Blog Post #14

In Mr. Klein's  article about public schools he mentions a few things that in his opinion need to be changed.

1.     Pick from the best

The problem: college students wanting to become teachers are not being trained properly. Anyone with a degree in education can get a job regardless if they are the most qualified for the job. Also, teachers are not getting rewarded properly. There is this idea that teachers are interchangeable, so the only way to reward them is with seniority. 

The solution: Mr. Klein believes that if we have more training for future teachers and pick them from the top 1/3 of their class and we reward teachers with how great their performance is rather than seniority.

            I agree with Mr. Klein on this problem and solution. Mr. Klein stated that he thinks we need to professionalize teaching just like doctors and lawyers. I agree that if we up the competition and implement more training for future teachers then that will help make teaching a more professional field. In my opinion, teaching is just as important as doctors and lawyers because teachers are the ones that shape the lives of our future generation, and that is something that should not be taken lightly, therefore, just because you have been a teacher for years does not mean that you should be rewarded. Sometimes, as teachers get older, they lose their fire to be the best teacher they can be and then the students suffer. But, if we had a reward system where you had to keep your performance up no matter how long you have been teaching, then that would help keep the right type of teachers teaching and the ones who need to go will be forced to leave.

2.     Seniority distraction

 The problem is that if you have been teaching for years, then you have more seniority over those who just got hired. Therefore, there is no way to get rid of the incompetent teachers that have been around for years. The solution is to base teachers on how well they perform instead of who has been there the longest.

Once again I agree with Mr. Klein on this problem and solution. Once a teacher is tenured it is almost impossible for them to be fired, while those right out of college will be let go if someone needs to be let go, even if they perform better as a teacher. I personally have seen teachers who have been teaching for years be tired out and just not care as much anymore get to stay as a teacher, while a new teacher with lots of enthusiasm be let go. However, I have seen teachers who have been teaching for years still have that enthusiasm and drive to be the best teacher. I strongly agree that we need to do away with the tenured system and base letting teachers go on how well they perform.

3.     Radical Change

The problem: teachers who are incompetent need to be let go over the last one hired. 

The solution: Albert Shanker suggests that teachers have a board to police standards and professionalism to be sure incompetent teachers are removed from teaching. Also, he states that teaching should be a merit-based career where teachers would be promoted based on specialty exams.

            In my opinion this is a great idea. I agree with Albert Shanker , that incompetent teachers should not be allowed to teach anymore and that there should be a way to remove them. Also, I agree that there should be a merit system to promote teachers to do their very best and work hard.

In conclusion, I believe, just like Mr. Klein, that teaching needs to be more professionalized and the main way to do that is to better train future teachers and reward teachers for their performance instead of seniority.