A better title for this post might be “There is something wrong with our schools”.
Because I must tell you that teachers are usually not the ones to blame. That would be like blaming the beat cops when crime rises in a city.
Let me give you a couple of examples. In my school district, the big shots at the top decided to eliminate Civics courses in favor of international diversity classes.
So now instead of learning American Civics (the three branches of government and all that), students learn about societies in Peru and Indonesia. Our history teachers were up in arms about this, but that didn’t matter.
Second example. The big shots decided to allow students to erase low grades by doing a project. So you could fail every test yet pass the course by making a poster.
That increased the district’s passing rate and made the big shots look good. Again, it enraged the teachers, but that didn’t matter.
Sure, there are bad teachers. In my experience, maybe 5%, like in any other profession. But you wouldn’t believe the crazy ideas that come from administration. Then add on the chronic discipline problems.
See what I mean?
There is a sad and profound lack of critical thinking either being encouraged or used in many classrooms in primary schools today.
Teachers who know their stuff, who like to teach, and who know what is essential to good education should form national and local co-ops where they are able to visit different private classrooms on a regular basis. They could run circles around public education on half the budget and have fun doing it.
So it's the voters in your district who are to blame. The "big shots" are the school board, an elected position. You have the power of the ballot box to remove them, I suggest you do so.
As the husband of a school administrator, I can tell you that the are heavily constrained by their district administration. It is very difficult to be in that part of education and not "fit the mold" (be liberal). The district generally seeks out a conformist to fill that role.
This is because the district administration is constrained by the state and federal agencies who place conditions on the funds from those sources. But most schools cannot refuse the funds, since the local community cannot foot the entire bill for the local district after having to pay into the federal and state bureaucracies.
The root of the problem is the local money is run through the state and federal bureaucracies and comes back to the local district with strings attached.
A major unacknowledged problem: students who just won’t do the work. In a system where a service is guaranteed to all, it’s just not a viable choice for the bureaucrats to say “you’re not doing sufficient work, so get out.” A shocking percentage of students just will not do enough work to pass.
Being in a position to enforce “you don’t do the work, you don’t pass the course”, I fail 1/3rd of students on a regular basis - none for being a tough grader (I’m very lenient), some for tough material (a nontrivial fraction just don’t get it and are not mentally equipped to), but most just because they don’t even attempt enough of the assignments to score a bare 60%. I’ve failed three whole classes in a row for inadequate effort from 100% of the students.
Faced with students having zero motivation, and a bureaucracy which has no exit strategy for those students, and a society which will not tolerate expulsion of students from a universal education system, the only option is to conjure up some excuse to promote them thru the system until it is sociopolitically acceptable to either graduate them or let them drop out. Unfortunately, this means when these students get to me they’re shocked to face an instructor who thinks nothing of failing anyone insufficiently motivated. They have learned to progress without effort, unequipped for a real world where great effort is required just to maintain a status quo (a la the Red Queen admonishing Alice to run fast just to stay where they are), and becoming virtual wards of a state which will not tolerate the natural consequences of inaction to manifest.
Taking your figure at face value, I have to ask - If 95% of the teachers are good teachers, why aren't they using the NEA, with all of its clout, to improve the schools?
Such an overwhelming majority certainly has the power to make significant improvements in the situation. Why aren't they?
What's needed is accountability. Bureaucrats love committees, boards, and councils since no single person can be held responsible.
You need one person held responsible (the superintendent) with the super either being appointed by the mayor or being elected. The super needs hire/fire authority over the principals, and the principals need hire/fire authority over the teachers. If the school system sucks, fire the super until you find a super that can make it work.