Blog Post 14

In the article Teaching can be a profession, written by Joel Kline, he talks about how self-discipline and high standards can secure the future of public schools. Here are a few problems he wrote about...He thinks that teaching should be professionalized. For this kind of change to happen, a few things would be required to change. First, better academic training for prospective teachers. Next, a new approach to recruting teachers. Right now, anyone with a college degree can become a teacher. Finally, changing how teachers are rewarded would help bring about this change. Another thing he talked about that needed to change is the seniority distraction in our schools. It is very clear that schools operate on job security and seniority. This makes it close to impossible to get rid of a teacher that is not doing what they are supposed to be doing. A lot of this can be cut out by giving teachers tests similar to what lawyers and doctors have to take.

I believe that a teachers job is very important to society. Teachers are there to educate our youth and prepare future generations for the real world we face everyday. I think that it would be a great idea for teachers to undergo more intense training and learning to graduate. Our schools would have more great teachers if the way they were chosen for a job was changed. Klein believes that we should do what other successful countries do and recruit our teachers from the top third of the graduates. Seniority is not a good way to determine the job security of a teacher. It is not fair that teachers get paid the same amount for such different performances. If teachers were rewarded in ways that motivated them to be better, our students would have a lot better of a chance getting a teacher that is passionate about what they are doing. Making these changes would benefit our teachers, and our students as well.