The Education Wars

Teach for America sounds like a good idea in theory, but cynical school districts are using the program to subvert tenure laws and to engage in age discrimination, which is rampant.

Districts like the infamous New York City school system are throwing out senior teachers by having their principals create bogus charges against them and throwing them into "rubber rooms," thus stealing their careers and their retirement benefits as few teachers prevail in kangaroo hearings, while other school districts like on Long Island flat out deny tenure (after three years) so as to not only save money on hearing costs, but also to deny any chance for these teachers to reach vesting in retirement (which is after five years).

Never underestimate how much money it costs school districts and the various state governments in retirement--it is huge. It takes a good five years or more for teachers to get really good at their jobs, but tens of thousands of eager new teachers, younger ones and older ones in career changes, are being denied the chance of being master teachers.

Meanwhile, the children are screwed over because they don't have skilled teachers to work with them.

Schools should be about the children, but they are not in this mess of a public school system. Blame "accountability" and privatization hogwash for the mess.