Word: public-schools
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...fact that Washington teachers didn't even want to choose between merit pay, based on performance, plus losing a year of tenure, and a standard smaller raise on an annual basis exposes the core issue regarding our failed public-school system. The vast majority of public-school teachers (as represented by their union) are willing to accept below-proficiency pay in return for job security because they are painfully aware of their collective ineptitude. When tenure is eliminated and teachers can make up to $130,000 per year for extraordinary performance, educators like me may be encouraged to (re)join...
...comparable countries in basic math and reading skills. Obama himself has stated, “the question is whether or not ordinary parents, who can’t work the system, are able to get their kids into a decent school.” Yet he chose to send his kids to private school instead of personally supporting the public-school system. Unlike the Clintons, the Obamas didn’t even tour a public alternative. This decision, while understandable, perpetuates the distinction between “ordinary” parents and the powerful elite—and the resulting...
...most ambitious reform efforts is Michelle Rhee’s revamping of the Washington, D.C., public-school system, widely regarded as one of the worst in the nation. The Economist reports that if the district were a state, its test scores would be the lowest in the country. Rhee has taken aggressive steps to change this. Her proposal would increase baseline teacher salaries from around $40,000 to $78,000 a year, and high-performing teachers who were willing to forgo tenure would receive a salary of up to $130,000. A combination of improved efficiency and private donors would...
...While Obama’s plan for improving education is admirable, his private actions should match his public promises. All the policy initiatives in the world will not fully solve America’s education problem if the rich and powerful are able to flee the public school system into $25,000-a-year private schools. Politicians need to see problems firsthand as parents and PTA members, not by reading statistics. And surely concessions could be made to make a public-school arrangement suitable and safe for both the Obama children and their parents...
...article would be if you had included details such as these: Charges against Ayers and his wife Bernardine Dohrn were indeed dropped, but only because of a procedural technicality. Ayers has publicly stated that he was guilty. By the time Obama met him, Ayers' days as a Weatherman were past, but his beliefs had not changed - indeed, he has openly reaffirmed them. And his work for public-school reform can be seen as an attempt to spread his radical beliefs throughout the educational system. John Keenan, Chicago...