Obama’s No-Brainer on Education

Moderates would respond to a Democrat willing to slip the ideological stranglehold of a liberal interest group.

By Jonathan Alter | NEWSWEEK
Published Jul 12, 2008
From the magazine issue dated Jul 21, 2008

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  • Posted By: tallredteacher @ 09/04/2008 6:43:13 PM

    Our school system is moving toward a business model, providing accountability for process and product in the classroom. While it is tedious and time consuming at times, it does focus the classroom teacher on what measurable difference is being made by our application of curriculum and methodology.
    But one factor is still missing in the equation, no matter what changes we make in the schools and the classrooms. The parents have to be held accountable for the behavior and performance of their students before real, measurable success can take place. If we have no buy in from the parent we rarely get buy in from the student.
    I have lived in Europe, and my children have attended European schools. The family knows from the first day in preschool that their child's behavior and performance will determine their future. They DO NOT see the educational system as a right, they recognize it as a priviledge, and treat it as such. Teachers are held in high esteem and their reports and input to the family hold their weight because teachers are looked upon as trained professionals. When the school has to buckle on standards and put up with destructive and disruptive behavior because parents might sue, we lose the power in the classroom to be effective and constructive.
    America as a whole has to change their perspective on what a free, appropriate public education is before we can make progress toward excellence. Standards for ALL of us, teachers, administrators, parents and students, need to be defined and enforced without exception.
    13 years in this business has taught me one thing. I can and do make a difference with my students every day. Almost all of them show measurable academic progress. Some of them soar. And some find that they are valuable in the eyes of at least one person in their life. It can't be measured, but I know it's there, from the look in their eyes to the enthusiatic hugs and thank you's I receive when I run into former students "in the real world." That's the greatest reward I will every receive from teaching.
    If I wanted to be rich, I would have been a lawyer!

  • Posted By: msksteel @ 08/02/2008 3:17:51 PM

    <a href="http://es-kay.net/?p=465">Snake Oil</a>

  • Posted By: c.noonan @ 07/31/2008 6:34:13 PM

    Mr. Alter says hostility to measuring results of student performance and to reform of job security is the teachers??? unions??? fault, leading to weak public schools.
    Untrue. In actual fact, state education departments played a large part in identifying the vague NCLB requirements that each state put into practice. In California, tables are presented each year in the summer after Spring testing, and comparison proceeds. District with district, school with school in the district and in the state, proficiency for each grade, proficiency levels for each teacher???s class, and individual student scores. Surely, in California, teachers are accountable. Not taken into account are the obstacles low-performing schools must move aside before students reach proficiency. That???s why teachers feel anxious.
    Three steps are needed to ensure student success in the public schools, requiring the constant effort of the entire school community. First, NCLB requirements need to be funded, including higher salaries, enough teachers to address the difficulties for students, support staff like counselors to address transiency and attendance. State education budgets and federal education monies must be stabilized. Student success can???t be provided on the cheap.
    Second, schools and school districts must provide a consistent curriculum, especially for young children, taught with effective strategies. Although teachers have different styles, the structure of the day and the techniques they use can make nearly every teacher highly qualified to teach state academic standards (another requirement of NCLB). Then the school district must spend money to make sure the curriculum, whichever one is chosen, is used consistently and fully.
    Third, each school district and school must provide support for teachers to work together, communicating with each other and with parents, with student success the goal. Professional development to learn how to read assessment data and make decisions for student, teacher, and school improvement is the key to accountability.
    Last, Mr. Alter dismisses ???the tyranny of tests,??? but standards, teacher preparation, and evaluation reflect the current student assessments, one test that drags on for days and labels students for a year. A testing reformation is a worthy task for the national and state departments of education.

  • Posted By: dlight @ 07/29/2008 8:30:17 AM

    "Education was free...the essence of American opportunity, the treasure that no thief could touch, not even misfortune or poverty;...surer, safer than bread or shelter...no questions asked, no fees---the doors stood open for everyone of us."
    ---Mary Antin from THE PROMISED LAND

  • Posted By: gingy @ 07/27/2008 11:04:50 PM

    It is incredible that most of the "experts " in the media concerning education ,have absolutely no idea what they are talking about.Where did this gentleman go to high school?Phillips Academy Andover-do you think he has any clue whatsoever about Public Education?Talk to someone in the trenches-get the real story ,if you are prepared to handle it.

  • Posted By: everyonesfacts @ 07/24/2008 11:08:25 PM

    This was already covered in the excellent report, Teachers and the Uncertain American Future.
    See here for the report:
    http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/press/teachers-and-uncertain-american-future.pdf
    And here for commentary on it, many by yours truly;
    http://www.ednews.org/community/showthread.php?t=38

  • Posted By: jrsposter @ 07/24/2008 5:31:01 PM

    Jonathan,
    Thank you for your correction from the print edition of Newsweek, in which you erroneously stated that Barack Obama was booed for mentioning charter schools, when the truth is that a few isolated delegates booed, as you have now corrected, when he said he supported merit pay. . Next time, please check your facts before publishing.

    However, you made several other errors in your piece which you should now correct. The worst one was your statement that teachers' unions care only about protecting the incompetent. I invite you to investigate the Peer Assistance and Review program in the Montgomery County Public Schools, a program in which the union participates in decisions when allegations of teacher incompetence are made and helps to determine whether those allegations are accurate and whether some employees should be terminated. Does that sound like the "iron-clad job security" against which you rail?

    The KIPP schools which you tout get their results with some strategies you haven't mentioned. They require teachers to work 15 to 16 hours a day and to be on call by telephone all evening for students' questions. How many young people do you think will sign up for that regimen, even at higher salaries than are paid today?

    Furthermore, the KIPP schools have a policy of forcing out students who are not performing by telling them they will not be promoted to the next grade in which tests will be given. What most students do under those circumstances is to return to the public schools where they will be promoted. Yes, adverse selection works in this realm just the same as it does in the "business world" which you tout, although more and more lately it stands exposed as both greedy and corrupt.

    Finally, you warn that teacher unions will just die off as they have in DC and New Orleans because those cities are reform-minded. The New Orleans' teachers union was swept away, as was much of the city, by Hurricane Katrina. With nothing in place, federal education officials jumped at the opportunity to use public funds to fund non-public schools as well as charter schools. (Don't forget that non-public schools never take the tests which are part of NCLB.)

    The jury is still out on Michelle Rhee's "reform" package, but I suspect that it is so one-sided in favor of unilateral action and in opposition to due process dismissal that the DC public school system will soon find itself without enough teachers to staff its classrooms. I would never apply to a school district in which every year would be like professional Russian roulette, and I don't think many other people will either.

  • Posted By: mike23 @ 07/21/2008 10:39:57 PM

    Jonathan,

    Do you have evidence that schools without unions do better? Please share.

  • Posted By: dlight @ 07/20/2008 8:24:40 PM

    Dear Jonathan,

    Your article "Obama's No-Brainer on Education" brings up so many important issues--- I want to comment on two of them.

    First, how do we assess teacher competence? I came to teaching after several other careers (medical researcher, video editor, executive director of an arts organization, artist, etc.) and did so in part, because I wanted a career in which I could flex my altruistic muscles with some degree of protection--- I truly enjoy helping others, especially children, and I knew from some of my experiences in the business world that I didn't do well in an "every man for himself" kind of environment. Having taught in a public school in the South Bronx for 5 years and a well-to-do Westchester suburb for 12 years, I know I can be an effective classroom teacher. My students in both the South Bronx and Westchester have done well, often beyond my wildest dreams and I am constantly looking for new ideas, ways to improve my teaching, feedback from my students etc. Yet, I am hard put to know to what I should attribute my success. Clearly, having been well educated is important. The influence of my family has been very important. But, then when you get into the specifics of just exactly what works, what doesn't....it's a bit fuzzier than you describe. Flexibility, creativity, initiative, background knowledge, patience, humility, and combinations thereof---well, the list goes on and on. All of my previous careers, for example, have been instrumental in my work. When I reflect on teachers I've had or know for whom I have tremendous respect, there really is quite a huge range of characteristics that can work. So, I just want to state that it may not be so easy to create a check list for assessing who is and who isn???t a successful teacher???or for how to train new ones.

