Teacher qualifications is a major issue. Closing schools can accomplish getting rid of poor performing teachers. However you know about the saying of throwing the baby out with the bath water. That is what is happening here. If a teacher is not performing well, it is the responsibility of the principal to deal with the problem. If the principal is not living up to his or her responsibilities, the local school council or the highest level of management should step in and deal with that principal. But that is not happening because our schools would not be in such bad shape if everyone were owning up to their responsibilities. The buck is being passed up, down and sideways. The cost here can be measured in terms of student failures and payment for services not rendered.
To digress a bit, here in Chicago, the public schools are run by local school councils. Each school has one. The school council members are residents of a neighborhood who run for office and are elected. They hire the principal and have budgetary responsibilities. So, there are different levels of management here in the school system. This form of school oversight is somewhat new. The Chicago School Reform Act was enacted into law in 1988, and the first local school councils were elected a year later.
What about that teacher who is competent and doing everything possible to teach his/her students? If rated fairly by their principals, this would not be a moot point. Student test scores and performance are at issue. To be fair to all teachers, every facet of learning is not controlled by the teacher. Student home life and abilities are not under the control of the teacher. The socioeconomic status of the child’s home life is a great factor in determining student success. Parents with greater education can surely do much more to ensuring their child’s success in school than parents with lesser education. The child’s innate abilities must also be taken into consideration. All children do not learn at the same rate. But the amount of homework a teacher assigns can help children’s progress. Instilling a good foundation from which children can learn is necessary. Encouraging and fostering a climate to ensure that learning can take place is essential. The teacher should have a good understanding of the subjects taught and the presentation skills necessary to convey them to the classroom. For someone who has been competently executing the job of teaching students to the best of his/her ability and having the skills necessary to do so should not be summarily dismissed when a school is closed.
Even for the best, teaching can be a complex undertaking. When children misbehave very badly, it can be daunting. Teachers today have more to deal with than simply student achievement. Help from their principals and administration should be forthcoming to aid in the learning process. They should neither feel intimidated nor coerced in getting their job done.
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