My last post about public schools and one public school teacher in particular generated some thought-provoking comments, so maybe some less strident afterwords are in order.<\/p>
\nFirst, I do think teaching is a tough job. The times when I’m “on point” to manage my 3 grandkids, as I was earlier this morning, reminds me how difficult it can be to corral other people’s kids, cater to their needs, keep them from stabbing each other with umbrellas, etc.
\nSecond, it may be that, like prisons, public education is based on a formula that is flawed. I’m not sure about this, since I’m not an educator, but something about building large structures, with no guarantee that there will be money available for future maintenance, seems fundamentally illogical.
\nThird, in a town like Mashpee, the impact of Prop 2 1\/2, which limits the amount of public funds available, is particularly onerous, since the town has grown so much since 2 1\/2 became law.
\nOne is tempted to blame retirees for arguments against public funding, but in the town meetings I’ve seen, the older folks happened to be the most vocal about supporting the schools.
\nThat could be because a lot of us have grandchildren in town, or maybe that homeowners seem to have caught on that property values go up when the schools are demonstrably good.
\nFourth, my biggest problems with the public schools are the tenure system and the teachers’ union.
\nIn other words, teachers are protected from political extremism, and that’s probably a good thing.
\nWhat isn’t so good is that parents and kids have no similar institutional protection against bad teachers or, for that matter, bad administrators.
\nMaybe principals should be elected officials and the schools should be de-unionized.
\nSome how or some way, there needs to be a better system of checks and balances. Simply electing school committee members is not enough. And for sure, there needs to be a better way to do away with assinine ideas like “No Child Left Behind” and the MCAS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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