Hiding Behind Tenure and Textbooks

For those of you who didn't know, I spent a year volunteering as an assistant teacher in a Boston Public elementary school before coming to college. It was nothing short of a transformative experience. I relished the opportunity to put my youthful energy and idealism to work in a challenging environment in which I could make a difference.


My enthusiasm was not, however, shared by the teacher I was assigned to. Despite his young age (mid-thirties at most), he had already checked out. He would often scream at these fifth graders, a number of whom suffered from severe developmental disabilities, throw temper tantrums, throw objects (occasionally at our students), and would spend class time outside of the room on his cell phone or playing solitaire on his computer.

This type of attitude and behavior was more or less the norm amongst teachers at this school. Many of these "educational professionals" were bitter and despairing.

I'm not saying that they had no reason or right to be. After just one year in the trenches, I was very much ready to get out.

But I still fail to understand why this should excuse teachers from frequent evaluations.

Is it invasion of privacy for a community to know if its tax dollars are being put to good use? As both the employers and the consumers of the public school system, how can we defend being kept in the dark about the efficacy of our educators? Is it that we would rather sacrifice the chance for our children to gain a good education to protect the jobs of people who are no longer fit for the job? Or is the case that the amount of responsibility that actually lies on the teacher is relatively small; in which case, why is it so important that we protect these employees long after their effective days?

When teachers stand in the ways of their students (such as in Los Angeles or in New York City) they've lost the point. And given the hell that these unions raise each time such measures are suggested, it's not just a few bad apples. Arrogance has become the modus operandi for a frighteningly large portion of these "public servants." Forgive me if it sounds harsh, but the idea that someone should be entitled to their job regardless of effort is appalling.

Just as with any company or industry, there needs to be some level of quality control. But in the case of our failing public schools, we would rather retain bureaucracy than try to salvage a system that at all resembles the efficiency of a non-government entity. We have a right to know if our children are being given the maximum tools to succeed. But until the teachers unions and allied organizations across the country realize the immaturity of refusing to be publicly judged on the merits of their work, the public schools of urban America will sink deeper into entropy and failure.


(now listening: "Rococo" by Arcade Fire)