Praising Teachers While Bashing Them
Joel Klein, ex-Chancellor of New York City Schools, wrote about teachers in a recent op-ed.
“Teaching is incredibly hard, especially when dealing with children in high-poverty communities who come to school with enormous challenges. Many teachers work long hours, staying at school past 6 p.m., and then working at home grading papers and preparing lessons. Some teachers get outstanding results, even with our most challenged students. These are America’s heroes, and they should be recognized as such. Sadly, they aren’t.
“On the other hand, there are also many teachers who work by the clock – they show up a minute before 8:30 and leave a minute after 3; when in school, they do the barest minimum. They get dreadful results with students and, if you spend time in their classrooms, as I have over the past eight years, it’s painfully obvious that they belong in another line of work.”
