Reply #63: I absolutely CAN discount that there are "many" bad teachers.

[LWolf]

I can discount that because I've spent 25 years in 2 states, different districts, and different school sites working with other teachers. I've spent some of that time working in district level leadership positions working with teachers from every school site in the districts I've worked in.

There are a few "bad" teachers, but the number of "bad" teachers relative to adequate and good teachers is not significant.

There are more "weak" teachers than "bad" teachers. A "weak" teacher doesn't need to be removed, though. A weak teacher needs to be supported in growing as a professional. That's best done through mentoring and collaboration. EVERY teacher, no matter how great, has some weaker areas, and some of the best teachers I've worked with are those that made a conscious effort to recognize and strengthen their areas of professional weakness. Good teachers don't spring straight from college into the classroom. They grow over time, with experience.

I can say that teachers are not "damn near impossible to fire," because I've worked in schools that fired teachers, and participated in the process a few times. The reality is that we don't fire teachers because someone doesn't like them, doesn't agree with them, and thinks they "ought" to be fired. Every teacher in the profession will have some students (and their families) that like them, and some that don't. In order to fire a teacher, there has to be evidence of serious malpractice.

That's as it should be. Teachers SHOULD be hard to remove. Teachers should not be removed because someone is disgruntled, or because someone disagrees with them. If "most every student, parent, administrator, AND teacher agrees that a teacher should be removed," then they will be. In the states and districts I've worked in. When there is consensus like that, evidence of malpractice is not hard to find.

If your local system is as corrupt as you say, it sounds like your community needs to start by replacing the school board.