My own education rant ( Re: Reading, Writing, and Multiple Choice)

[Haggridd]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Richelle Votaw" 
<rvotaw at i...> wrote:
 
> Now that you mention it, let me jump on my government rant.  First 
of all, Louisiana has been for years at the bottom of the scores in 
testing nationwide.  (Which, might I add, uniquely corresponds to 
Louisiana being at the bottom in teacher pay as well.  How 
interesting.) 
> 
> Richelle
> 
>
I'm a New Yorker transplanted to Louisiana, and I have been tutoring 
my friend's kids for the past three years-- quite successfully, I 
might add.  I have come to some conclusions about our public 
education system in the process.
 
I'm afraid that the following remarks will step on a few toes, attack 
some sacred cows, destroy some shibboleths (mix and match your 
favorite metaphor).  I keyed on the above lines from Richelle, 
because it reflects a common mistaken attitude:  that low teacher pay 
is the reason our students don't learn, and that raising teacher pay 
will correct the situation.

It could, but not unless some basic and extensive reforms are 
implemented first.

In the current situation with most school systems in the U.S.-- 
Louisiana is not alone-- teachers have tenure, and their salaries 
increase because of longevity irrespective of their abilities.  Any 
increase in teacher pay will be largely absorbed by the current 
cohort of teachers, be they Mr. Chips or be they barely literate 
(which, unfortunately, has been the case).

As I climb up on my soapbox, get ready for the Haggridd Nine 
Half-Giant Step Program to Improve Elementary and Secondary 
Education in the U.S.:

1.  Abolish teacher tenure.  Tenure was created to protect freedom of 
thought in Universities in medieval Europe, where the local sovereign 
could otherwise behead professors who held disturbing notions.  It 
has no place in American education at all.  This is doubly true for 
elementary and secondary education.

2.  Abolish degrees in education.  Teachers should learn an 
substantive body of knowledge and get a degree in a "real" , so that 
they will understand their subject well enough to be creative in 
communicating it in different ways to their pupils.  Those process 
course in educational techniques should be a minor for prospective 
teachers, but the "process" is far less important than the "who, 
what, when, where and why" of a subject-- any subject.

3.  A corollary to #2 is to facilitate certification of individuals 
who know their subjects, but do not have an "education" degree by 
exam.  I mean an exam about the subject, not about how to make 
posters as audio-visual aids.

4.  Retest teachers on their knowledge about the subjects they are 
teaching periodically, with real sanctions if they do not pass.

5.  Severely restrict the administrative structure that is soaking up 
ever more of the education budgets of school systems.  Assistant 
principals, guidance counselors, janitors and even schoolbus drivers 
partake of the same perquisites that we bestow on teachers, and leave 
less of the education budget dollar to go to those who actually teach.

6.  Pay raises should be merit-based, not longevity-based.  

7.  Recognize the NEA for what it is:  a craft union whose first 
interest is jobs, not education.  Its actions need to be seen in the 
proper light.  In districts where the students are performing 
abysmally, it vigorously attacks home-schooling, for example, on the 
grounds that the parents are not qualified to teach their children.  
Physician, heal thyself.

8.  Vouchers, vouchers, vouchers.  Unless there is a the ability for 
parents to opt out of a failing education system completely, and 
thereby deny it the funds allotted for that "seat", there will be 
little incentive to take the vigorous measures that are necessary, 
especially in light of #'s 1,5,&7 above.  Parochial schools should be 
eligible to participate in this voucher system, though no funds 
should go to support religious studies. (Yes, I realize that money is 
fungible; so what?)

9.  Then, and only then, should there be a significant increase in 
compensation for teachers.  I believe that much of the current 
resistance to such a measure is because #1-8 have not been 
implemented.

Okay, I have my bullet-proof vest on.  Fire when ready! :)


Haggridd