The Witch Hunts Come to Ohio

If students don't do well on the tests, it isn't poverty or family issues or motivation that is the problem--no, the teachers are fucking incompetent and aren't qualified to teach in the first place, so let's retest them for basic skills.

My fucking God, are the unions going to put up with this shit?

But opponents of this measure, including teachers’ unions, say re-testing teachers is a waste of time and money. It’s like telling a longtime college student to retake the ACT or SAT, said Michele Prater, spokeswoman for the Ohio Education Association.

Besides, new teachers already take licensing tests before they become teachers in Ohio. The tests measure knowledge of education theory and practice and knowledge of grade-level content and subject.

Even champions of teacher training and tougher standards are puzzled by Ohio’s plan.

When you work with elementary kids, you don't need to be "masters" of your subject area. Any teacher is going to know K-6 subjects. That notion of "subject level mastery" is an indication reformers don't know a goddamned thing about education. What teachers in elementary grades HAVE to know is child development, presenting subjects in a way that students can grasp the material, and classroom management which makes learning possible.

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This is about intimidating senior teachers in at-risk schools into quitting. In the end, it's all about the pensions, the benefits, the money.