On Tue, 12 May 1998 13:22:29 -0400 Martin Green writes: [...] > Any profession or occupation with government regulation... [...] > strong teacher trade unions... When government and unions combine and attempt to do a job, doing quality work is *way, way* down on anyone's list of priorities. The constant drumbeat from the union is (rather predictably) "Pay Teachers More." Low teacher pay is not the primary cause of the problem. The real solution is more direct: change the system so that unqualified or ineffective teachers are fired. Then it will likely be discovered that higher pay is needed to retain qualified, effective teachers. But it has to happen in that order. Notice I said "change the system" as well as "union" with "fired" above. These are keywords that identify things that aren't going to happen in our lifetimes. Government-run education will be the same for a long time. _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]