And yet, Teach for America is getting jobs for kids who do not have certification or any experience. What is that about??? This desire to heap the blame of poor public education on the teaching institutions seems unfounded. When I was getting my master's degree, I learned some very useful information and techniques that would be great to apply to the classroom. In fact, we were urged to use the current body of research to inform our practice. Sadly, many of the public school teachers were complaining that they couldn't use these ideas because they had to focus on the standardized tests. The fact that one does not need to negate the other was completely overlooked. You can use new techniques to teach the same material.
What is hurting American education? Apathy, teacher unions unwilling to neaten their ranks, standardize tests that teach to the bottom of the pile, boredom. How many times have you heard teachers say they don't get paid enough? Money -- or lack of pay -- isn't the problem. When you choose to work in the public sector, that means you don't get paid tons of cash. While teachers want to be treated as "professionals" they don't act like professionals. Many do not subscribe to trade publications nor are they members of professional organizations. How can they then call themselves professionals when they don't even know what is happening in their field? In my district, teachers have been teaching the same thing (say 4th grade) for the entire duration of their time in the district. Really, how sharp do we expect teachers to be when they do the same thing year in and year out. There is no way to keep it fresh. I used to get asked why I'd opt to remove To Kill a Mockingbird from the reading list. My answer: I've gotten sick of it. If the teacher is sick of it, how could we expect students to see its miracle? School districts need to move things around and shake it up. Yes, experience can make a better teacher, but it can also make a bored one. A bored teacher, one who doesn't need to do any prep, should not be paid more than the teacher who is working diligently to match appropriate, interesting material to the students he or she has in the class this year.
It is time for change in American education, but I doubt Teach for America is the answer. We need to scream and shout for more accountability from those who do the job. We need to recognize and applaud those who go above and beyond. We need to demand excellence. We need to teach children at their level and scrap this culture of standardization. Any 9th grader with a 2nd grade reading level will fail. Let's teach them how to read before we ask them to analyze the data.
Finally, let's look for teachers who are professionals; who belong to the organizations that work hard to keep American education on top. It's not impossible. Shake the apathy and move on.
