Secretary of Education Touts ‘Shared Responsibility’

3 things to fix public schools:
Voucher program(each parent will be given a voucher of their childs portion of their property taxes that would have gone for education to be spent at a school of the parents choice)
Merit based pay – Based on test scores teach may receive a pay raise if certain standards are met. If the standards are not met, no pay increase. The teachers whos students do not meet those standards have an evaulation of their teach style and changes or additional training recommended based on the results.
Limited and merit based Tenure assignments- Tenure based for teachers basically means they cannot be removed from their position. Currently laws in most states give tenure to all teachers after 2-3 years of service regardless of their performance. It should be 8-10 years, with merit requirements, subject to a review every 5 years, and limit the assignments to less than 10-25% of the total teacher pool.
Force the teachers to work for the pay we are giving them to teach our children.

I cannot bellieve that the Secretary of Education is that out of touch with what is really going on. How can we “revamp” education without teachers! Does he know how many teachers recieved pink slips or are getting them today? Get more teachers in the classroom, not more students. If we had lower student/teacher ratio there would be learning not managing.

@ bobtherepublican
As a tacher I disagree about Merit pay. I agree with accountability but you have to look at every student and work with them the best that you can. The problem with Merit pay is that teachers would be inclined to possibly cheat because their salary is on the line. Thus “cheating” students out of a quality education.
Second the culture at home has to change! If it doesnt teacher accountability is pointless. You can only do so much in the class and when the student leaves and they CHOOSE to do nothing how should a teacher be responsible for their lack of work outside of school?
Merit pay should only be given in the form of bonuses not just the only means of pay.
If you were a teacher you would understand. Would it be fair to be responsible for kids who do nothing outside of class?
I think parents shuld be fined if their child does not work or fails. You could also motivate students by not giving them their drivers license if they fail.
Teacher accountability is not the only solution. It is like a marriage if one side gives all and the other side gives none the marriage will never work. Education does not work if students are not willing to carry their share of the load.

as above…I asked Education Secretary Arne Duncan about that this morning on ‘GMA’. He wasn’t buying it: “there will be shared responsibility not just with teachers but principles, school systems…and even states – everyone is gonna be responsible for driving better results.”
…Everyone apparently except students and parents. Until there is responsibility there as well, we’re just singing the same old song. btw, it’s PRINCIPALS, not principles.

Re:Sec. of Edu. Arne Duncan-he needs to check his own grammar-”lowering down of standards”-one cannot lower “up” anything, therefore the word “down” is not needed. P/S when did pronouns “who” and “that” become interchangeable- always thought that “who” was used in reference to humans and “that” when referring to non-humans? I’m not saying that the Sec. did this but I hear this very often even by educated people.

Shared responsibility should mean: Teachers, Parents and Student contracts. If schools are put under pressure to perform, they will simply pass more students! Teachers cannot force a child to learn, or ask a parent to show more interest in their child’s education. If teachers have to keep their jobs by passing more students, it will make America less competitive.

There is a majority of common opinions…Parents AND the children have to be part of the equation for success. In other countries the parents drive their children to a respectful, strong educational ethic, or else they go work as laborers in the fields. But, we have welfare for those who choose to just catch a ride and leave the driving and work to others. Our country was founded on a sink or swim principle. You had to work to survive. Now, we have all this free hand out that has made our country a weak society. Plus, as there are those who really need assistance, those lazy free loaders are putting them at risk of losing it. Further, I have taught in the public schools system for over 12 years and it is not just the minority kids who have no work ethic, and there are multi-lingual parents who DO push their kids to work for a better life. Lazy is the key, not ethnic background. Many children I teach speak two languages and are making a difference for their families. One of the main issues I see is the deterioration of the family and values and honor. Maslow, an expert in the education field, stated that before a child could learn at optimum levels, they must have basic needs met, FROM THE HOME! not the government. Children who are depressed, violent or emotionally disturbed, as well as children of parents who have used drugs, do not provide that basic level for teachers to build on. It is time for the truth to be seen, spoken and acted on…Teachers should not be held responsible for the whole problem. Doctors cannot heal or help a COPD patient who continues to smoke, drink and eat an unhealthy diet so why make teachers held accountable for curing this sick patient as well? Until the truth is addressed and dealt with by using a better formula for the solution that includes the family, we will continue to tread water and be sub-standard to the world….We will be the ones left behind.