    The other comment I want to make is that I have a knee jerk reaction to the idea that education can be treated as a business. Over the past several years, our staff has been asked to read and comment on an array of what-works-in-business type books so that we can apply the wisdom found there to our own practice. I am usually mildly hostile towards this idea, along with the trend toward referring to students and parents as "clients" or education as a "product." It's not just that I see education as a haven away from business, which I do, but it's also that I think they are two very different models??? and that they shouldn't be compared. What drives me is the (?)Emma Lazarus quote that education is a gift no one can take away, as well as my firm belief in public education as a basic human right.

    Thanks for your efforts in improving our educational system!

    My best to you and your family,
    Donna (Light-Donovan)

  • Posted By: Amire @ 07/20/2008 12:16:54 PM

    Comment: It appears that Mr. Alter omitted to mention that in regular public school classrooms teachers make a commitment to teach all students regardless of parental support. In the Knowledge Is Power Program parents must sign a contract. Here's what it says at the bottom of this form : "We understand that if all these commitments are not met, our child will receive consequences, including loss of privileges, placement on "The Bench," and possibly even removal from the school. " Parents select to place their children in these schools, which means they are committed to their children's education. If they do not meet their parental responsibilities of looking over their children's homework and bringing them to school on time then they can be removed. Mr. Alter claims this model cannot be duplicated because there are "not enough effective teachers to go around." This is simply not true. Yes our public school education system, including teacher preparation needs to be improved. But, do not make generalizations and comparisons of public school teachers to charter school teachers. Charter schools run like private schools as they can choose to remove any student not meeting their expectations.

  • Posted By: Amire @ 07/20/2008 12:14:36 PM

    Comment: It appears that Mr. Alter omitted to mention that in regular public school classrooms teachers make a commitment to teach all students regardless of parental support. In the Knowledge Is Power Program parents must sign a contract. Here's what it says at the bottom of this form : "We understand that if all these commitments are not met, our child will receive consequences, including loss of privileges, placement on "The Bench," and possibly even removal from the school. " Parents select to place their children in these schools, which means they are committed to their children's education. If they do not meet their parental responsibilities of looking over their children's homework and bringing them to school on time then they can be removed. Mr. Alter claims this model cannot be duplicated because there are "not enough effective teachers to go around." This is simply not true. Yes our public school education system, including teacher preparation needs to be improved. But, do not make generalizations and comparisons of public school teachers to charter school teachers. Charter schools run like private schools as they can choose to remove any student not meeting their expectations.

  • Posted By: madjoe62 @ 07/19/2008 2:43:45 PM

    Apparently, Mr Alter didn't read page 68 (Ms. Quindlinn's piece), of the current issue or he would know why there is a need for teachers' unions. Also, he might have checked with the NEA to find out just how much effort the entire organization puts into improving schools through their suggestions and cooperation with all administrations, be they school or political units.

  • Posted By: hodison @ 07/19/2008 1:34:31 PM

    Let me share what I and other teacher members of the National Education Association do and believe.
    Our dues produce materials that teachers use in their classrooms to build relationships and make instruction relevant to children from all cultures represented in public schools. We provide training to assist in teaching the growing population of ELL???s. In order to ensure every child has a safe school we have professional development to deter bullying in our hallways. These units are based on the collaborative work of national experts, teachers, and NEA staff.
    We collaborate with the Nat???l Board for Professional Teaching Standards to address recruitment of quality teachers in high need schools. We know the importance of supporting teachers so they don???t leave teaching by having induction programs, adequate compensation, and resources they need to be successful with students, regardless of background or zip code.
    We often have NEA members on accreditation visits to colleges of education by NCATE. Our commitment to ensuring adequate preparation extends to insisting that alternative certification programs require completion of the outcomes that traditionally certified teachers meet so that we know a well prepared, highly-qualified teacher is working with every child.
    NEA is a leader in promoting outreach to minority communities. We have teamed with innovative educators and activists to address the high school pushout rate. NEA collaborates with people that support public schools and the teachers that work in them.
    Finally, regarding ???tenure???. We don???t want bad teachers in classrooms. We do want adequate support for all teachers to improve our practice. Most public k-12 schools do not have tenure as defined in the collegiate arena. Teachers, if they have any rights, have the right to due process. If a principal wants to terminate a teacher they must have a reason based on the teacher???s performance, document efforts to help the teacher improve, and show that the teacher did not improve instruction.
    In Kansas, if a principal sees a teacher isn???t competent they have 3 years to fire that person without giving a reason. If a teacher has been allowed to stay for 3 years, principals have the burden of proof to document incompetence. That is due process.
    We fight for that right because the history in education has been that without due process, inequality exists. Women were terminated for getting married. If a principal had a conflict with a teacher they would be fired. It has always been up to the employee to demand basic rights of equity.
    1 out of 100 Americans is an NEA member. We work everyday, take our work home at night, and work through summer because we believe our students have the right to a superior education. We are of every ethnicity, faith, and political party. We are your family and friends. We are in the classroom working towards a great public school for every child and our mission has always been to leave NO child

  • Posted By: melbee1971 @ 07/19/2008 12:32:44 PM

    The big textbook corporations and the standardized testing corporations need to pool their resources and immediately lobby congress to put an end to this plague of greedy, lazy and abusive teachers AND their unions! In turn, for their trouble, of course they should be awarded contracts mandating that the schools purchase their products...

    Hmm. This reminds me of another major sector we've been hearing about: Sub-prime mortages and predatory lending. Deregulation and greed.

    Alter, if you think the public schools have problems now, wait until the school voucher and merit pay proponents get their hands into them with their lofty economic, unproved theories. Usary, usary, usary...

  • Posted By: SAnnand @ 07/19/2008 11:25:16 AM

    Jonathan,
    I graded your paper, Obama's No-Brainer on Education. Nice opening. It grabbed my attention. Watch out when writing a persuasive piece. Avoid insults and exaggeration (Paleolithic). It weakens your argument. Remember, clever may get you a few chuckles but then you have to know something.
    Always know your subject. It's not really clear that you have a grasp of the issues surrounding merit pay for teachers. Surely among the millions of practitioners of the noblest profession there are many really good teachers who have considered the problems of merit pay. Would it be a nationwide scale based on standardized testing, or a multiple measure of student achievement? How would competition for pay among teachers impact the school climate? How exactly would merit pay be granted fairly? Issues of fairness in accountability are a concern because a school is not a professional basketball team or a business. Consider your analogy. Students are neither a commodity nor are they simply, dollars to grow. They are multi-dimentional unfinished puzzles even for the master teacher. School communities can't buy sell or trade a student with serious situational problems. The doors of the public school are open and teachers work with their students in a dynamic mix that changes unpredictably everyday.
    If the problem is that the US is ranked 25th among 30 industrialized nations, have you connected the proposed solution of merit pay to those countries? You make a case for a longer school year. Do those ahead of us have merit pay? Are there other things that are part of those systems that support learning? Remember to adequately research and support your argument with relevant details. Let's hope Senator Obama does his homework before he dangles the schools over the precipice of a poorly thought out, No- Brainer, reform again. SAnnand

  • Posted By: tbclasen @ 07/19/2008 10:56:54 AM

    I believe the title of this article is misleading. The problem addressed in this article is NOT a "no-brainer" and does not have an easy solution. I teach junior high school language arts and American History/Government, and have been a very effective teacher, improving my students' reading and writing skills with tremendous success. While I would love to be rewarded with the extra effort I take to know my students individually and write curriculum based on their needs, this reward cannot be at the expense of the protection I receive, through my union, from false accusations and irate parents. I get my students for 54 minutes a day. Less than an hour. Maybe MOST of the accountability needs to come from students' most influential teachers - their parents families. I have never ONCE heard a discussion of the accountability on part of the parents to make sure that education is a major priority in households. I implore Mr. Alder to think fully before he lambasts an education that is dictated by politics and bureaucracy, NOT by teachers themselves. While there are lazy teachers out there, there are also teachers, like myself, who take 120 essays home to grade at the expense of family time. How many corporations' employees work two hours a night and several hours on the weekend, after spending more than their contracted time AT their job?

