Originally Posted by Val
Originally Posted by Taminy
Re: teacher accountability. I agree that I can hold the college professor accountable if they don't know their subject, but only if that is the case.

The major point I've been making here is that test scores, including failure rates on the incredibly easy Praxis I, are strong evidence that many teachers don't know much about what they're teaching.

Originally Posted by Taminy
Re: bashing... I do consider it bashing, and not honest criticism, when I read diatribe after diatribe about how teachers are greedy-lazy-stupid-selfish etc.

I googled the term "greedy teachers" and one of the top hits was a piece called Teachers: A Greedy and Selfish Lot, says the Wall Street Journal. The "greedy" spin was added by the blog writer and it distorted what the paper wrote. A lot of the first 30 hits had exactly that same type of spin. Actual accusations of greed were thrown at the unions, but I didn't find any aimed at teachers.

That's a distinction without a difference IMO. Teachers unions represent teachers, and if teachers did not like how they were represented they would elect new leaders. Attacks on teachers unions are effectively attacks on teachers, and I think those attacks are merited, for a reason you have documented in this thread. Teachers are on average intellectually mediocre compared to other college graduates -- they are not of the same caliber as say electrical engineers. Considering their average intellectual level, I think their compensation should be cut -- there are lots of people with teaching credentials who would be willing do their jobs for less, and I think there are lots of people without teaching credentials but with B.A.'s could also do their jobs (as Teach for America has demonstrated).

Yes, if we paid teachers more we could have better ones -- but we would need to terminate many of the current teachers. Paying both current and prospective teachers more would be very expensive and inefficient.

"To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle." - George Orwell