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Why Is It So Difficult To Fire Bad Teachers?
Ant writes with this depressing story about how public schools sometimes work: "This six-page Los Angeles Times article shares its investigation to find 'the process [of firing poor teachers] so arduous that many school principals don't even try (One-page version), except in the very worst cases. Jettisoning a teacher solely because he or she can't teach is rare ...'"
The right-wingers will blame unions, "tenure" and every other typical right-wing target.
They will forget the fact that in the USA, teaching & education appears to be not very well valued. Nor is it viewed as a basic right (yes, I will be branded a "leftist", or as you Yanks like to call people you consider criminally insane traitors, a "liberal"). For quite some time now, in the USA, people haven't been going in teaching for the money or because it is a well-considered profession. So the best & brightest are not generally attracted to the profession.
And then, there is the generally negative attitude towards " book learnin' " generally found in the USA, an attitude that seems to go back to the late sixties. Contrast this with the attitude that you had to go to school if you wanted to elevate yourself & better your life, attitude that seemed to be somewhat prevalent before the sixties (or is it the fifties?). What brought about this, I have no clue, but then I do not live in the USA.
For a country that likes to view itself more civilized & enlightened that the rest of the world, the USA seems to have an odd relationship with what enables that: education...
p.s.: I'm not saying there are no bad teachers in the USA, or anywhere else in the world. There are. But if "The System" is built in such a way that achievement or even just the will to learn & succeed are not correctly encouraged and rewarded, maybe you're just reaping what you sowed (sp?).