  • Posted By: afife @ 07/18/2008 8:01:26 PM

    If a union is not doing a good job of improving education in a district, it is the union members' job to elect better union leaders and get back on track, but to lump all unions together as "bad" is a horrible simplification. Many are doing a tremendous job because they are listening to the "soldiers on the front line" and implementing positive improvement. The one thing all unions stand for is that educational success does not come from people working individually. No one teacher is responsible for the success of one student. It is a huge team effort from the guidance counselors to the janitors to the building trades teachers (who show that math is relevant, by the way) to the core subject teachers. Any type of merit pay will threaten this collaborative effort. Plus, measuring individual teacher performance beyond our current system, would be a very expensive bureaucratic nightmare for all school systems (including those that already struggle with finances).

  • Posted By: westello @ 07/18/2008 5:01:20 PM

    Mr. Alter missed the one thing that would both put more money in the classroom AND give us a clearer picture of how our students stack up against each other and students in other nations. Instead of 50 state assessments under NCLB, how about one national test? All the states would get the same test and we'd know how, as a country and state-by-state, how we are doing and at far less cost. In my own state, Washington, we are paying between $52 and $75 per student depending on grade, to test under NCLB. It's an outrageous amount.
    Also, it's a little disingenuous to say that New Orleans doesn't have teachers unions; it's now one big charter school experiment. Please.

  • Posted By: rsburrow @ 07/18/2008 11:36:52 AM

    While it is certainly fair to debate in opposition to teacher unions' relunctance to ramp up accountability, I'd like to see recognition of the growing population of teachers who are not members of unions and do not subscribe to this resistance. Like me, there are many teachers out there who, in an effort to get feedback about their own performance, rely very heavily on knowing how our students are growing. Because of this desire, many of us have indeed crafted valid and reliable ways of assessing our own students so that we may triangulate our classroom assessment data with standardized testing data in the effort to gain a thicker and more holistic insight about a student's progress. The truth is that as difficult as the teaching profession is, I find that knowing for certain that I am helping students keeps me sane. Given this very authentic motivation for assessment, I take offense to Alter's statement, "[it is] wrong to give teachers 'ownership over the design of better assessment tools." This statement is clearly the remark of a journalist who has spent some time researching a one dimensional perspective of many teachers unions but has neglected to recognize a growing population of teachers who see themselves as individual scholars and professionals, outside the realm of teacher unions, responsible for facilitating change and growth in students. I highly suggest that Mr. Alter spend some time interviewing or facilitating focus groups with such teachers before he once again misrepresents many of us by lumping us into one overgeneralized perspective.

  • Posted By: user0275 @ 07/18/2008 11:17:17 AM

    Mr. Alter is on the right track, but the accountability he suggests is missing a step. I teach in an elementary school in the poorest neighborhood in my state. I have also taught at the weathiest school in my city. I was hired to teach reading, writing, math, language, science, social studies and all of the other social skills.

    Why is it that in many (most?) elementary schools we see a lot of literacy, some math and no sciences? I have seen this in all of the 5 schools where I have taught. I think teachers should be held accountable for teaching what they were hired to teach. What would happen if a person outside of a union-protected job only performed half of their duties?

    I build a strong, caring community every year. I teach it all. My students have outstanding attendance and their test scores keep up with higher income schools. My class is unique in our city's title buildings. But, I cannot be congratulated for this. An outstanding teacher cannot stand out in a union that keeps us all the same.

    So, I continue to strive for excellence with the same pay as teachers that manage to teach reading, and a little writing, using a "coach" to teach math to the class because after 18 years of teaching they still don't get math. These teachers have abysmal test scores that they blame entirely on the students and their "out of control" behavior. Thanks to my union, this is fairness.

  • Posted By: user0275 @ 07/18/2008 11:13:42 AM

    Mr. Alter is on the right track, but the accountability he suggests is missing a step. I teach in an elementary school in the poorest neighborhood in my state. I have also taught at the weathiest school in my city. I was hired to teach reading, writing, math, language, science, social studies and all of the other social skills.

    Why is it that in many (most?) elementary schools we see a lot of literacy, some math and no sciences? I think teachers should be held accountable for teaching what they were hired to teach. What would happen if a person outside of a union protected job only performed half of their duties?

    I build a strong, caring community every year. I teach it all. My students have outstanding attendance and their test scores keep up with higher income schools. My class is unique in our city's title buildings. But, I cannot be congratulated for this. An outstanding teacher cannot stand out in a union that keeps us all the same.

    So, I continue to strive for excellence with the same pay as teachers that manage to teach reading, and a little writing, using a "coach" to teach math to the class because after 18 years of teaching they still don't get math. These teachers have abysmal test scores that they blame entirely on the students and their "out of control" behavior.

  • Posted By: Minnesota Nice @ 07/17/2008 12:54:44 AM

    I am a classroom teacher in a "high achieving" school in Minnesota. I really think the public needs to realize true problems with our education system. Stop blaming teachers. My wife is a registered nurse and often makes comments about how amazed she is at how much work teachers actually do.

    The article talks about recruiting teachers. PAY US. That means taxes have to go up. For a simple view of salaries, I have a Master of Arts degree in my field and 8 years experience (teach full time). My wife has a 2 year RN degree and 3 years experience (works 32 hours a week). She makes $7,000 more a year than I do.

    I agree that the agricultural calendar from the 1800's is out-dated (summers giving kids months off), but I don't think the whole system is failing. Due to advances in "technology," kids now have the attention span of canaries. The school day is too short for them, but we have to make sure we get them to their athletic practices and events. If you really want to fix education, disconnect "extra curriculars" from the school, run it like a business if that's what you want, but then pay me and RESPECT me like a professional. There's a few bad people in any field, but it seems this article and the public thinks once a teacher is tenured, we just push play on a movie while we sit in a lounge, drink coffee, and plan our summer vacations and just how we're going to spend all of our money.

    Were our TEACHERS any better 25 years ago? Didn't they belong to NEA, AFT, etc? What has changed? Did kids have cell phones, I-pods, etc. 25 years ago? No. We had books and notebooks and pens. If I didn't perform up to my ability, my parents didn't call my teacher to ask her what was wrong with her. They addressed what I wasn't doing.

    This article sounds like someone didn't like his math teacher. Why don't you come visit my room for a day? Then after that, you'd have to come home with me to work on planning for the next day, grading any assignments, and just figuring out how I can distract a room of 35 17 year-olds long enough to put down their tech. gadgets and learn something...without daring to offend one of them so I don't have to deal with an extremist parent.

