Who fights harder to prevent any move to reform public education than public school teachers?
There is no debating that the performance of American public schools is a national disgrace. Standardized test scores and international academic competition put a blinding light on the failure of American public education.
But, what these "professional educators" apparently don't want to talk about is the fact that every year we go without making drastic changes to reform this system millions of American kids are cheated out of the education they have a right to expect. And, the American taxpayers are cheated out of the money they pay in good faith to provide for that education.
Don't tell me that the average public school teacher puts the education of their students as their highest professional priority, because that's not true. Teachers are on the front line of this disaster--they know better than most Americans just how corrupt and inept the system has become. But when people talk about trying to improve the system the people fighting performance standards and subject knowledge testing are the teachers...they want no accountability.
When people discuss school vouchers who is most vocal in condemning the suggestion? Normally its public school teachers and the union officials who represent them. Those admonitions clearly demonstrate that to most public school teachers maintaining the system is more important than improving the product. More clearly stated, its better to trap children in a system in which they may have little or no chance to get an education than to force the public schools to operate from a smaller pot of money.
If the teaching community had a shred of credibility when they speak about "caring" for their students they'd be first in line, crying out to shut down this failing experiment and start something new and completely different.
The truth is that as a group, the public education community is the problem--they're not part of the problem. The education and welfare of their students is not their main professional priority. In fact, the students' welfare isn't important enough to even get them to willingly discuss questioning the status quo.
Who fights harder to prevent any move to reform public education than public school teachers?Well, there are the parents of public school children.
You know, the ones who think their darlings ought to be able to come to school with hair of any length, color, or shape, wearing whatever best expresses their individuality...
The ones who think their little darlings will be irretrievably warped if they have to listen to a Bible story or say the Pledge of Allegiance or if they get a spanking....
The ones who don't think their babies ought to be punished for cheating or for anything else, because their babies are always right and the teacher is always wrong...
You know the ones, I'm sure.