10 Qualities of Successful Teachers10 Cualidades de un maestro exitoso
By: Keith
It seems that any half-wit can get a teaching certificate these days. Unfortunately, I see a lot of half-wits also realize this. Public schools are a mixing pot of teachers who care but stink at teaching, teachers who don’t care and stink at teaching, and awesome teachers who are great because they care and they have a natural inclination toward the profession. When your kid gets assigned a new teacher, you never know what you’re going to get. I overheard an exasperated mother yesterday talking with another lady about her son’s first grade teacher, how the teacher gives him assignments but doesn’t check the answers, or assigns work and grades it but then records the grade wrong in her ledger. I don’t know all the details, and I don’t know if this mom was just disgruntled or if the teacher was really as bad as she was making her out to seem. Whatever the case may be, it did get me thinking about traits that I think every successful teacher should have. Disorganization, for instance, is not acceptable with a classroom of 6 year olds.
1. Enthusiasm: You have to really want to be a teacher in order to be a good one. You have to wake up every day enthusiastic about trying to drum information into a bunch of kids who probably don’t care. But, you know there’ll be no hope at all for those kids unless you can convey enthusiasm for education (that’s a big responsibility). You’ll never motivate a kid if you come into class looking like your dog just died — even if your dog just died.
2. Organization: It’s hard enough to keep my homeschooling supplies and assignments organized. Teachers who aren’t organized are asking for trouble. A large part of a teacher’s job is knowing what to do next, and devising game-plans to get it done.
3. Competence: This should go without saying. However, I once had a history teacher who didn’t seem like he’d ever passed a history class himself. I was just a kid, but even I knew he was an idiot. Everybody else did too. The guy had the respect of no one.
4. Patience: What are you going to do if half your class is ready to learn and the other half is acting like a bunch of wild monkeys? It’s frustrating. Here are some kids who are ready and willing to learn, and over there are kids who are about to ruin your best laid plans. When things go sideways you have to take a deep breath and try again. Also, as a teacher, you’ll need equal helpings of patience to deal with dumb administrators and bureaucracy.
5. Flexibility: You can’t effectively teach every kid using the same technique. You’ll have to know your students (organization) and know the best way to teach each one so that when one asks a question you can answer it in a way that that kid understands best. That takes a good deal of professional education, to have familiarity with different teaching methods. You’re a teaching chameleon.
6. Confidence: Kids will eat you up if you lack confidence. I spent two years as a substitute teacher in the not so great part of Dallas so I know the importance of confidence in the classroom. You’ll have to have a good plan, and you’ll have to stick to it through complaining parents, upset administrators and whiny (or bratty) kids.
7. Eloquence: Do you want to lose the respect of parents? Stand up at a parent teacher conference and stumble over your words. Talk to parents or administrators or the school board with ums and ahhhs and likes and you knows. Speaking skills are a necessity in a lot of jobs, none more so than teaching. If you’re a teacher, and you struggle with it, join a group like Toastmasters. Anybody can be a decent speaker; it just takes practice.
8. Toughness: I don’t know if teachers still give detention or if even that has been taken away as a means of punishment. When kids step out of line teachers have to be there to put them back in line. Teachers can’t get away with 30 kids all having it their way. A tough teacher is an effective teacher. Sure, it’s great to smile and laugh and be fun, but not all the time. Your kids have to know where the line is, and they have to dislike the consequences for crossing said line.
9. Witty/Insightful: Relating information in new and interesting ways is another mark of a good teacher. Explaining a historical concept, for instance, requires a lot of detours along the way. Teachers have to be able to explain all the so-called sights along the way before reaching the destination. They can’t just leap right to Alaric without explaining how a guy like Alaric was possible in his day. And what if your kids don’t know anything about Rome and can’t relate? That’s where your wit and insight come into play. How effectively can you wedge that square peg into the round hole? It might take a little imagination, and teachers who only know how to recite from their teacher’s manual are destined for failure.
