Gotta wonder about teachers' priorities. Now, I'm NOT saying teachers don't care about our kids' education. What's mind-blowing to me is, why aren't TEACHERS more outraged than anyone by the poor results of our education system? If, as they say every time contract, raise or cutback negotiations come about, that "it's all about the kids" then why aren't they focused on fixing this mess? Why aren't they the most outraged by a failing system? Why aren't they LEADING the charge to reform it? A rational person HAS to wonder whether it's REALLY all about the kids. They won't protest the sad state of our education system but they'll protest anything that negatively affects them personally. What ARE their priorities really?
They're always complaining about why they need to be paid more and why education needs MORE money to fix this obviously broken system. Now most teachers across the country have both(!) better wages and benefits, not only while working but wages and benefits in retirement are far, far better than the rest of us have. They wanted comparable pay and benefits. Now we're not only there, but it exceeds what comparably educated professionals make. If that's what it was supposed to take to get our kids properly educated, why have our kids' test scores stagnated the entire time we've been increasing pay and benefits? Why are our kids near the bottom in test scores internationally?
A national outrage is emerging over the sorry state of and results from our education system. But is it teachers who claim to care the most leading it? Nope! Why Not?
Check out this example. According the the US Census, New York state spends the most per student at $17,173 annually and teachers can retire in their 50's like in most states! The results? Only 60% of New York city's students graduate. Of those who do, only 23% graduate ready for college. Shouldn't teachers themselves be OUTRAGED by these results? Why aren't they taking their broken system by the throat and fixing it? Not only should they care the most, they claim to be (and, by rights, should be) the most expert at how to educate our kids.
The most outraged should be the teachers. The most expert at fixing it should also be the teachers. Those two facts ought to result in teachers actually doing something to fix this, right? There's something very, very wrong going on here.
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