In a message dated 98-05-12 14:14:29 EDT, you write:

<<
      The real world is changing at a breakneck pace.  Teachers are isolated
      from that change.  Many technical teachers are teaching methods and
      concepts that are years out of date.  Why shouldn't they be required to
at
      least attempt to stay current, and then evaluated on it?  Most technical
      people don't think twice about maintaining their education on their own
      time, why shouldn't teachers?
>>
You totally missed my point (so unusual here)  The point wasn't that teachers
should not do what they do.  The point was that they should be properly
compensated and at very least appreciated.
<<
      Many teachers use professional development
      days as paid days off, and how many professions get 3 solid months off
      every year, which BTW, is another example of strong teacher trade unions
      forcing outdated procedures on the general public.  Those 3 months
      originally allowed students to spend the summer months helping their
      families on the farm, which, in case you haven't noticed, most families
      don't have these days.  But of course the unions ferociously resist any
      attempt to adjust the school year to reflect the current reality,
despite
      the financial hardship this places on today's families when they are
      required to pay for some form of day care for kids that are in school
the
      rest of the year.
 >>
Martin, you ignorant slut!
You couldn't be more wrong.  True most standard school districts only teach 10
months out of the year (not nine as you suggest) but the teachers only get
paid for those ten months not 12.  You try going several months at a time
without pay.  I don't consider 35K a year with a masters degree a good salary.
Do you?

 >Then  they elect housewives and baptist asshole ministers to govern the
whole
 >thing whilst mandating methods of teaching that failed in the 40s but
somehow
 >are now expected to work!

      And the teacher's unions fight any attempt at reform with walkouts and
      slowdowns and "Days of Action" protests.  Witness the recent attempts to
      correct the system in Ontario Canada.  Those housewives are sending
their
      children to those teachers with the hope that they will be educated in a
      manner consistent with their values and aspirations.  Are you saying
they
      don't have a valid interest in the operation of the schools?  Oh, and
BTW,
      let's keep your arrogant, ignorant religious prejudices out of this, OK?
>>
Wrongo again!  Those housewives are sending their kids to school with hopes
they won't be bothered by their little bratts for a few hours of the day.
Most parents don't give a damn about the quality of education.  This is
evident by the amount of parents that actually sit down with their kids every
night and help them.  Good education begins at home NOT at school.  And by the
way are you Baptist?  When , I my district,  the majority school board IS made
up of baptists that want to meddle in my childrens learning (Such as teaching
the girls where their place is in the home and that they were created from
some guy's rib, I won't leave it out.

 >If you could do your job with both hands tied behind your back and one leg
 >wraped around your neck, then and only then would you be qualified to have
an
 >opinion of what teaching is really about!

      Oohh, clever, wrap it up with the "walk a mile in their shoes"
      argument, as if you have to be an engineer to know that someone
      screwed up when a bridge falls down.

      A close friend of our family, who was a teacher for over forty years,
      is appalled by the lack of professionalism and self centered attitude
      of today's teachers.  As an example, she tells of the system in
      Ontario where teachers are paid on a scale depending on how many
      degrees that teacher has acquired, regardless of the usefulness of
      those degrees.  One teacher she knew well accumulated multiple
      degrees, entitling her to an income equal to a Vice Principal, EVEN
      THOUGH MANY OF THOSE DEGREES HAD ABSOLUTELY NO RELEVANCE TO HER
      TEACHING DUTIES.  Some time later, a need was identified at another
      NEARBY school for the expertise provided by one of her degrees, but
      she refused to transfer to that school, and the union contract
      stipulated that she could not be forced.  IMNSHO that's fine, but if
      you don't go, you don't get paid a premium for the skill you refuse to
      use.
 <<
Sounds to me like your friend is bitter about some personal issues.  But
thanks for the compliment on my clever wrap up. I aggree.
And again you allowed the point of the argument to sail through your hair.
Your friend is upset about administrative problems which are mostly brought on
by the policy makers (You know the Baptists).  We again aren't talking about
the teachers but the people that govern them (The idiots)
>>
      Yes there are exceptions, and most of us can point to a teacher that
      we remember as "special" in our lives, but I for one am sick of this
      "pity the poor teachers" mentality being promoted by their powerful
      trade unions.

<<
    BTW, Dave, by any chance do you have a teacher in your family?
>>
Many.  As I take it that you don't.
>>


      Martin R. Green

  >>