[dufekin]

Well, if public educators choose their roofers, I don't want to follow suit. In all my years in public school, only one building didn't get wet whenever it rained through a leaky roof and/or missing, broken, and leaky walls and windows. From time to time, they would hire someone to "fix" some problems, but the problems never seemed to get fixed. And I remember that they fired a janitor who actually turned off the heater in the summer.

Although public schools do have many good, talented, hard-working teachers, many of their co-"workers" are lazy, incompetents who utterly fail to instruct their students. Schools seem to lack any sort of "quality control" for teachers. Once tenured, they cannot be fired; however, they may be promoted (often the only tool to eliminate a lazy incompetent).

If I wanted a new roof for my home, I wouldn't call the "city home repair hot line" to select some random person for me from all persons certified in some aspect of home repair. I might get a plumber--and a bad one who's too lazy to have done a decent job since getting "tenure" in the association in 1975.

[j_tull]

Well, if public educators choose their roofers, I don't want to follow suit.

They don't choose. The union appoints all construction/maintenance labor.

[moog]

Once tenured, they cannot be fired; however, they may be promoted.

Hey! I want a promotion! And this thing called tenure, I know it exists in college, I haven't seen it here.