It's Them, Not Me: Time for the Chicago Tribune to Wise Up

And, it's my favorite paper, but when it comes to education, they are clueless.

They recently had an editorial lauding the efforts of the Florida Republican-dominated legislature for its education reform act.

Now teacher pay will be based on student performance. Layoffs will be based on teacher performance rather than seniority. "Good newer teachers are fired instead of less effective (teachers) protected by seniority."

To start with, we have to stop this Republican belief that the only good teachers are the new ones. Any teacher with tenure therefore is "bad." That is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. New teachers are rookies. Sure, they are full of new ideas and willing to take chances. But, do they ever make the mistakes.

I'll take a building full of veteran teachers over rookies any day.

Now, why would a school district prefer new teachers over older ones? Could it have anything to do with the salaries of the two groups? Let's see, district having financial problems. Teacher A is first year earning $30,000. Teacher B has been there ten years and earning $60,000. Guess who is the "bad" teacher.

Plus, teacher pay in Florida is ridiculously low. Now, there is an embarrassment if there ever was one.

Plus, basing pay on student performance. What about teachers working in inner cities and districts in which most of the kids are low income? These kids do not perform well on those tests. Then take your teachers in upper class communities. Those kids do well.

If I am a Florida teacher, I would make sure I got into the rich schools to protect my salary.

These Guys in Florida and the Tribune are Clueless. --RoadDog