Unlike Delaware, where I came here from, the VEA is not a union in the same way as the DSEA. Delaware teachers are unionized, Virginia teachers are not. It is one of the major reasons we are and not DE or MD (there are other counts against both, but we’re talking schools here.)
What grades are your children in and what type of school do they attend?
As rural and poor and backwards (according to many) that Accomac County is, I will pit any 5th grader I know against 5th graders in even the best of the public schools in Delaware.
The VEA looks out for its members, as any professional association should, but it sure as heck doesn’t have the kind of legislative clout in Richmond that the DSEA has in Dover.
I am also anti-union, but I accept the fact there are exceptions to every rule and even some union members are trying to work from within to make changes. However, I do not agree with impugning all of a group, in this case pubic school teachers, because of a particular subset of them.
I have dealt with good teachers and I have dealt with bad teachers, thankfully since I’ve lived in Virginia I have dealt with very few of the latter.
That is fair enough but I do believe that the goal should be to eliminate unions as a political force and the only way this is going to happen is if we refuse to pretend that some how most union members don’t tow the line. 67% of them did vote Obama. And 76% of them in 2006 voted Democrat in 2006 which was key in swinging the balance of power. If we do not stop them we are going to find ourselves living in a US that resembles more Venezuela than a free nation. I opt out of public schools and home school my kids though I still am forced to support them against my will through taxes.
Since were having a contest here, my homeschoolers were in college at the ages of 13, 12, and 13. All finished all general college requirements and Calculus III by the age of 15. The two younger had B.S. degrees in mathematics by the age of 18.
So?....Where's the government school that can do that, Gabz?
I’m really glad everything’s working out for your children. Good choice of counties. What grades are your kids in, if you don’t mind me asking. I’d like to know if you see a big difference between elementary school and middle school in your district. Also if you notice any great differences between the older teachers and the younger ones. I pulled my kids out of Chesterfield in middle school for several reasons. I attended Richmond PS (ugh, yeah, my mom’s a RPS teacher) and the schools were crap from k-12 (I graduated in ‘88) and they’ve only gone downhill since then.