Commenters on the AJC Get Schooled blog debated a federal proposal to hold colleges of education responsible for how well their graduates perform once they become teachers in public schools. The effectiveness of teachers would be measured by student test scores. Here is a sampling of reader responses:
Lulu: What baloney this all is. Our country has done very, very well with its public school experiment all these decades — and done so with very little or no statewide or national testing. But now, a massive global movement to divert billions in taxpayer funds away from traditional public schools and into the coffers of for-profit operators has taken hold. And to achieve their goals of enriching themselves at the expense of public school students everywhere, they come up with harebrained, half-baked policies like this one: Tie funding of schools of education to the level of test scores their graduates' students achieve teaching in public schools. Brilliant! Watch how it all plays out.
Betsy: This problem is easily resolved. You test kids at the beginning, middle and end of the year to measure progress. You attribute progress to the teacher for gains made from beginning to end of the year. You discard the scores of students who transferred into the class after the first couple of months. Those scores will measure real gains by students.
Cere: Highly qualified teachers definitely can make a difference in the lives and futures of children — provided those teachers are not burdened with too many high-risk/high-need students and/or too large a class to manage students' individual needs. We are losing qualified teachers everywhere. Why? Because the job is too demanding for the pay and has too much potential liability for outcomes. Who wants that? We simply have to put our money directly into the classrooms, support teachers and students in every way possible, and eliminate bloat, unnecessary expense and waste. Teaching properly is not rocket science. Finding, maintaining and supporting highly qualified teachers is the key.
Trader: More bureaucratic rules and regulations cannot fix the mess that is public education. The "system" is really the "patient" in the eyes of the politicians. Their concern is not for the kids but for the teachers, administrators, colleges, textbook manufacturers and all of the ecosystems that are dependent on state and federally controlled dollars. The politicians' concern is how to keep the system going so all the voters dependent on this huge ecosystem maintain their loyalties. If kids were the primary concern, a voucher system would be a no-brainer.
Gac: The fallacy is to assume there are more bad teachers than good ones. Look a little closer, and you will see there is an agenda. This is not to say there aren't schools that can get better. Like any other organization, there are embedded cultures and processes that hurt progress. There are too many hard-working teachers who are being mischaracterized for convenience sake.
