Reform School

Professor J,

Oh. summer's over, isn't it? My over-scheduled brain needed more time. 

Education seems an appropriate subject for fall. First, I have a question about tenure, which in the case of higher education I can see the benefit of, but not necessarily in K-12. Like lots of other people I have fond memories of beloved teachers, mostly mediocre ones, and two, that as an adult, I now realize should not have been in charge of any classroom anywhere. Do you think teachers do a better job if they know their job is secure forever (just to be clear: I think the trend of paying for success is flawed as well) ? The firing process for bad teachers seems laborious and fraught with the possibility of being sued. So what are the benefits of tenure for teachers in elementary and secondary education? And a follow up: how does tenure benefit a child's education?

Oh, the parents. A terrifying lot. (Insert helicopter sounds.)

Your description of what awaits teachers in the reality of the system is enough to give any education major pause. From what I hear from teacher friends and retired teachers that I work with at the museum, your description is accurate. And these are people who love teaching. On tours you can see their eyes light up when the kids have great questions or figure something out on their own. But their stories of how bad the system has gotten, how much is constantly dumped on them, the ridiculous amount of bureaucratic time wasting that goes on are astounding.

Aren't many of these problems are systemic and intertwined with other problems of our society? The family unit is under intense pressure in our hyperventilating-ly over-scheduled, get ahead (but not really) culture. And instead of working together to solve problems parents and teachers are often in an adversarial situation wherein everyone suffers, especially the child. And bless his heart, he likely hasn't been taught much personal responsibility by his over indulgent parents. I'm painting with a broad brush but the pattern seems fairly universal at this point. I feel like I always have to keep saying "I know there are exceptions!"

 Could you name a few things that you think would be at least stop gap measures that could be implemented without overhauling the entire system? I think that is precisely what needs to be done, but then when it comes to education, I'm a rebel. ;)

We could start with "Stop whining. Clean your room. Read a book." A new mantra for parents.

Our town voted to split from the monstrously huge city/county system and start it's own system. A vastly smaller animal that will allow more local control. We'll see how that goes.