Who thinks parents should be able to vote on the hiring and firing of teachers in our schools?

Question

I am tired of bad teachers staying and good teachers going to find another job. I laso think they let some teachers work too long. The older they get the more grouchy. I wish they would let it be vote on. I also think teachers shouldnt be aloud to have their own child as a student in class. They are getting so picky about students wearing uniforms and forcing them to learn more and more ahead of time but they dont even drug teats the teachers! WHO AGREES???

Answer 1

I absolutely agree with you!!!
My son was excellent in all his subjects when he was in Kindergarten.... he was way ahead of the other kids when it came to reading and math, but the teacher was very strict towards him and wasn't child oriented at all. My son wasn't happy being in her class at all. I summoned the vice principal and the teacher for a meeting four months after he started
school to voice out my concerns. I wrote down everything I thought was very inappropriate conduct from her side. (for example my son won first prize in a drawing contest> she didn't congratulate him at all... on three occasions she gave my son his drawing back, which were given to her as gifts..... another time my son reported to her that a classmate, who was one of the youngest, was playing with a whole cigarette that she found outdoors on the ground- her reply was: " Don't tattletale B.!" I also asked her why she stopped giving my son rewards for good work, because I told her that my son thought he couldn't do right with her anymore- after all she continued to give rewards to everyone else. Her answer was that she didn't think he needed it anymore... and that she didn't realize that he was aware of the fact. Prior to this he won the fake phone that she promised to the child who read all 50 booklets to her first to him, but then ignored his continued efforts completely afterwards without explanation.
I went to school in Germany, where rewards or any such thing was not given at all, ... I now understand why it's better that way. A teacher can use it as a way of making the child feel good and as a way of making the child feel inadequate. A simple smile and a tap goes a long way,... but it seems that some teachers think that a candy can replace these more natural ways of encouraging the kids. She never ever smiled- believe it or not!!!! ( she is Japanese,... but there are many local Japanese teachers here, who are very, very friendly)
When I was asked what I wanted to achieve by reporting all her shortcomings, I said that it was to make sure my complaints were given in oral and in written form.
I was later informed that there is no such a thing as firing a teacher in a public school for not being all we want them to be.Three days later we transferred our child to a private school, where he had the best teachers ever!!!

Answer 2

As a young teacher, I agree with you up to some point. Bad teachers need to be ousted and the better ones should be recognized more often. I do not agree with the "older they get statement", not all teachers are grouchy when they are older. They may not care as much because they have reached tenure and know they cannot be touched!

Student uniforms are not the teachers descision to wear or not to wear. The use of uniforms is coming from the school board itself, not the teachers. Student uniforms are brought into action to deter gang alliances and induce professionalism in school. Looking at uniforms from a financial standpoint, the uniforms cost much less than the brand name labels that children wear. For the same $150 you want to spend on a pair of jeans, you can buy at least 3 full sets of uniforms. You are mixing two different issues here!

Once again you are false, many school districts do random drug use. I bet you though it would be those younger ones that you put on a pedestal, rather than the older ones, that get caught doing drugs. So you have a lose/lose situation either way.

I have never seen or heard of teachers using drugs. They may not annouce it or they may hide it well. I can only speak for my own school district and say that we do not use or condone the use of drugs. If such a district exists and they have done nothing about this then, starting from the school board, they all need to get out!

Answer 3

I would agree, as soon as teachers can vote to fire bad parents, and there are many. Maybe "good teachers" leave to find another job because of rants like this one?

From your question, you don't seem to like "older" teachers because they get "grouchy". I guess you only want inexperienced teachers in your child's classroom?

I do agree that a teacher shouldn't have their own child in their classroom. Even if they were completely professional and fair, there would be the perception of unfairness from people like you.

As for getting picky about uniforms, that's a school or school district policy. It's never a teacher's individual choice.

Forcing them to learn more and more? I guess you'd want the students to learn less and less? Remind the parents to NOT hire you as a teacher.

Spelling errors:
"also" not "laso"
"voted" not "vote"
"shouldn't", not "shouldnt"
"allowed", not "aloud"
"don't, not "dont"
"tests, not "teats"

"The older they get the more grouchy." needs a verb.

I'm glad I didn't teach you grammar.

Please don't homeschool your child. I'm sure he or she deserves better.

