In response to a message to Charles on ...
EH>I read your post on higher academic standards, but what about higher 
EH>standards for teachers. Here in Oklahoma you only have to 
EH>have a degree and pass a test which is about on a fifth or 
EH>sixth grade level. The are all too many colleges where you 
EH>can earn a degree just by paying for it. The standards of a 
EH>lot of colleges are lower also. This has resulted in 
EH>teachers who are teaching subjects in elementary school in 
EH>which they are not qualified. I have seen teachers 
EH>misprouncing words such as oblique, telling students that 
EH>caterpillars are insects because they have six legs, and 
EH>stating that the red in a thermometer is red mercury. They 
EH>teach Math by using a set method and reading it out of a 
EH>book.
There is some degree of incompetence in every field - every year 
there are doctors being sued for malpractice, there are building 
contractors sued for failure to build homes or buildings that are not in 
compliance with standard building practices, and plumbers who walk 
away from a job where the faucet still leaks.  You will never 
eliminate the element of human imperfection from any field of 
endeavor.  I would only be impressed with your comments if you were 
able to demonstrate that the degree of incompetence was 
significantly higher in the teaching profession than in other professions.
EH>There needs to be higher standards for teachers and 
EH>students alike and unions need to quit blocking the removal 
EH>of teachers who do not meet those standards.
What standards?  Yours?  Godliness?  Are you prepared to pay higher 
salaries to attract better teacher candidates than we get now, or do 
you want to reduce salaries and still get better quality?  How do 
you intend to do it?  
Do you really think that administrators are only hiring the worst 
teacher candidates and that there are thousands of qualified 
teachers waiting in the wings to take these jobs when the 
incompetent teachers are fired?  When an administrator has a job to 
fill, one assumes he hires the best candidate he/she can get and 
those that aren't hired are worse candidates.  The administrator has 
to fill the job - has to have a teacher in that classroom - so what 
are they to do when the best candidate isn't good enough but there's 
nobody any better to hire?  There are millions of teachers in this 
country - some are not going to be the best.
I don't know about any state other than New York, but here there is 
a means for districts to remove incompetent teachers.  The tenure 
hearing in NY is well defined and charges were brought up against 
310 teachers in the past two years. Of those cases, 26 teachers were 
found guilty, 79 chose an alternative process (provided for by law) 
to the hearing, 82 cases were settled before the actual hearing, 115 
are still pending, 3 teachers resigned immediately and 5 cases were 
consolidated with other charges.
This, of course, does not include teachers such as the several in 
our district who were encouraged to retire last year, and another 
who quit without a fight, in exchange for a decent recommendation.  
Do you know the process for tenure dismissal in your state?  Do you 
have any idea how many teachers have been brought up on charges and 
the resolution of those charges?  More often than not, the problem 
with incompetent teachers is the incompetent administrators and 
school board members who allow those teachers to keep teaching.
EH>For all their rhetoric, the AFT still represents teachers regardless of 
EH>their qualifications to teach. The AFT is worse than Bob 
EH>Dole, because even though he may be wrong he is standing up 
EH>for what he believe and not saying one thing and doing 
EH>another. 
Funny thing about the AFT - we tend to support the legal rights of 
our members.  I can't see any injustice in that.
The AFT affiliate in New York State worked hand in glove with the 
New York State School Board's Association just two years ago to 
redesign and streamline the hearing process for dismissal of tenured 
teachers.  We know that bad teachers make all teachers look bad, but 
we still believe that the removal of tenure would not produce any 
better quality in the teaching ranks.  In fact, there would most 
likely be mass firings of experienced teachers in favor of younger, 
cheaper and less able teachers.  Good, experienced teachers would be 
forced to leave the field as they would be unable to maintain 
employment, get raises or promotions, and the massive turnovers in 
the field due to constant cost reduction moves would feed an entire 
army of inexperienced, barely capable teachers.
I don't really think you have a very good grasp of the issue.  You 
have bought into a shallow, poorly thought out attack on a 
profession that deserves better than the derision heaped on it by 
Bob Dole, and the polls indicate the public's displeasure with such 
thinking.
Chuck Beams
cbeams@dreamscape.com
http://www.dreamscape.com/cbeams
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* UniQWK #5290* And on the 8th day God said, "OK Murphy, you take over"
--- Maximus 2.01wb
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