The Myth of the “Bad Teacher”
In this political season of faux anti-establishment anger born of very real economic desperation, public educators have become the villain du jour, their reputations collateral damage in the war against “big government.” In a remarkable slight of hand, the super rich who imploded the economy, manufacturing the recession which now enrages the public, have successfully misdirected the public’s justifiable anger away from them, and towards teachers.
This anti-teacher rage is focused on the mythical cartoon character – the “Bad Teacher” – which according to recent explosion in press on education generated by the documentary “Waiting for Superman”, plagues our public schools. The “Bad Teacher” is no one in specific, but rather, a sort of free-floating, ill-defined stereotype: he is an inept, uncaring, self-interested bureaucrat waiting for his pension, not only disinterested in students, but actively engaged in standing in the way of student achievement, rather than encouraging it. I imagine the “Bad