As a high school teacher, I LOVE MERIT PAY AND VOUCHERS.
I also love summary expulsions and suspensions.
I work my butt off to teach and I am not negative, yet I expect HARD WORK from my students. Teachers that do not do so SHOULD BE FIRED. They killing a child’s future, and their laziness is defended by a union?
TEACH OR GO HOME. CHILDREN DEPEND ON YOU.
*They’re killing a child’s future, and their laziness is defended by a union?
I agree 100% with vouchers. This would be a public-private system. Private system paid by the pubic. Schools would be better as they would compete for students and teachers alike. To help ensure that teachers do not lose their promised benefits, all public school properties can be sold off and the money to fund public pensions. Any teacher who cannot get a job will at least get their pension ensured by privatizing the property. Schools would become efficient. The teachers could own the schools as a collective, or as investors, or earn shares over time. Teachers could be responsible for a little bit more if they choose to, and have a lot more upside in their professional lives as a result.
Teachers should take all the tests students take. Teachers should take random tests given by other teachers from other schools. A U.S. History teacher should pass an AP History Exam, and, while I do not expect him/her to be able to do trigonometry one who does should earn more than one who doesn’t.
I do not favor mandatory anything. Nothing in life happens in a vacuum. Every circumstance needs to be judged on its own.
Bad teachers are often worse than petty criminals as you said they are stealing the future, the lives of their students. They need to be vetted.
Parents all too often use school as day care, unfortunately. Parents need to be more involved in the educational system. If more parents would go to their kids campus just 8 hours a month - 1 day a month - every school would reform themselves very rapidly.
Sorry for the long reply