I have enjoyed John Sullivan’s writing for several years now – it’s concise, information-packed, and often humorous. His “open letter” that was posted by the Burr Ridge Patch is excellent – though this time – not funny at all. What is hilarious are some of the comments that follow. Because of tenure-induced insulation from the real world, so many teachers suffer from a low self-esteem that comes through loud and clear as they reveal their cluelessness about economics.
Here’s the opening of John’s article – follow the link at the end to continue reading and then to enjoy the childish comments from “educators” (ha!):
Many educators, especially teachers, have been noticing that there is growing disapproval of their profession when there once was respect. Why would this be? This is a nation of upward mobility and education is a key driver. Education is an important input into the economy and is said to be the only such input that does not have a diminishing return. Why would educators experience growing disrespect and even hostility when what they do is so important? Educators ask, “Why do they now hate us so?”
One reason, of course, is that they do such a poor job of it. Student test scores have been declining for decades and, despite spending more per student on education than any country in the world, we are receiving a mediocre – and deteriorating – product. This is to be expected, of course, when educators are compensated for “time on the job” – no matter how badly they perform. It probably doesn’t help that there is growing evidence that teachers themselves do not do well on the standardized tests that are so important for their students and that a degree from a “Teachers College” is not exactly (ahem) “difficult to obtain”.
More of Sullivan’s work can be read here and at Republican News Watch.