  • Posted By: deebee11 @ 07/16/2008 8:28:33 PM

    As a classroom teacher in a "high-achieving" school district in California, I find Mr. Alter's comments to be surprisingly uninformed and ignorant of the process of teacher credentialing and tenure. I worked for 18 years in a "corporate job" before deciding to make a mid-life career change to become a teacher. Although i already had a BA, I was required to go back to school for a year to obtain a teaching credential. After that, I "sweated out" two years of constant evaluations, both formal and informal. Never in my life have I worked so hard for so little money. I find the same to be true of all my colleagues as well...anyone who becomes a teacher because they think it is an "easy job" with summers off quickly learns otherwise. Why do you think that almost half of all new teachers quit the profession within 5 years? Even though i am "tenured" I am continually subjected to numerous observations each year by my principal and other administration members. Because I have been a teacher for 11 years, I am no longer eligible for "step" raises and must rely solely on COLA increases from the state - that is not likely to happen this year or next, since the CA budget is 17 billion dollars in debt! Although my students (mostly Asian and Indian children born to engineers and scientists who moved to the U.S. for greater opportunities) are very high achieving with some of the best assessment scores in the state, I maintain no illusion that their accompishments are due solely to my "superior teaching skills". I know that I could easily move 5 miles south to a low-performing district where my "superior teaching skills" would make little difference in a community where education is not highly valued and promoted within the community. So, Mr. Salter, before you promulgate again on what a cushy job we teachers have, I suggest you visit some classrooms, talk to some teachers, and "walk a mile in our shoes".

  • Posted By: emelyn @ 07/16/2008 6:13:40 PM

    It's an eye catching headline: "No_Brainer on Education." For me as a retired teacher the headline, "Simplistic answer to Complex Problem", would be more appropriate. The author shows a commendable passion for education. However he doesn't seem to know much about how schools really work. Take, fosr example, the statement, "New York City dismissed only 10 our of 55,000 teachers annually." In fact, many more were let go because of lack of competence. I'm sure, based on my own experience, many tenured teachers were pushed into resigning or retiring. Ub addution, many new teachers simply didn't have their contracts renewed. Teachers' unions tend to support the school district in not renewing those contracts.
    Teachers' unions do NOT have as their goal the retention of incomptetent teachers. But that belief is the basis of Mr. Alter's position. He believes that the main problem with our schools is incompetent teachers. But what if that belief is simply wrong? Ii that belief is incorrect, then the solution, higher pay along with "much more acountablility for performance in the classroom," will not work.
    The problem with his proposal is that many things affect student accademic performance. Many of these are not in the control of the teacher. They have very little control of curriculum. Curriculum is controlled by the academic standards of the state they work in and the texbooks they use. The state's standards may not be appropriate. As for textbooks, it's important to understand that this is a multi-billion dollar business. The publishers of textbooks send lobbyists to the state capitols to influence textbook selection.
    So there are many things that affect accademic performance. The teacher's skill is vital, but many other things affect a child's performance in school. The wise politician will look at them all.
    I challenge Newsweek to send a political reporter to a real school to find out what actually goes on.

  • Posted By: Panbobik @ 07/16/2008 4:55:35 PM

    I???m thrilled that Jonathan Alter is calling for ???bold??? action from Obama on education reform. It???s entirely fitting that a stellar member of the MSM (mainstream media) lead the charge against the sloppy, disreputable, paranoid ranks of the nation???s educators. Who could be better than the MSM to flex the muscle needed to begin to bring about the ???extinction??? of the teaching profession as we know it? The editors and writers at publications like Newsweek are, without doubt, paragons of professional integrity. It is in fact amazing that, with its bold lack of concern with the bottom line and pure pursuit of the most pressing news stories of the day, Newsweek has stayed in business all these decades. Let that be a bright example for the insular, self-serving teachers! Indeed, with the wide accessibility of the net, teachers can visit Jon Stewart???s Daily Show site and learn chagrin when they hear the simple, clear message of Newsweek editor Jon Meacham that the MSM is ???conflict driven.??? In pointing out how often martial images appear on MSM magazine and newspaper covers, Meacham, quite rightly, said he had no apology to offer for that. I should think not, since producing as frequently as possible those images of conflict is all about keeping the readership apprised of the vast diversity of issues we face at home and abroad. I do think Mr. Meacham misspoke, though, when he said that those narratives the MSM generates and changes about as quickly as a pair of underwear don???t have any real impact on the voting public. I???m sure we should view the media???s work as every bit as important as teachers???. (For example, though it didn???t quite work out for her, blasting Hillary Clinton???s picture on the covers of all those magazines as the next president was fine journalism and a boon to the democratic process.)
    I could write hundreds more words in praise of the MSM, but suffice it to say that they get it right 99% of the time. (I don???t know if there are international rankings of news organizations or nifty tests for would-be journalists, but I???m sure if there are, the U.S. media is at the top of the heap.) So Obama, teachers . . . well everybody needs to just keep quiet and listen to Jonathan Alter.
    I???m ready to fall back into silence myself. After all, I???m a teacher on summer break, and the hammock and beer can await. Lots of folks think teachers have it so easy with the summer off, but while I???m in the hammock, I???ll be working my ???Paleolithic??? brain hard about the battles I???ll need to fight in the fall to prop up the union to the detriment of my students. I will say this one other little thing for myself: Though I???m a card-carrying member of the NEA, I don???t count myself amongst the terrorists that former Education Secretary Rod Paige saw in my union. Come to think of it, though, that might be a good follow-up article for Mr. Alter: Teachers: the Real Terrorist Threat!

  • Posted By: reading pro @ 07/16/2008 12:28:32 PM

    Isn't about time that someone in the press recognized that negative and punitive approaches to education in this country are unwarranted and don't work.? NCLb and its Reading First component did far more harm than good. Obama would be much smarter to come out in favor of celebrating the best in American education- which is the best in the world- and taking the positive view that he is going to save our neighborhood schools
    in instead

  • Posted By: gdett41 @ 07/16/2008 11:03:04 AM

    It is at least mildly ironic that Mr. Alter's article and Anna Quindlen's article are published in the same issue. Ms. Quindlen's article certainly exemplifies the reasons why Mr. Alter is so obviously in error.
    gdett41

    • Posted By: mgerk @ 07/19/2008 1:53:40 PM

      I couldn't agree more! When looking at the problems facing public education, Quindlen's essay illustrates who really creates the poor atmosphere for public education and it's not teachers unions.

  • Posted By: mlevy14 @ 07/16/2008 10:20:15 AM

    one point that Mr. Alter makes in the article is that so few teachers are fired. He blames this fact entirely on the Teacher's Union. This reasoning is ideological and not based on facts or research. Let us ,therefore, look at some other reason so few teachers are fired.
    1) In order to fire someone , you need to replace that teacher with a competent, certified teacher. Mr Alter, do these people exist?
    2)The dirty little secret in most big city education systems is the the attrition rate for new teachers. After five years anywhere from 40 to 80 percent of new teachers are gone. But this is my guess since Boards of Education don't like researching this problem and certainly don't like publishing these figures. Mr Alter, what are the true figures for the attrition rate?
    3)Boards of Education are not the only American institution not firing people. How many
    white collar workers and executives has General Motors fired in the current debacle.
    Mr Alter, in your own words "What business could survivethat way?"

    Marvin Levy - mlevy432000@yahoo.com

    • Posted By: afife @ 07/18/2008 7:43:58 PM

      Don' forget to add the secret that outside of the teachers unions administrators and superintendents who are doing a bad job and let go before their contract expires are getting huge severance packages. They aren't part of a union, they just have good lawyers. In our small urban area, two superintendents have been let go before their contract in the last 5 years. It has cost us a lot of money, but the schools will eventually recover from all that lost money...as long as the current superintendent can do a great job.

