Ogden Teachers Rally for Collective Bargaining

Ogden Teachers Rally for Collective Bargaining

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Teacher Accountablility

The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote in it's editorial several days ago:

"President Barack Obama made another big push for his education agenda this week, with a renewed call to hold the worst teachers accountable. Those who fail to improve quickly have 'got to go.' It is a hard directive, but a necessary one, given the sorry state of public education. Students are failing classes and flunking out at alarming rates unable to read or perform basic math skills. Obama's plan calls for teachers who miss the mark to get additional training and a chance to improve, which is fair. But those who still fail to improve after a reasonable period could be fired. No doubt, teachers' unions are disturbed to hear such tough talk again from Obama, and with it the prospect that some teachers could lose jobs. But the president has made clear his intent to change the status quo. Obama did take a conciliatory tone in expressing his desire to work with the education unions. Historically, collective bargaining units have been reluctant to address issues such as tenure that make it difficult to get rid of poorly performing teachers. That must change. Keeping bad teachers who wear tenure like a badge of honor hurts students students in chronically troubled schools. It also makes it difficult for good teachers to create environments where students can succeed."

Rick