I'll say! I recall my sixth grade class with Mr. Bush, a genuine educator. I was always a phenom at spelling and one day I spelled down everyone in class in a spelling bee. As I stood in front of the class by myself he kept giving me harder and harder words for another several minutes until I finally missed one.
Then he really lit into me for my failing work in math! "Anyone who can spell like that, and still fail at math, doesn't deserve any credit," I remember him saying -- along with a lot of other stuff I didn't want to hear. It shamed me into making a tremendous effort at math, which I hated and am still not great at. But I passed because he motivated me to make the effort.
I'm sure that fine man and wonderful, dedicated teacher, would be in serious trouble with everyone from the School Board to the ACLU if he did the same today (well, not in my case -- my parents would support him all the way!) But today even the good teachers aren't allowed to use methods that are effective in generating good student performance.
Thank you Mr. Bush! You and several other truly wonderful teachers made a huge difference in my life! Though you all are gone, you are remembered.