Obama’s No-Brainer on Education

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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,

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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