But one certainty is that the quality of teachers has tanked....fewer students per teacher....more money for teachers...But a teacher can't teach math, chemistry, or physics if she or he is incompetent in them.
The NEA's prime goal is to enrich the union leadership via as many dues paying members as possible and in the "trade" with the rank and file, get more benefits for these "teachers".....But the NEA only gives lip service to the children. The NEA is not interested in any way, shape, or form in assuring the teachers knows their craft.....hence incompetent instructors and the production of ill equipped children for the modern world.
The discipline issue is more the fault of a multitude of terriblely destructive court rulings, busing, and eager lawyers willing to sue anyone interfering with these rulings...Much of this was directed by the ACLU which in particular have been successful in dismanteling traditional American public schooling...which 50-60 years ago was the envy of the world!
Have a grand day.
That's true, and those are the fields in which the salary-gap is most pronounced.
A teacher also can't teach if the "little darlings" won't behave and discipline can't be enforced. Personally, I'd tend to blame the ACLU and the courts more than the NEA, but there is plenty of blame to be shared.
We also have the lawsuit-happy parents who have bought into the pop psychology that discipline will harm a child's self esteem and cause other irreparable psychological damage.