On Monday night, I went to an early screening of the controversial and much-anticipated documentary, "Waiting for 'Superman'", at an event graciously sponsored by the Bay Area United Way. This movie is a must see, and will outrage most thinking citizens, including progressives like me who have tended to cast a blind eye at the influence of teachers' unions on our education system and the policies of the Democratic party. As a son of two former teachers, I feel we must reform our education system NOW or seriously risk losing to China, India, Europe and the rest of the world in the global economy.
Fortunately, the President has bravely led the way on education reform (and taken on the teachers' unions with his visionary "Race to the Top" program, which is part of the stimulus plan. In addition to providing much needed money to innovate in education, the program encourages states to eliminate tenure for K-12 teachers. Tenure guarantees teachers a job for life, no matter how they perform. While most teachers try to do the right thing for their students, the bottom 20% of teachers are seriously bringing down the quality of our education, encouraging high drop-out rates, and producing no or low skilled workers. Time for a big change!
Go and see this heart-breaking movie for yourself. And then get involved in the reform movement!
No comments:
Post a Comment