  • Posted By: Marla A. Payant @ 07/16/2008 9:05:54 AM

    In response to Jonathan Alter???s Obama???s No-Brainer on Education (July, 21, 2008) where Alter proposes pay for performance as part of an education reform plan. My question is, exactly who will receive (or be deprived of) money if a student succeeds or fails? Not that there aren???t incompetent teachers, but his premise seems to be that academic success or failure occurs in isolation.
    Last year my fourth grade daughter had several teachers work with her weekly (reading, social studies, math, computer, media center, physical education). Who is to determine that her social studies teacher didn???t influence her reading or that her computer teacher didn???t improve her research skills that helped her ace that author study? As a high school teacher, it would be crazy to assume that a student???s statewide standardized testing triumph or collapse occurred because of my influence alone when each student has 8+ teachers during an academic year. Additionally, what about the influence of community volunteers or a student???s support network outside of school? Sometimes a life or academic lesson takes years to produce fruit but when the lesson blossoms should someone receive back pay years down the road? Lastly, what about the students themselves? Students who strive for academic victory against overwhelming odds of poverty or broken homes?
    I agree that our education system is broken and in need of reform but pay for performance on the surface may appeal to the world at large but assigning responsibility for students??? standardized test scores is more complex than Mr. Alter reveals.

  • Posted By: Marla A. Payant @ 07/16/2008 9:05:27 AM

    My question is, exactly who will receive (or be deprived of) money if a student succeeds or fails? Not that there aren???t incompetent teachers, but his premise seems to be that academic success or failure occurs in isolation.
    Last year my fourth grade daughter had several teachers work with her weekly (reading, social studies, math, computer, media center, physical education). Who is to determine that her social studies teacher didn???t influence her reading or that her computer teacher didn???t improve her research skills that helped her ace that author study? As a high school teacher, it would be crazy to assume that a student???s statewide standardized testing triumph or collapse occurred because of my influence alone when each student has 8+ teachers during an academic year. Additionally, what about the influence of community volunteers or a student???s support network outside of school? Sometimes a life or academic lesson takes years to produce fruit but when the lesson blossoms should someone receive back pay years down the road? Lastly, what about the students themselves? Students who strive for academic victory against overwhelming odds of poverty or broken homes?
    I agree that our education system is broken and in need of reform but pay for performance on the surface may appeal to the world at large but assigning responsibility for students??? standardized test scores is more complex than Mr. Alter reveals.

    Marla A. Payant
    Lincoln, NE

  • Posted By: afife @ 07/16/2008 7:47:30 AM

    I would like to add another ridiculous idea: Base the salary of all civil servants on performance outcome. Tell the police that work in the high crime areas that they don't get a raise because crime has risen 4% in their district and, obviously, it must be their faults. Give the police in the low crime areas a raise, because it must be because they are better police officers that there is less crime. Imagine the mass exodus of already poorly paid police from the high crime areas. Blaming teachers for the problems of the neighborhood they teach in is just as ridiculous.

    • Posted By: melbee1971 @ 07/16/2008 10:44:20 PM

      Police have and need unions for the same reasons teachers do: support in a very complex job working with a broad spectrum of people in the public, support of an attorney if accused of wrongdoing that could ruin a career, and an organized support structure so they can do their jobs. Look at the "worker bees" around you that try to serve the public: cops, teachers, nurses, pipe fitters. These people aren't millionares/billionares that can get a few of their pals together to lobby congress and get the "action" they need to grease the wheels in Washington. While researching the history of the public school system in this country, look into organized labor and the unfortunate need for it in this dog eat dog, finder's keeper's world.

      I am PROUD to say that my husband is a police officer who serves the public, enforces the law, and tries to help people in need. I am a teacher. I do my best and I'm my own worst critic, but I love teaching and helping young people learn. We believe in service to our community. But we're not looking to get rich and neither are our unions. But if we need them, it's good to know they're there, considering what we all know organized interests can buy these days.

  • Posted By: Aurelia Hamilton @ 07/16/2008 12:32:21 AM

    I am a 4th grade public school teacher in a non union state, and have absolutely no conception of the situation you discuss in your article. Not all teachers are protected by an all powerful union. I truly have no say in my working conditions, and make $5000 less than the national average, even with a masters degree and 6 years experience. I am called in on Saturdays at a whim, and am expected to perform duties outside of the classroom on a daily basis.

    Before Mr. Alter issues a blanket commendation of the cushy job security he feels all teachers enjoy, he would do well to conduct a little research, especially when suggesting a national policy. There are a multitude of reasons intelligent and committed individuals are fleeing the classroom-op eds like Mr. Alter's are one of them.

  • Posted By: jmcarter @ 07/15/2008 11:53:46 PM

    I have a rare job in an urban, underperforming school district: I am the only one in a District with 35,000 kids assigned to monitor teacher performance and assist principals and administrators in dismissing poor performing teachers. I have so many examples of your comment that teachers unions believe that protecting incompetents is more important than educating children. The lawyers who represent these teachers, once my friends, consider themselves akin to criminal defense lawyers, and their clients as individuals who deserve a defense, no matter what.

    I have one case now where a teacher who was arrested with possession of methamphetamines, was allowed to remain a teacher after going through "treatment" and signed an agreement that she would resign if she tested positive for drugs. She then tested positive (twice) for meth, has refused to resign, is being actively represented by lawyers paid for by the teachers union, and is costing the District tens of thousands of dollars to seek her dismissal. Can you imagine the liability if the District rolled over???

    Another teacher received $50,000 of peer assistance last year, and her own peers refused to pass her out of the program as having satisfactorily met her own teaching goals. She, too, is insisting on AND RECEIVING a scorched earth defense from the union and its lawyers. These are 2 of several examples just this year. And yes, you're correct, we may succeed in dismissing 5-10 of 3000 teachers this year. We know there are more poor performing teachers out there, but we can only afford to go after the worst of the worst each year because the teachers union insist on aggresssively fighting to keep these teachers in their jobs, in the face of powerful evidence that these teachers actually do harm to the students they are assigned to teach.

    I have always considered myself a good leftist, and I come from a family of (good) teachers, but if keeping my progressive credentials requires being unquestionably pro-teachers union, I'd happily give up those credentials. I hope Obama can have the courage to stand up and talk about what's right for kids, and recognize that it's not always what the teachers union prescribes. Thanks.

    • Posted By: everyonesfacts @ 07/24/2008 11:02:29 PM

      The story you tell of a teacher being represented by union lawyers is doubtful (not saying it isn't true).
      The unions will generally pay you back for your law fees up to $100,000 and will represent you
      only if the other side is obviously in the wrong. Confirmed drug use does not seem a likely cause
      for the union to waste their lawyers on.

    • Posted By: afife @ 07/18/2008 7:50:14 PM

      What about the administrators and superintendents that are doing a bad job and have to be let go by the school board before their contracts expire, because of intense pressure from the parents. How big is their severance package?? In my small city we've had two superintendents let go under intense pressure (2 different school systems) in the last 5 years. The amount of severance money was shocking. Yet, they are not part of a union. In those same school systems we have schools with leaking roofs and massive teacher turnover. That money could have gone to fix more important problems. Unfair legal action is not confined to inside a teacher union.

  • Posted By: bluenv @ 07/15/2008 11:17:01 PM

    I am a public school teacher (next year is year #38) in a primarily middle class suburban high school. I teach three Advanced Placement classes with a total of over 90 students (I have other classes, too). The AP curriculum is excellent--rigorous, high powered, enriched. My students are fantastic; they work hard, they love to learn, they study. Generally they come from supportive family settings where they are well-supported, well-fed, and nurtured. Yet every May when they head off to their AP exams, I have no real way to predict which of the students will "pass" or "fail." This is an exam the students have indeed prepared for. These are kids who come from the "right" kind of home settings. This is a test that does mean something to them. But the results of their labors (and mine) are still at best an imprecise science. Even though I have taught the same class in the same school located in a fairly stable area, I still have found no magic bullet for helping my students do better--or even predicting how they would do well. My students' pass rate has varied from 84 percent (the highest) to 50 percent (the lowest). (The national pass rate is approximately 50 percent for my particular subject's exam). Should my pay have been reduced or should I have been on probationary status in the years when my students did not do well? Should I have been given a raise or put on a pedestal when my students' pass rate was particularly high? This is where I am stopped short by Alter's discussion. Please, hold me accountable--I love my kids, I love my job, and I work hard (example: it's July, and I spent all day at school every day this week). But make my job security rest on the slender shoulders of high school juniors? No thanks.

