The American paradox: Schools stink, but only from a distance
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Burbank teacher Rebecca Mieliwocki was the 2011 California Teacher of the Year. The latest Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll on education finds that Americans generally hold teachers in high esteem.(Los Angeles Times / August 29, 2012) According to the most recent Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup poll on education, Americans are split over a lot of things about schools -- whether teachers should be evaluated in part on standardized test scores and the degree to which that should happen, whether private-school vouchers are a good idea, whether the children of illegal immigrants should be entitled to a free public education. One thing that Americans have been fairly consistent about in polls for many years, though, is that overall, they don't think very highly of public schools. Except the ones their children attend. The same sentiments held true this year -- but more so. Asked to grade the nation's schools, only 19% were willing to confer an A or B. They were more positive, but evenly split, about the schools in their communities -- 48% would give |
