tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post6208590800409529884..comments2024-03-26T04:19:38.862-07:00Comments on kitchen table math, the sequel: Teachers telling it like it isCatherine Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347093496361370174noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-84540199153016801832009-09-01T15:59:54.628-07:002009-09-01T15:59:54.628-07:00I've got some other medical things to post. Th...I've got some other medical things to post. The more I read, the more I think that the situation with health care reform is analogous to the situation with education reform, and I'm interested to get everyone's take.Catherine Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03347093496361370174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-47913286861496516232009-09-01T15:59:05.894-07:002009-09-01T15:59:05.894-07:00Great find, Tex!
I love the internet.
I remember...Great find, Tex!<br /><br />I love the internet.<br /><br />I remember reading a transcript in which one of the speakers, a political scientist, said that Americans idealize teachers.<br /><br />That was always true of me, and didn't change until I'd had a number of bad experiences **and** had read some teacher comments on the web.<br /><br />The 'unedited' speech on the internet, I think, has given me both a more realistic **and** a more genuinely appreciative view of good teachers. I now see good teachers as superb professionals -- and also as a fairly small subset within the field (perhaps around 15%? I base this on a comment a principal once made to Ed about the number of very good teachers inside any school.)<br /><br />Parents need to understand that the union does not speak for their children. Period. <br /><br />These teachers are right: the union speaks for teachers. Sometimes teacher & student interests are aligned; sometimes they are not.<br /><br />Have yet to read The Rubber Room!Catherine Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03347093496361370174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-70268071484483000192009-08-31T21:51:26.260-07:002009-08-31T21:51:26.260-07:00I don't mind that they protect their own inter...I don't mind that they protect their own interests. I just mind that their interests are at odds with mine.<br /><br />If they had to actually compete for my money, the way my grocery store does, then they would have to meet the interests of me. Or at least, of some big subset of the potential buyers out there.<br /><br />But they don't. They say "but we need more money!" and as public choice theory points out, it's in the politicians' interests to give it to them regardless of later outcome.<br /><br />The incentive structures in place are antithetical to the success of our students. How we'd create new ones in the present framework is still a mystery.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-80320464381275901652009-08-31T21:44:56.690-07:002009-08-31T21:44:56.690-07:00My favorite part of the story was where teachers i...My favorite part of the story was where teachers in the Rubber Room likened themselves to jihadi-islamist prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.<br /><br />They meant to indicate they'd been deprived of their rights, the way they claim those at Gitmo are. But I took away a different parallel entirely.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-15011611445002914402009-08-31T12:41:31.781-07:002009-08-31T12:41:31.781-07:00The article about the "rubber room" migh...The article about the "rubber room" might not have been kind, but it certainly was truthful - and brought attention to an outrageous waste of precious dollars. (After all, isn't that what education is about these days...dollars?)<br /><br />I've heard about these very same words coming from the head some other teacher's union, so it's not surprising to me that they would boldly proclaim that it's not about the students. There was no mass outrage at the other person's statements (the name escapes me) so they'll get bolder and bolder. <br /><br />I saw a story on the news not long ago where some woman was asked how much money it would take to get the schools in good order. She said as much as we (meaning the taxpayers, I presume) can give. IOW, there is no limit - the more money you give us, the better job we'll do...which is simply not true. Still, they continue to have their jobs and they continue to spew idiotic statements like this. <br /><br />I'm not sure you could get many parents to join a union when you can't even get them to help their kids with homework or go to PTA meetings.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15202716125247172211noreply@blogger.com