  • Posted By: melbee1971 @ 07/15/2008 10:41:15 PM

    Kids are not widgets. They're human beings. They come in all shapes and sizes with problems and unique learning styles. Some have involved parents (able to pay for private or go through the process of lotteried elite charter schools). Some have single parents: some have no parents. Our public schools take them all. They don't get to "call the supplier" of their "damaged raw material" and get a fresh, new shipment of more teachable kids.... for the completion of a more competitive product, unlike private and charter schools.

    Frankly, some parents and kids take a free and appropriate public education for granted.

    And yes, some, SOME teachers are tenured, burnt out, coasting, not able to produce, etc. Some.

    But do we educate ourselves about the real, core problems facing our public schools? Or shall we blame "those lazy teachers that are ruining everything" and their omnipotent evil unions? How convenient!

    We don't need standardized robots in this world, we need freethinking educated young adults prepared for complex learning in higher education. Young adults that can make real difficult choices in a ever complex world. We can try to corner and standardize our young people all we want, but we get a very limited look at what they are really capable of from these tests. I'm a teacher. I've seen very bright kids just blank out during these tests. Some kids just refuse to take the test and sleep. There is nothing we can do about that.

    Stop humiliating the teachers and think this one through. We need leadership and support, not more blaming and shaming.

    Jonathan, I'm a public school teacher in a poor district squeezed for funds. We can barely afford the soap to wash our hands. Give me a call or an email, we need to talk.

    We can bail out Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, we can bail out savings and loans debacles, Bear Stearnes and whoever else doesn't feel like showing up for a supeona this week.... but this is how we treat our most important institutions in America, our public schools. So sad.

  • Posted By: Shadow Tracker @ 07/15/2008 9:35:01 PM

    Jonathan Alter probably has not read Anna Quindlen's Write and Wrong or he might take a different approach to improving education. I, like many teachers, have experienced a total lack of support and mentoring in more than 30 years in public teaching, thus the high percentage who quit after a few years. Holding teachers accountable might work if they were given some help when starting out: mentoring, observations and evaluations, payment for continuing education, etc. The business model might be applicable with some support and supervision rather than huge work loads, constant stress, responsiblity for all aspects of educating up to 160 or more students everyday, very little freedom to design curricula and schedules.

  • Posted By: Shadow Tracker @ 07/15/2008 9:22:17 PM

    Jonathan Alter has probably not read Anna Quindlen's article, Write and Wrong. Every teacher has a similar story to tell, either from personal experience or from a friend's experience. Public education in America is not about educating children; it is about babysitting and practicing for tests. Jonathan wants schools to follow a business model. Okay, how many businesses have a supervisor in charge of 150 or more workers that have no secretary or any support of any kind? How many supervisors would have to move all their own supplies, find their own equipment, even buy most of their supplies? How many

  • Posted By: afife @ 07/15/2008 9:15:20 PM

    I also agree that Mr. Alter did not do much research before his editorial. He just assumed that teachers are avoiding individual performance measurements because they are trying to protect themselves. He didn't even wonder if there could be another reason. (I also think he must not socialize with many teachers because most are altruistic to a fault.) The reason teachers avoid performance measurements is obvious to many, but not to Alter. It would be a frightenly complex task because teachers do not all get the same "raw materials" in their classroom. An average size public high school would have to hire one extra administrator just to measure each teacher's performance. It's overwhelming enough to measure the students' performance.How do you compare the performance of a math teacher who gets a high percentage of uninspired, disadvantaged learners with her neighbor who lucked out and got the class with the high achievers this year? Which one is the better teacher? The teachers will tell you it is a lot easier to get better improvement from the class with the makeup of high achievers. The better teacher might be the one with the lower achievers who has to pull out every stop and trick for a smaller improvement. And, yet those two teachers might be right next door to each other. It is the way the scheduling worked out that year. And what about the arts teachers. How do you measure the performance of the band director? If you do it by how many hours he or she spends on the job, the band director beats everyone else out. Would it be fair to that band teacher to be stuck with a lower salary than the math teacher who lucked out that year with great scores? How about the art teachers? Do they miss out on the raises because the school system can't hire an outside art consultant to come in and look at every art student's before and after portfolio to assess the teacher's performance? Another huge reason for avoiding individual teacher performance is that every good administrator knows that it is the school as a whole that benefits each student's learning. When the student finally gets excited about history from a discussion about Egyptian art in art class, which teacher gets the credit? Students read in every class, so which teacher helped the student the most with his/her reading skills? Schools are already cash-strapped. They are not a business that can control profits by controlling "raw materials". How could they afford the extra requirement of keeping up with the complex tracking to see which teachers are performing better than the others? What schools need are leaders who will take the time to spend a week in teachers shoes to truly understand the job and what schools need. Next time, spend a day or two with a veteran teacher and listen to what they have to say, really listen. Don't make assumptions based on lack of experience.

  • Posted By: jek47 @ 07/15/2008 8:27:34 PM

    I wonder if Mr. Alter bothered to talk to any teachers in the preparation of this editorial. He writes as though we have a national system of education while the federal government contributes only a fraction of the money needed to run most school systems. Most public schools derive their funds from local property taxes with contributions from their state governments. Education has to compete with highways, conservation, and many other entities for funds. Within schools, teachers must perform a host of functions that have nothing to do with teaching nor content. This is especially true of schools in certain neighborhoods. Alter says nothing about these issues. While he says higher pay is needed, he seems woefully ignorant of the situation in most schools and he regards teachers as agents of the teacher organizations, when most teachers have little contact with the national teacher organizations. They are too busy with the increasing mandates of American society: teach my kids the essential, teach them how to drive, how to stay sober, monitor their social habits, make sure they are good at sports, and don't forget to entertain the community on Friday and Saturday night. Math scores not as high as Japan? Have you checked to make sure that all the Japanese kids are taking the tests that all the US kids have to take? I've been to Japan. They aren't. Of course Alter woulnd't know this. He isn't tuned in to public education except to blast those he fails to interview. He went to an exclusive private high school. And where does he send his kids to school? Does he know what goes on in his local public schools. I doubt it. Ask the Governor but don't interview the teachers.

  • Posted By: Boomer46 @ 07/15/2008 7:24:29 PM

    Just finished reading my "Newsweek" magazine. If you want to know why teacher unions are necessary...whether you like them or not....just read Anna Quindlen's ( "Write and Wrong," page 68, July 21, 2008) article on the teacher who was put on unpaid administrative leave for trying to engage "at-risk" students.
    I don't know whether she was represented by a union or not, but take it from me, a past local President, school districts are nervous nellies and they will terminate a teacher in a heart beat....no matter how much tenure/seniority you have.
    Here's another one: A local school district, I believe in North Carolina, wanted to fire an art teacher because she took her middle school students to a art museum. The reason...the museum had nude paintings, and sculptures. .. if you think bad things don't happen to nice people/competent teachers...think again.
    I could go on and on....and on!!!

