Response to Peter Morgan: Are Salem Schools a Good Deal?

Someone from the school district usually reserves the same argument for the School District Meeting in a March. I guess hearing it twice is OK with me. What he states is basically correct from the district’s point of view. There are others. And if anyone wants to take him on here, reply to this post. 

This issues I have with public education are not unique to Salem. In many ways Salem schools are typical. I suspect that results by any measurement are pretty much what one might expect given the demographics.

My problem with public education is that we know how to fix it. Many schools have. But it requires political courage that is lacking. The most important factor is teacher quality. If the district were serious about alleviating the ills of society by improving education, the place to start is to identify the bad teachers and get rid of them. When I used to say this many years ago, educators and school board members were unresponsive to be kind. One told me to get in step with the educators and not to ask questions.

Today there can be no doubt that the bad teachers in schools are ruining kid’s lives. If you do not believe me, researchers at Columbia, Harvard and many other great schools, the governments of Great Britain, Tennessee, Arizona among others have agree with me. But the interests maintaining the status quo is ruining our children’s future.

Rather than resting on our laurels and saying how great we are, we ought to be fixing the system. I will believe them when I see the first steps: identify and can bad teachers.