I live in Texas and I don’t know about any other state but we have a TAKS test here that our children have to take and the government needs to omit all of these ridiculous tests. The teachers can’t teach like they need to because they have to teach what is on the TAKS test. That test doesn’t prepare our kids for the future. I am scared to know that the kids these days who are not prepared mind you might one day be making decisions that could affect me.

We are putting band-aids on the overall problem with education.
The reports across the globe are comparing apples to green peppers. Education systems vary tremendously from China to Italy to The United States. The public or government support of the people in those countries varies just as much. Is employment and health care managed for all people in those countries? What students are our United States students being compared to? Do those countries educate all their students or just the ones who can pass the tests? When reports come out all the details are left out and the overall message then becomes America is falling behind. This is not equitable.
As far as teachers are concerned, majority of them do their best to do their job everyday. Our society does not embrace or value education. I say this because if we ALL did then you would never hear of a nerd being made fun of or a bumper sticker that says, “My horse just bucked off your honors student.” These are just a few instances of how being smart is not seen as beneficial.
Linking a teacher’s pay to student achievement is not the way to solve the educational problems in our country. Who at the schools will decide what teachers get the Advanced Placement students, gifted or honors students and who will get the students with behavioral or learning disabilities? This issue in itself will lead to a more divided school system with ALL students’ education at stake.
I firmly believe that the beginning to solving this issue is to start with society. Invest in quality commercials explaining how to “parent” your student from toddler to college; include things like proper diet, bedtimes, age appropriate TV/movies, and how much sleep is needed for students to function properly. Talk about the importance of showing interest in what your student is learning and helping them to talk about it daily. The parent is the person who will be with the student throughout all of their education and other trials and tribulations of life. They are the first and consistent teachers.
Our society needs an over-haul. We need a good hard look at what we value. That tends to be where our money is spent. People will not bat an eyelash at attending a $15 dollar movie or buying the latest CD but when asked to pay school taxes or school fees complain or just simply refuse to pay. When these fundamentals change our educational system will change as well. The changes to NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND at the expense of pinning teachers against each other and educational systems without a whole society approach will not solve the issues.

I teach in a large city’s public school district. It is becoming impossible to teach anything! Students take tests and more tests. They don’t even have time to learn what they are being tested on. Scores are plummeting everyday and teachers are ready to cry. We have a very large ESOL population and they are not getting the services they deserve because of ALL the mandated requirements of the district. Recently, I asked a student how many video game systems he owned. He answered 3. He owns 60 video games. He told me not to worry because he reads too. He said, “I have like 3 books.”
Parents are the students’ first teachers. Whatever happened to parent involvement in their child’s life and education? Perhaps, more money should be spent on early childhood education. Young children would hear real language and someone would be there to read to them and teach social skills. They would be more prepared for kindergarten and 1st grade. Parents and caretakers must encourage children to want to learn, making it important! Kids and teachers are frustrated and in the end NO CHILD’S BEHIND WILL BE LEFT!

Bottom line is mothers are children’s primary and first educators. Mothers should not be sending their children off to day-care for another mother or woman to raise and educate her children. We women must stop having children before we can even properly educate them. We must have our finances together and then have children as they are not living in a free world. Everything has a price on it, including the educating of our children.

Christine Amanpour? The end of the line for “This Week”.

The only problems that need to be fixed in public schools are rampant disrepect, violence and the unproductive noise and lack of learning that occurs due to these two unacceptables. Our schools tolerate what would’ve been expellable 20 years ago due to political correctness due to cultural tolerances and accommodations. You eliminate these and you will restore the schools’ learning and teaching excellences overnight. You continue to look the other way due to political correctness and it doesn’t matter what replacement for NCLB Duncan implements.

Blaming the poor performance of many students on union teachers is a poorly focused argument. All union teachers are college trained. They are over qualified to teach the average child basic skills. Also teachers that are union members cannot expect to bite the hand that feeds them. It was not too long ago when teachers were wearing rags to work. They could not afford decent clothes. It was the UFT that got them their well deserved raises. They are not commies but educated Americans who we should be proud of.