They can’t agree on anything else, but Democrats, Republicans and the President found it easy to pass legislation intended to link teacher pay to student performance.
Teachers lack a powerful lobby to look out for their interests. Why shouldn’t both sides of the aisle feel safe in sticking it to them?
Teachers rank somewhere with migrant workers when it comes to political clout.
In the popular mind the prestige of teachers in the American social hierarchy stands far below that of senators, representatives, pharmaeutical executives, medical doctors, actors and football players.
In the American psyche the classroom teacher (as opposed to coaches and administrators) share the archetype of the Mother. They are expected to be all-loving, all-nurturing, all-forgiving, and able to kiss away any type of boo-boo.
Faced with the unchanging reality of our dysfunctional public school system, the new administration has decided that maybe tightening the screws on the teachers will make eveything better.
Lawmakers, most of whom send their children to private schools, like to pass the buck when anything goes wrong. Government-engineered reforms not working? Let’s blame the teachers.
Reality check for legislators and Arne Duncan:
Not all children are like your children and grandchildren.
Public schools, especially the ones in large cities, cannot boast the amenities of Sidwell Friends.
Here’s an interview with a woman who teaches in the Washington DC public school system—where senators do not send their children. This teacher’s experience is shared by millions like her in every state in the Union.
If teachers exercised any kind of meaningful control over the conditions of their employment, linking pay to performance might make sense.
As things stand, you may as well penalize the groundkeepers when the Cubs lose.