With my flame suit on, I offer this circumstance:  We lived in Wisconsin
for the first 5 years of my kids' schooling (kindergarten through 4th
grade).  Wisconsin teachers are in a very strong union, and while I
can't speak for them all, it was very clear to us that most/many of the
teachers we dealt with looked at teaching as job, and were more
concerned with their tenure status/rights in the union than they were
with teaching.  Teachers in Wisconsin make a very good salary compared
to many states and their benefits are completely paid for, so they are
well paid, and if they have tenure, then nothing short of murder can get
them removed/replaced.  Our oldest son was slowly falling behind on
grades, and despite all our efforts (my wife is a
stay-at-home-work-your-ass-off-for-the-kids-and-volunteer-at-school
mommy), the teachers just would not do anything more than they had to do
to help my oldest son...when school was over, the teachers went home.
OK, one last point, the property taxes in Wisconsin are just as high as
they are in Texas (keep this in mind).

 

Now, we move to Texas this summer - WOW - what a change in teacher
attitude!  Yup, in Texas, a teacher can be fired right on the spot, they
don't make near as much money in Texas as they do in Wisconsin, and
everyone of them hates the Texas testing that is supposed to determine
if a child is being taught.  Make no mistake about it, there are
problems with every teaching method/school system, but the plain fact
is, my eldest son is doing much, much better, and the main reason why is
because his teacher simply won't give up!!!  His teacher fills out a
conduct sheet everyday (for every kid), and she emails my wife every
time she thinks my son is having any trouble with any subject - she's a
saint!!!  She even personally tutors my eldest after school on her own
time!!  Her motto is that she's never lost a child to any achievement
test, and she's never going to lose one either.  That, folks, is a
dedicated teacher!!!!

 

Ok, so my eldest is doing better (much better), but aha, my youngest is
also doing better and he goes to a different school than my eldest (age
difference), so that's two scores for Texas schools.  Both of my kids
went to school without AC in Wisconsin (and yes, it gets hot in WI in
the summer), but in Texas, they have AC, and at my youngest's school,
the teachers meet their students at the front of the school every
morning, outside under the awning - rain or shine, every teacher opens
the car doors, and greets the children - it makes my kid feel like a
million bucks!!  Oh, and remember, same crushing property tax as WI,
too.  Yup, the teachers make my kid feel like they're glad he's there
instead of complaining about having to work recess duty.

 

As for grades, each time a test is given at either of out kid's schools,
for anything, and at any time an overall grade average has changed, we
get automatic emails from the school.  We can log on at any time, and
monitor our kid's grades, work, and send emails to their teachers. 

 

So, I know, long post, and this proves nothing, but I did want to point
out that a teacher teaching because they want to and HAVE to, appears to
us to do a much better job than teachers who teach because it's a job,
and they can't be fired.

 

 

 

  <http://www.republictitle.com/> 

Raymond Shahan

Computer Programmer
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