    • Posted By: gdett41 @ 07/16/2008 11:00:35 AM

      As I retired teacher, I could not agree more with Boomer46. Hiring, promotion and firing of teachers is a highly politicized process: it is often based on who you know rather than the quality of your work. Teachers in with administration receive high evaluations: those on the out , low. Teachers who are friendly with one principal receive good evaluations: when he or she is replaced with one where there is a personal antipathy, suddenly the quality of their work drops drastically.
      The condemnation of tenure is rampant. At least in Ohio, tenure law simply meants that a teacher can only be terminated for cause. It takes some effort to document this: it has been done, and it has been done with the cooperation of the union.
      It is ironic, though, that the two articles appeared in the same issue.
      gdett41

  • Posted By: gregorjm @ 07/15/2008 7:11:25 PM

    American culture is more to blame than teachers. It is such a generalization to assume that teachers are not doing their jobs right. Like any profession, sure there are some who are better than others. However, where is the support for teachers? If people like Jonathan Alter come out once in a blue moon to bemoan the current state of education, where are they the other 364 days of the year? Perhaps our country could benefit from changing our reality television, celebrity 24 hour worshipping to actual intellectual activities and not make fun of people who choose to do so. Standardized testing is not the key here. The key is to monetarily and culturally support teachers and education and just intellectual capablities in general. Then I believe we would see some results.

  • Posted By: nole95 @ 07/15/2008 6:26:09 PM

    In many school districts, the union has embedded itself into the schools by creating closed shops, where all teachers are required to join the union. From personal experience, most teachers where I have worked have resented that union "mentality", and see it for what it is; protection for those who do not do their jobs effectively. Teacher unions claim to be out for what's best for children's education, but the reality is that they are only out for themselves.

  • Posted By: itharille @ 07/15/2008 5:49:57 PM

    I really don't believe that the measures taken by any country's president would actually change the cultural trend of a nation. For lower income students who succeed, there is more than an effective teacher and appropriate measures of success. There are parents who believe in education, children's own aspirations, teachers how are not necessarily the most effective but who go above and beyond, and most importantly, a desire to learn. I am appalled that this current generation of American students lags behind other students in many parts of the world with less resources and opportunities, less qualified teachers and even less technology. The reason why this country is in the 25th place demands more than firing teachers or methods of assessment designed to give money to the test-making companies. It takes raising a new generation that values education as a long term pursuit of one's dreams instead of kids who demand instant gratification and hedonistic pleasure in everything- including education. I am sorry to say that as an international student I see the trend even more clearly in American colleges, where many American students who are paying for their own education still do not put effort into learning or succeeding. When will this country admit it has fostered the very same culture that will keep it falling when compared with other nations that promote their children to work hard and sacrifice to achieve their dreams? This is what it takes for no child to be left behind.
    Ely

  • Posted By: Cymbeline @ 07/15/2008 4:41:58 PM

    You missed the most important education reform initiative Obama has repeatedly discussed: parent responsibility. If every parent made sure their child completed all in-class and homework assignments conscientiously, every student would succeed, regardless of teacher quality.
    Teachers avoid "low-performing" schools only because of so-called "accountability" plans that punish teachers simply for working with students who start behind. So now we have to compensate by offering bonuses for teachers willing to work there. Craqy,

  • Posted By: Cymbeline @ 07/15/2008 4:37:08 PM

    You missed the most important, effective education reform initiative Obama has frequently pushed: parent responsibility. If every parent made sure their children did all their in-school and homework assignments conscientiously, every student would succeed, regardless of teacher quality.
    Teachers avoid "low-performing" schools because so-called "accountability" plans punish teachers who work there. So now, we have to give teachers bonus pay to work there. Crazy, unnecessary, and counterproductive.

  • Posted By: glgiblin @ 07/15/2008 4:05:42 PM

    My husband and I are both public school teachers and have over 20 years of experience between us. While neither of us denies that there are problems in the public education system, we both resent having all of society's ills blamed on teachers and the education system. Our society has some real problems, including a growing income disparity, that need to be solved (and discussed!) before the "education problem" can be addressed. I applaud the reader who commented that teachers also have a right to have their civil rights protected and for mentioning that there are already processes in place for firing incompetent teachers: administrators need to be willing to do their job and document the poor job performance of these teachers. After all in civil and criminal proceedings we don???t expect defendants???or their families???to prosecute themselves. I would also like to point out that the students in KIPP schools are not ???randomly selected??? as Mr. Alter states. The students have to apply for admission and their parents have to make a commitment to be involved in their education, thereby creating a self-selection bias which may skew their performance data. KIPP programs have also been criticized for having an apparently high drop out rate. In short, there are many issues involved in whether a child learns or not and relying on standardized test scores will not get to the heart of these problems. When a patient does not recover from an illness because he refuses to take his medicine, keeps smoking, and misses medical appointments, we don???t blame the doctor. When a child comes from an impoverished home, doesn???t do his homework, and skips class, we shouldn???t blame the teacher.

  • Posted By: Boomer46 @ 07/15/2008 1:37:19 PM

    Wow! After reading all of these comments, especially from those of you who obviously hate teachers, teachers unions, and public schools, is it any wonder anyone wants to become a teacher.
    Teachers unions do not protect "bad teachers." They protect their civil rights; to protect abitrary and capricious termination. Tenure is designed to weed out bad teaching. In my state, teachers are given three years to prove themselves. It is the building administrator's job to evaluate and recommend a continuing
    contract. If the building administrator slacks off, that is the school district's issue to deal with....the union has nothing to do with who gets hired or who is allowed to stay.
    And believe me, there are a lot of incompetent building administrators and centtral administration types...especially in my school district where you get ahead by nodding your head up and down.
    What needs to change is that we do not do a very good job at selling the need to be educated. Just re-read this article and all the other articles criticizing public schools...then read the comments here...and all the other comments trashing public schools and teachers. Then ask yourself, if you were a kid, what kind of respect would you have for your teacher or your school?
    NCLB has not solved the drop-out rate...and that is what needs to change. As a matter of fact, it would be interesting to see some data that compares drop out rates prior to the implementation of NCLB and each year since.

  • Posted By: MissM @ 07/15/2008 12:01:23 PM

    I'm with you. I am a 3rd year teacher, so I know this intimately: what we're doing just isn't working. I work in the poorest school in a very poor district, and I work there by choice. But I, like most of the good teachers at my school, hardly ever see my family and work 70 hours a week. Teaching to the test is not easy but it is effective, and until someone comes up with a new approach, that is what unequipped teachers will do.

  • Posted By: soupthief @ 07/15/2008 10:09:29 AM

    What I would like to see is how you intend them to show improvement? Standardized testing is not effective at all, so would we then just base it on gpa? well that could be ineffective as well. My wife is a choir teacher at a middle school. The teacher before her gave the kids A's for standing up and singing and mainly just for showing up to class. She came in, and the overall class grade average dropped, but she taught them, challenged them, and proved to them there was more to music than just coming to class and singing. Would she be considered as a poor teacher? Her students dont have the same gpa as the teacher before her, but she actually teaches, and while I believe there a lot of teachers that need to go based on poor perfomance, I would like to see how you would test that which teachers are doing poorly. If she doesnt get them performing well after one year beause of the atrophy of previous years does that mean she fails?

  • Posted By: deliabliss @ 07/15/2008 4:18:40 AM

    The essential educational relationship is that between the student and the teacher. NCLB helps to heighten this essential relationship by supplementing the funds to assist more one on one attention through subsidies for accountable tutoring. Obama's position on NCLB helps to enhance the growth of each students educational attainment.

    • Posted By: docwash @ 07/21/2008 12:16:15 PM

      NCLB is an unfunded mandate.

  • Posted By: jane.simpson.wilson @ 07/15/2008 3:15:35 AM

    I had the freedom to go to public schools in four pubic sytems domestically, one, internationally and finally a Prep-School and a fine University. Everything that I learned over sixteen-years of public, Prep, and University Education was how to adapt. Whether it was language in another country, to learn what ever the local school board was pushing, from violin and French in 4th grade to emerssion Spanish in 5th and 6th grade, to World Literature and Society in 9th grade, and finally a fine three-year education in a Prep-school for girls, which put in into the University of Virginia, heck, all I knew is that adaptation, from social integration, to language absorbtion, led me to be very adaptive and not afraid of anything.

