It's the Teachers Unions, Stupid!

Human Events ^ | August 29 2006 | Chuck Muth

[Reagan Man]

Education is and should be a local issue...period.

YES!

[Rummyfan]

In Maryland, gubernatorial candidate Martin O'Malley announce that if elected he will implement a plan paying $200K signing bouses for principals who sign on at designated schools. Man!

[Rummyfan]

As the head of the NEA said, as soon as students start paying union dues, I'll start looking after their interests.

[fatnotlazy]

Where's Hillary? She'll fix this. (she said sarcastically)

[Brilliant]

No question that the schools started going downhill at about the same time that the NEA took charge.

[TChris]

Maybe conservatives should be open to significant funding increases for education.

No, they shouldn't. They already have given huge funding increases, and what do we have to show for it?

• Continued plummeting test scores
• Decreased numbers of graduating seniors
• Increased numbers of graduates requiring remedial classes when they go to college.

*** URGENT TELEGRAM FOR ALL VOTERS ***

MORE MONEY DOES NOT EQUAL A BETTER EDUCATION STOP BETTER TEACHERS EQUAL A BETTER EDUCATION STOP

The (wishful thinking) Solution

• Banish the NEA. (a leftist political action committee disguised as a teachers union)
• Hold teachers accountable for the performance of their students with results based pay and retention.
• Eliminate tenure. Other professionals have to produce to keep their jobs. Teachers should be the same.
• Establish school funding based mostly on student count. Report the money spent per student, test scores and comparisons with other schools statewide and nationally in a mandatory annual public report.

[geezerwheezer]

What have you been smoking? This will never happen, and that is a shame too. I do not mind spending money on education, but I'm tired of seeing the absolute waste going on, millions and millions of dollars spent on "studies" as to why our kids are failing, etc. Hell, they're failing because the schools aren't teaching, the teachers aren't teaching, and the taxpayer just keeps reaching into his wallet to fund this 3rd rate school system we have now. Just look at the school system in our nation's capitol! Talk about a cesspool, then look at NYC's schools or L.A.'s. They all suck.

[Andy from Beaverton]

Beaverton, Orygun's budget is about $12,500 per kid.

[kcbc2001]

The Detroit Federation of Teachers went on strike yesterday. And last year, they gave up some of their pay only to find out that some of the administrators got raises. Now the city's paranoid because they are wondering how many more kids and parents aren't going to choose to attend DPS schools. But in the end, they want more money at a time when most people in the area have lost their jobs or are afraid of losing their jobs. It's just a bad situation all around.

[Ryde]

Education ping list
Let Republicanprofessor, McVey, JamesP81, or eleni121 know if you wish to be placed on this ping list or taken off of it.

[SF Republican]

NEA took charge
Jimmy Carter? again

[rock_lobsta]

I have no problem with holding teachers accountable, but what I'd like to see is that PARENTS be held responsible and accountable for their children's education.

The parents of the problem children (i'm not talking about the disabled or the mentally retarded) that are violent and disrespectful need to be FINED and/or JAILED. These children and parents take up more resources just to keep order, then the parents need to foot the bill. If they can't pay cash, then it's community service or jailtime.

Maybe this is a little extreme, but I'm getting way sick and tired of throwing money away to these dumps we call public schools.

[TexasCajun]

A previous Department of Education was created in 1867, but was soon demoted to an Office in 1868. Its creation a century later in 1979 was controversial and opposed by many in the Republican Party, who saw the department as unwanted federal bureaucratic intrusion into local affairs. Throughout the 1980s, the abolition of the Department of Education was a part of the Republican Party platform, but Bush Republican administrators by the late 1980s declined to implement this idea. By the mid-1990s, with President Clinton's equal support similar to President Bush, there was little leadership for the demotion of the department.

Hummmm. Who was President in '79?

[tsmith130]

We need to tie the money to the student. The parent/student selects which school they want their child to attend. The lesser schools will start shaping up fast or they'll cease to exists...as it should be.

[vpintheak]

Unions are a scourge upon free societies.

[EQAndyBuzz]

Make teaching a 12 month job. Students not meeting requirements go to summer school and the teachers should be there to teach them.

Vacation days, sick days are not carried over. Use them or lose them.

You pay a part of your benefits, which includes medical, insurance and pension.

Teach. That is what you are being paid to do. You want to be political, quit your job and go into politics.

[EQAndyBuzz]

One more thing. My kid gets out of line, feel free to smack his knuckles with a ruler, put him in the corner, call him a stupid moron for not getting 4 + 4 and if he chews gum, make him stick it to his nose.

[eleni121]

Thats the ticket. Tie salaries to academic performance. And while they are at it get rid of lifetime secured employment otherwise called tenure. Employment should be dependent on performance, job skills, pupil performance, etc.

Since it's not gonna happen we need to open up more private, parochial, charter schools as well as expand home schooling options.

The monopoly of public mis-education must be broken!

[3niner]

Then there's school choice. And by that I mean voucher programs for EVERY parent and child - not just the poor and those currently condemned to the worst-of-the-worst government schools. The freedom to choose which school your child attends should be available to every parent.

This is the only solution that's needed. Putting this in place would quickly solve all of the other problems.