapter that college students read in their teacher prep classes is all about the teachers' union and what it does for teachers.

I agree with Rod Paige, the NEA are domestic terrorists.

Just an observation...not really "to" summer

Most of the kids I'm seeing that really excell at learning (such as The Nat. Spelling Bee etc) are coming from a home school environment
Surely these parents that are teaching these kids don't have bachelor degrees or anything else in some cases...more than a desire to educate a child.