History at Hogwarts (was Re: Wizard Persecution )

[Hannah]

No: HPFGUIDX 126106


> SSSusan previously:
> > > I've NO idea why DD allows Binns and Trelawney to teach if 
> > > they're really not all that good, but I can't imagine that he 
> > > would cave to Ministry pressure to teach a watered-down 
history 
> > > curriculum, where important but upsetting facts have been 
> > > removed to "protect" children's sensibilities.

> This raises an interesting question.  DOES the Ministry fund 
> Hogwarts teacher salaries or general operating expenses?  What 
*is* 
> the Ministry's degree of oversight?  How much autonomy does 
Hogwarts 
> have?  Fudge has said, "I've *allowed* you to..." when speaking to 
> DD, and we saw him clamp down during Umbridge's reign, but I 
wonder 
> what the Hogwarts "charter" says about authority and whether the 
> Ministry has any fiscal role to play?
> 
> Back to the Binns & Trelawney as teachers issue (not to mention 
the  hiring of Lockhart), I have to confess that I *don't* 
understand how  this fits with what we know of DD.
<snip>
>  For me, this notion of crappy teachers being 
 hired/retained at Hogwarts bothers me more than those others.

Hannah:  Oh yes, me too.  Anything like that bothers me, because it 
seems to be at odds with the image JKR clearly has of DD being all-
knowing and all-good.  

The question about Hogwarts autonomy is very interesting (and I bet 
JKR hasn't given it much thought).  Hogwarts apparently isn't a fee 
paying school, so the funding must be coming from somewhere.  I'd 
guess that the MoM is the source.  How much control they have is 
another matter - did the MoM exist when Hogwarts was established?  
What about the governors, how much power do they have?  Enough to 
fire Dumbledore in CoS.  Of course, it seems likely that, given the 
relatively small number of wizards about, a fair proportion of 
governors are also ministry employees, so maybe they exert control 
indirectly via the governors.

Why is Binns allowed to teach, apart from the cost?  Lack of other 
suitable applicants, perhaps... I've really no idea.  As for 
Trelawney, it's certainly the protection factor.  Note that he was 
very keen for her not to leave the castle when Umbridge fired her.  
And given that he's not too keen on Divination as a subject anyway, 
it looks to me like she's there for her own safety.  He now also has 
Firenze still teaching Divination, again because it's unsafe for him 
to return to the forest (though Firenze seems to be a good 
teacher).  I'd go as far as saying that Snape too is teaching 
because he needs to be kept safe.

But then that brings us to the situation where teaching posts go to 
people because they are DD's cronies or need protection from the 
outside world, rather than having any actual ability or desire to 
educate young people.  I suppose we'll never be able to rationalise 
why DD hired people like Lockhart, for example.  They appeared 
because JKR thought they'd make a good character.  That's probably 
all the justification there can ever be.

Hannah