Education Reform - My Way

I'm pretty much sick of crappy teachers for my kids. There are the ones who stop teaching once they get tenure and feel they are immune and can treat the children with disdain and disrespect. There are the ones who just don't teach at all - or actually teach our kids inaccurately (yes, a teacher did try to teach my child "no taxation without revolution"). There are teachers who have such poor classroom management that very little content is taught. And then there are those who are simply teaching to the next test or assessment.

Why is the response to our children's failures more tests? Has anyone considered that it might not be the kids' problem? That it might just be related to the fact that the teachers are failing the students?

Principals and assistant principals do "observations" of teachers to assess their skill and effectiveness, right? Did you know that these are scheduled in advance? The teachers know exactly what day and time they are going to be observed. They plan their lessons around this. I've seen it with my own eyes. A teacher who is fair at best, teaches like a woman possessed by Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom when being observed. She has formulated her questions so that she knows that the students will be able to answer accurately and offer a testament to her teaching skills. Does this strike anyone as WRONG?

I think observations should be spontaneous and unannounced. That's step one. Step two is more radical and would be hated by many teachers. I think students, parents, and paraprofessionals should be able to offer an evaluation of a teacher at the end of the school year.

You are always going to have a couple of people who just didn't get along with a teacher, but if there is a trend among the comments - it would seem that further investigation is warranted. This would also benefit those teachers who are doing an outstanding job. It would provide them with feedback and confirmation. Those teachers who are not doing well have a choice: use the feedback to improve, or complain about the unfair procedure. Guess which one they will likely choose?

Administrators should be getting input from families. We are their bosses, after all. I pay school tax, therefore I pay the salaries of the school employees. I would love to have a say in evaluating their performance... wouldn't you?