    I went into Television without a commucications degree, but the difference was, I knew how to research and write in number of languages and was not put off by differences in culture, language, or geography. I quickly became invaluable, because of my willingness to connect with people from other cultures and languages.

    I am disappointed in the current state of Public Education. because I believe that numbers preceed an awful and dissapointing trend towards testing....No Child Educated. Give any child. in any school, regardless of demographics, the exposure to something challenging; i.e, the Utah Public Magnet School who teaches each child from kindergarten to grade 6 in Madarin Chinese, and I will sign on. If you ask a child to stretch, the will rise to the occassion.

    Irish(put 'em up) Jane

  • Posted By: RexC @ 07/14/2008 9:24:13 PM

    The long-term strength of the U.S. school system comes, in my view, from our early realization that we need to teach children to think independently and be creative as opposed the historic trend, in a large part of the world, where education meant learning rote answers to a set of standard questions. Does Jonathan Alter want to have some education Czar list the questions that every child must know without thought of individual differences and without sufficient resources?

    Who better to assess a child's progress than well-paid teachers motivated by feeding individual children's interests, working in small well-supplied classes, and receiving great continuing education and thoughtful mentoring by their peers?

    No Child pins everything on external assessment and punishment for failure. Instead we should be fostering individual creative learning and putting resources into teachers' success.

  • Posted By: willnotvoteobama @ 07/14/2008 9:07:12 PM

    ALL OF MY CHILDREN WERE HOME SCHOOLED AND ALL WENT TO COLLEGE AND 4 ARE IN THE MILITARY JUST LIKE DAD WAS!! A PUBLIC SCHOOL IS A GOVERMENT SCHOOL AND DEPENDING ON WHO'S IN OFFICE THATS WHAT THEY WILL LEARN AND BOY HAVE WE HAD SOME REAL WINNERS! WINK WINK BUT MOST OF THEM WERE DEMOCRATS !!! P.S I DID NOT GO TO COLLEGE I WENT TO WAR HOOORAHHH!!!!!!!!! AND LOVED FIGHTING FOR MY COUNTRY AND NO I WAS NOT WILLING TO DIE FOR MY COUNTRY BUT WAS DAMN SURE WILLING TO KILL FOR IT !!!!

  • Posted By: intelligentperson @ 07/14/2008 7:25:18 PM

    As a teacher in an "urban" school, I would like to let everyone know that no matter how much money, equipment or studies you throw at a school, the only way the students will achieve is if there is support for education in the home, respect for teachers and fellow classmates in the school and a desire to improve as an individual on the part of the student. It is hard to teach when children (high school) cannot sit still long enough to understand what the goal for the day is. When students come to high school out of a system that has passed them, though they do no work, it is very difficult for them to see that they need to show some effort and comprehension in order to pass. It is difficult to get the students to care when their parents don't give a rip. Within the first week of school, I had two fist fights in my room. I never had that in schools where there was community ethos of value for education.

    • Posted By: willnotvoteobama @ 07/14/2008 9:10:03 PM

      sir / madam i'm not sure how old you are but in my day they had a cure for it a big paddle and the teachers were allowed to use it when needed and then the parents were able to use it too !! thats what is wrong the liberals got thier way and the kids got away with everything !!

      • Posted By: tkjer @ 07/15/2008 9:33:50 AM

        Dear willnotvote, are you saying teachers should be willing to kill in order to teach? Give them all a pistol to maintain order, right?

  • Posted By: simonanunhappydem @ 07/14/2008 6:52:16 PM

    I am all for keeping older teachers on the job as long as they want to and can teach. However, it is indisputable that the teacher's union's totally wrong attitude about not holding teachers accountable for their work and results is a basic and fundamental flaw in our system. As long as this is not foxed the system will be going down-hill. I had two daughters who went through the system 15-20 years ago in an excellently rated school district in California. Most teachers were good, some were abysmal. My grandkids are going through the system now and it is clear that it got much worse. The only option now is private schools, that are not unionized and are striving for excellence, at least for me.

    • Posted By: docwash @ 07/21/2008 12:40:28 PM

      Before assuming that teachers unions are against holding teachers accountable, read a contract. In New York City, which has the largest local in the American Federation of Teachers, the name of the contract is "AGREEMENT between THE BOARD OF EDUCATION of the City School District of the City of New York and UNITED FEDERATION OF TEACHERS Local 2, American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO covering TEACHERS. The operative word is "Agreement." The union does not impose anything on the school system. Working conditions, health and safety, fair practices, salaries, evaluation procedures, and due process are negotiated, as they should be in a democratic society. Furthermore, the union actively supports ongoing teacher training. You don't have to take my word for it. You can read the contract for yourself by visiting the website www.uft.org.

  • Posted By: raywat @ 07/14/2008 3:50:42 PM

    Alter overlooks the insidious campaign to lower salary expenses by pushing older, veteran (more expensive) teachers into retirement. Tactics such as bad scheduling, overloaded or lopsided class assignments of disciplinary, learning disabled, or special education students can quickly overwhelm even the best of them. Ridding the school of the higher salary but costing the school the expertise, enthusiasm, and mentoring capabilities of the veteran.

  • Posted By: mionshe @ 07/14/2008 3:49:42 PM

    I think that Alter is a little out of touch, maybe he should go sit in a fifth grade inner city classroom, not just for a day or a week, he should sit in for a month and see how things really are.

  • Posted By: raywat @ 07/14/2008 3:45:10 PM

    Alter focuses on the insignificant number of teachers fired for incompetence. Mostly overlooked is the insidious campaign to push older teachers into retirement thereby reducing their high(er) salaries. Often it is precisely those veteran teachers who most strength teaching corps and standards in their respective schools.

  • Posted By: mionshe @ 07/14/2008 3:45:08 PM

    I think that Alter is a little out of touch as to what really goes on in these schools. Maybe he should sit in a 5th grade inner city classroom for a year?

  • Posted By: raywat @ 07/14/2008 3:41:40 PM

    Enter Your Comment

  • Posted By: pearsoncrz @ 07/14/2008 3:39:01 PM

    I wonder if Alter is simply trying to get the number of posts to his article up by writing this piece if nonsense, which is clearly intended to piss teachers off enough for them to write a response here.

    No response is worse than criticism in today's infotainment news environment.

  • Posted By: collie5280 @ 07/14/2008 3:27:57 PM

    If you want good teachers, then you need to help them with the discipline. Students are out-of-control and teachers don't get support from anyone. They just try to survive; the students run the schools and the administration lets them.

  • Posted By: pearsoncrz @ 07/14/2008 3:23:39 PM

    Sounds like Alter is pandering to all those just graduated teachers who can't get jobs because the older more experienced teachers already have them.

    Fire the old, hire the new, because new has to be better, doesn't it?

    No. New is not always better. And standardized texts only lead teachers to teach the test, not teach students how to learn.

    Usually the best teachers are given the worst students precisely because those students need the best teachers to learn anything at all. Punishing the best teachers because they are working with the worst students, the ones with learning problems, because those students can't score well on standardized texts is just plain stupid.

    If you want the schools to improve, the parents have to be more involved, It isn't about testing, it's about interaction and support and getting the whole community involved in educating the next generation.

    What was it Hillary Clinton wrote?? It Takes a Village???

    Too bad we don't have the best candidate running for the job of President. Senator Clinton would know how to get this kind of thing organized. Obama hasn't ever done anything of this sort before. He only knows how to spend unlimited amounts of money in campaign, how to manipulate the system so that the person with the most votes doesn't win the nomination. He has divided the democratic party on the basis of race, sex, age and educational status - and now Alter is working to help him do the same thing to the country as a whole.

    • Posted By: loriw @ 07/14/2008 8:37:36 PM

      No thanks on having the Clintons back in the White House. Bill Clinton taug