"The Last Boyscout" which is a great movie, Daman Wayans has a great line;
"I'm going to say it again for the cheap seats. I DON'T KNOW WHERE JOE HALLENBACK IS!"
And so I often find myself saying things that don't need to be said, but apparently people aren't listening. So, in a very Last Boyscout way;
"I'm going to say it again for the cheap seats. PEOPLE IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS DON'T GO THERE TO EDUCATE THE CHILDREN FIRST AS MUCH AS THEY GO THERE TO HAVE A JOB.
Until you get rid of this "teachers license" BS and allow people with REAL WORLD experience in to teach these kids, you're going to have deadbeat losers like this who have nothing better to do with their lives that they run for school board as a means of a career on account they can't be employed anywhere else.
Oh no, I know, I know. Alan Greenspan can't teach economics because "he doesn't have a teacher's license" or a degree in "education."
Yes, won't somebody please think of the children indeed.
The Last Boyscout was awesome.
ReplyDeleteYeah, this guy writes worse than George Bush gives speeches. While I realize that there are some things that people just suck at, it should have been a cold day in Hell before this guy got a job teaching anything.
On second thought, he seems like a perfect fit for the Detroit schools' de facto function of pumping out illiterate, government-dependent retards.
Too bad the article isn't about a teacher but a school board member that was voted in by the public rather than hired based on ability.
ReplyDeleteThe last two paragraphs are pure gold.
ReplyDeleteI’m not too sure that opening up teaching to more people would necessarily have the effect you desire ...
ReplyDeleteI’m not sure if this is a legal requirement or just a recommendation from the school board but in Alberta in order for someone to become an accredited teacher a person needs a 4 year undergrad degree from an accredited university and a 2 year degree in education. From my understanding the undergrad degree has to line-up with the program in the department of education you’re applying for, and demand for the positions in a program primarily determine what the entrance requirements are.
In many fields which have historically had education as a back-up plan (English literature, political science, kinesiology, etc.) the entrance requirements for education are often as high or higher than many masters programs; which means that the people who actually want to be teachers are the ones who are entering into education.
Now, this doesn’t prevent people from entering into education for the wrong reasons; after all teachers are paid very well here, and the time-off and other perks are pretty great. What I would say is that someone who worked hard to become a teacher for the wrong reasons is still far better than a slacker who fell into teaching because it was easier than the alternative.
I wonder about the writer of the article and the editors at the paper, too, since they didn't pick up on the date of the e-mail - February 29. Haven't had one of those in a couple of years, right?
ReplyDeleteI'd have to disagree with PeppermintPanda's assessment of the quality of teacher in Alberta. Far to many are in cruse control until their pensions max out. Like anything field there are great people, but IMHO an unionized environment skews the average towards those who can tow the line long enough for seniority.
ReplyDeleteThe best teacher I had in High-school left the public system to work at a charter school. I ran into him at the university, he was just finishing up his phd thesis. Anyone who took his class learned and gained real skills but the bureaucracy and union BS of the public system wasn't worth his time. He loved teaching and moved to somewhere his skills where appreciated as an asset.
I always thought teaching high-school math/physics would be an interesting semi-retirement job. Summers off, some good breaks around the holidays. And of course being an engineer I'd be able to tell the kids how the real world works.