<p>Food for thought: I think the problem of education in our country is huge and enormous and there is no one easy answer or solution. There are so many iterations of teachers, students, school districts that you can't boil it down to one all encompassing statement. Sure it is important to get rid of "bad apple teachers" as Steve Jobs discusses. But it's awfully hard to figure out what that means. </p>
<p>My pet peeve is the writing instruction in my district. I've met some very well intentioned, dedicated teachers who ended up being ineffective because of a lack of leadership from the department or district. Some of these teachers were loved by their students and parents. But their eleventh graders didn't know how to use a block quotation or how to integrate quotations into an analytical piece of essay writing. I know why this is, as my older son attends a private school which though not perfect has done an excellent job of teaching him how to write analytically. This is not a union issue but a function of leadership.</p>
<p>I am a parent of children who have been in both public and private school, a daughter of an adjunct professor at a community college, a sister of a teacher in an elementary school who works with impoverished refugees (including the Somali Bantu children referred to earlier in this thread), and a college student myself at a state university. </p>
<p>Teachers:
My fifth grader is struggling with a narrow minded teacher (retiring next year) who is locked into one narrow path in how he works with my son and me from which he will not deviate. My twelfth grader's private school English teacher knows Latin and Greek and can quote sections of Dante's Inferno to the class from heart (and the kids are impressed and love it). I recently visited my local public H.S. and observed a number of the various English teachers. Some were fabulous, others flat out mediocre. </p>
<p>Salaries: In my affluent school district, teachers can make $90 or $100K with seniority. My 7th grade English teacher is still on the job 30+ years later and makes over $100K. My sister on the other hand has a PhD and makes 60K after 20 years. But she lives in a much cheaper state. She gets to work before 8am and is usually on the job until 5pm so the myth of the short work hours is exactly that- a myth.</p>
<p>Unions: I used to work in an industry where going non-union would save a lot of money for the employer and it was extremely tempting to do so. And why was that? Because when we worked non-union, we didn't pay health insurance or retirement benefits for our workers! Of course we loved it- we made a better profit. On the other hand, the unions often had ridiculous work rules that were inflexible. The problem is power sharing between employer and union and finding a reasonable balance. You can't just say unions are bad, get rid of unions. Who here would like to work for Walmart? (And for those who begrudge teachers decent health insurance I would add that shouldn't every American have adequate health insurance?)</p>
<p>Students: There's no generalizing here. We have the superstars, kids who are achieving far more than I ever would have dreamed of back in my day. Kids winning awards, doing research, running charitable endeavors, excelling in athletics. And then we have the plugged in generation who can barely turn from their TV show or video game to read a book, kids who lack curiosity and drive, kids who lack respect for themselves and others. These characteristics cut across race, class and gender lines though obviously affluence plays a major part in providing resources, stimulation and help to students. </p>
<p>Change and improvement will only come from considering situations individually from every angle and working creatively to find answers and solutions. </p>
<p>But it all starts with a dialogue and a consideration of different viewpoints and perspectives, so I appreciate the shared opinions of posters on this thread...</p>