Today, how much faith do you have in our nations Teachers and Principals?

I don’t have any “faith” in them.

@john65pennington I can’t speak for all teachers and principals and can only from my very intimate experiences with my kids teachers and I believe the example you give of your young neighbor is not the fault of their teacher(s) it’s the parents. Teachers run the gamut from great to down right embarrassing and principals also cover the spectrum for good to fantastic.

I truly believe a child’s education experience is only as good as you make it especially today where more often than not, classroom sizes are bigger than ever and yes kids can get lost in the shuffle and that is not entirely a teacher issue as parents are afforded opportunity to get involved and assist their children’s learning experience. It is a non-stop job for the parent to engage the teachers and the school if need be to ensure that child is meeting and hopefully exceeding their learning goals.

I have seen it all along in that the “smart” kids parents are consistently at the parent/teachers conferences, the open houses and clearly engaged in their child’s efforts and don’t see the same effort or level of commitment from the under performing kids. I am quite positive any teacher here would generally agree with me.

I liked it when I had to fear (respect) them.

The basic problem with the schools is that there is no meaningful competition. Can you imagine how bad grocery stores would be if we were assigned the grocery store where we had to shop. There would be no competition, the service would be indifferent, the selection would be limited, and the prices would be high.

We would reject such a ridiculous system but we have accepted it with regard to public education. If people received education vouchers that they could use where they wished, the schools would rapidly improve. Our public schools will continue to get worse unless we change the system—which isn’t likely to happen any time soon, if ever.

Tons of faith.

I’m a teacher.

The kids do alright here in Canada:

Fact

Canadian education results improved to an “A” grade. Canada ranks 2nd among 17 peer countries.

Canada has been delivering a high-quality education to people between the ages of 5 and 25 with comparatively modest spending. Canada’s high-school graduation rate is relatively high.

To move ahead of Finland, Canada needs to produce more Ph.D.s and graduates in disciplines that support innovation, while pushing to improve the adult literacy rate.

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OISR rankings (top 10 best country in terms of education)

1. Britain
2. Finland
3. Germany
4. North Korea
5. Canada
6. Belgium
7. Australia
8. Greece
9. France
10. USA

Depends on which school system you’re talking about, I’d say. Some districts don’t pay the teachers jack. They’re likely not going to have the cream of the crop. Other districts force teachers to “teach a test”, in order to allow students to crack the standardized test’s code so the school receives more state and federal grant money. This doesn’t really reflect accurately on the teacher’s qualifications or ability.

The last really good teacher I had was in the worst school district I’ve ever experienced, but it was a history class, and oddly enough, the government hadn’t yet mandated History on the standardized tests. I still don’t know if they have.

I have a lot of faith in the majority of principals and teachers.

I have very little faith in the committees that set the state standards (teachers are grossly under-represented), in the type of parent that expects teachers to be both parent and teacher, and in the policy makers who think taking more and more freedom away from teachers, emphasizing standardized testing, and reducing budgets is the way to go.

Not the teacher’s and principal’s fault in our school systems in the US…it is the parents who have screwed things up! Discipline starts in the home, not in the schools! The courts have tied the hands of the administrators also. No corporal punishment…spare the rod and spoil the child. The greatest love you can show a child is good discipline!

I’m going to get a lot of flake on this one…but, that is okay!

The teachers are trying their best, but they have to obey principals that are too busy brown-nosing their superiors to listen to the student voice.

The issue of geography being taught is somewhat a separate issue. I know people who ace math tests and can explain everything there is to know about biology, but can’t locate France on a map. Geography is not taught as much as it should be, but just because someone doesn’t know where Georgia is, doesn’t mean that the rest of their education has been poor quality. Geography is just something that people omit because they view it as unimportant.

Of course, I learned where Georgia was from educational place-mats that I had since I could read…

The fault may be the strong teacher union that adamantly opposes school choice for entirely selfish reasons. My wife was on the union negotiating team and none of the other members gave squat for the needs of the students. It was all about how can I get paid for more for doing less. Protecting the union (which makes truly massive political contributions) is at the expense of the students.

I’ve had one or two great teachers who really got it. My high school art teacher, Mrs. Coleman, did an amazing job of teaching us to draw from observation, especially figure drawing. Her approach to drawing and painting was that you needed to have a strong basis of technical skills to express yourself effectively. I went from drawing stick figure people before her class to being able to draw just about any live subject with confidence, and it all comes from learning to really see what you’re drawing.

My American literature teacher did the same thing for his students and critical thinking. He gave us the skills we needed, and then taught us to use them in independent ways. Also, he always wore tweed jackets with patches on the elbows and had a pot of coffee going. He was awesome.

All of your answers are great and i truly read each one. i agree with each answer. the education process starts at home and if the childs homelife is not together, neither with the childs eduation. thanks everyone.