Answer 4

As a teacher somewhere in between being "inexperienced" and "grouchy," I just had to weigh in on this one! The fact is you are not going to adore every single teacher your child has, just as you don't adore every single person you meet in your life. However, if you have issues with your child's teacher you owe it to yourself, your child, and yes the teacher to voice your concerns to him or her FIRST. Nothing makes a teacher feel worse than a parent who storms the Principal's office without first trying to work things out at the classroom level. I think it's safe to say that MOST teachers do NOT set out to make a child feel bad, and a calm, respectful conversation can go a LONG way toward setting things right, for all parties concerned. Granted, there are always exceptions to the rule and unfortunately some teachers don't know when it's time to leave the "party", but when parents constantly complain about a teacher rather than try to work with a teacher, that's when the "good" ones get frustrated and LEAVE.

As for the "learning more and more" comment, our hands really are tied in this manner. Every state in this country has standards and expectations for each grade level. It is our responsibility to teach to those standards and meet those expectations for EVERY child in our classrooms....it's called the No Child Left Behind act (2001). If you feel strongly about the amount of work your child is being required to undertake, I strongly urge you to contact your senator and let him or her KNOW how you feel.

I love my job, and think that what I do is one of the most valuable careers in the world. (I would NOT, however, want to do that job with my own child...she'd either drive me CRAZY or I would have to STRANGLE her...lol!) Teachers are no different than any other people on this Earth...some you will like, some you won't. If your child is in a situation where a positive relationship is absolutely impossible, then by all means you should make a change. HOWEVER before you write a teacher off as being "bad," or "grouchy" try talking with him or her first...you just might discover he or she really isn't that awful! :)

Answer 5

if parents actually knew something about education, i might be inclined to agree. i know quite a few teachers, hell my mother used to be one. and the truth of the matter is that most parents feel that somehow because they raised their kid that somehow they know more than the teacher does (even though quite often the teachers see the kids more than parents do)

however, i will ALSO go so far as to say that the teachers union is far too strong. here in california, in order for a teacher to be fired once they reach Tenure(instead of just layed off) they and the school district have to appear in front of a JUDGE. aside from just the huge financial costs that is (at a time in which every state in the union is piss poor broke), that takes a teacher out of the classroom.
I had a Geometry teacher in my sophmore year who had to be the worst teacher i've ever seen or heard of. not one student in any of her periods even passed.

i do agree that a child should not be in their parents class, at least not in elementary or secondary school. by high school the parents have gotten over babying them (if youll pardon a pun).
and you are wrong on something. in san diego i have not once heard a public school system push for school uniforms (because that somehow breaks 1st ammendment rights, when most of those who it applies to dont know what an ammendment is).
i would also say that the school systems arent really pushing for the children to learn anything more than they have been in the past, theyve just been feeding them more Standardized Tests to cram for and brainwashing them with propaganda that 4 year college is good for everyone.

and i think if anyone suspected the teachers of drug possession, theyd test em.

Answer 6

I dont quite agree. I dont know if the parents would really know how to make the best decision. What about moving your children to a different school district? Also, it is a generalization to say that old teachers should not work because they are grouchy. I dont think that is true at all.. If you have a grouchy personality then youre a grouchy person. It has nothing to do with age.

Answer 7

i dont think that would be a very good idea, unless the students aren't learning anything and the parents know the teachers in some way, because otherwise teachers will be fired just because a little kid told their parents that their teacher was "mean" or something but actually quite good as a teacher.

Answer 8

Good teachers don't want to be administrators for schools, or salepeople to parents. They know their subject and want to teach it. You, frankly, are not qualified to evaluate them. Yet other people, who also are not qualified, do evaluate them. The best of the teachers say, "Who needs it?" They pack their bags and go make some real money. Why would somebody enter the teaching field these days? People don't value teachers, or education, or high standards. It really has become just a popularity contest.

Answer 9

Science should be taught in science classes, not ideologies. Religion should be taught in classes that are about religion, but without any favoritism shown toward any one of them. If an atheist taught that class and said, "These are all stupid and wrong" then he is in the wrong. I think atheist scientists should be being hired, though, but only if they don't say stuff like "See how this makes God superfluous?" We just need to teach kids how to do science, and what science says about stuff and leave the rest to their churches to deal with when they learn the earth isn't 6000 years old.

Answer 10

Everyone would want to fire teachers that gave their kids bad grades. If you have issues about a specific teacher, voice your concerns to the school board. You can't keep a teacher from seeking employment elsewhere if a teacher wants to leave, they're free to do so.

Not a productive idea.