10. High Expectations: A few years of constant subpar homework and half assed projects is enough to whittle the spirit and expectations of a lot of good teachers. Some teachers can get through the disappointment with a combination of undying enthusiasm and high standards. It’s a given that not all kids are going to respond, even to good teaching. Their misadventures should not get in the way of expecting greatness from those who can and want to deliver.
Teaching, when taken seriously, is a great and respectable profession. The best teachers can lay claim to being the instruments of progress. Likewise, bad teachers are, at least in part (along with bad parenting), responsible for the decay of intellectual curiosity, which then leads to the fall of civilizations. Sounds dramatic, doesn’t it? But, it’s true. No matter how desperately your boss wants that TPS report, it’ll be forgotten by tomorrow or next week, and your contribution to the bottom line is, in the grand scheme, insignificant. Government intervention in teaching is one of the worst things that’s ever happened to the profession. All the above mentioned traits would be more common if the teachers who are really good at it were allowed to succeed and the ones who stink were drummed out on the grounds that kids are more important than union benefits and job security. But, that’s a different article.
Parece ser que hoy en día cualquier idiota puede conseguir una licencia de maestro. Desafortunadamente, yo veo que bastantes idiotas también lo han notado. Las escuelas públicas tienen una mezcla de maestros quienes tienen interés pero que son malos enseñando, maestros quienes no tienen interés y son malos enseñando, y maestros fabulosos quienes son fabulosos porque tienen interés y tienen una inclinación natural hacia la profesión. Cuando tus hijos reciben un maestro nuevo, tú nunca sabes lo que les va a tocar. Ayer yo estaba escuchando a una madre exasperada con la maestra de primer año de su hijo, ella se quejaba acerca de cómo la maestra les deja tarea a los niños y luego ni siquiera revisa las respuestas, o les deja tarea y las califica pero pone las calificaciones incorrectas en las boletas. Yo no conozco todos los detalles, y no sé si esta madre solo está descontenta o si la maestra es verdaderamente tan mala como la madre la estaba describiendo. Cualquiera que sea el caso, si me puso a pensar acerca de las características que yo pienso que un maestro exitoso debe tener. La desorganización, por ejemplo, no es aceptable en un salón de clases con niños de 6 años de edad.
1. Entusiasmo: Tú verdaderamente necesitas querer ser maestro para poder ser uno bueno. Tienes que levantarte todos los días entusiasmado por inculcar conocimiento en un montón de niños a quienes probablemente no les interesa aprender. Pero, sabes que no hay esperanza para estos niños a menso de que tu les transmitas entusiasmo por la educación (esa es una gran responsabilidad). Tú nunca vas a poder motivar a un niño si llegas a tu salón de clases viéndote como si tu perro acabara de morir – aún si tu perro acabara de morir.
2. Organización: Es suficientemente difícil el mantener mis artículos escolares de casa y tareas organizadas. Los maestros que no se organizan están buscando problemas. Una gran parte del trabajo de un maestro es el saber qué hacer, y elaborar un plan para conseguirlo.
3. Aptitud: Esto debería ser evidente. Sin embargo, en una ocasión yo tuve un maestro de historia quien parecía que nunca había podido pasar una clase de historia. Yo era niño, pero aún yo sabía que este maestro era un idiota. Todos lo demás también lo sabían. Este tipo no tenía el respeto de nadie.
4. Paciencia: ¿Qué vas a hacer cuando la mitad de tu clase está lista para aprender pero la otra mitad está actuando como un montón de changos salvajes? Es frustrante. Aquí hay unos niños quienes están listos y dispuestos a aprender, y por acá tienes otros niños quienes están a punto de arruinar tus planes. Cuando las cosas se salen de carril vas a tener que respirar profundo y comenzar otra vez. También, como maestro, vas a necesitar una cantidad igual de paciencia para poder negociar con una administración estúpida y la burocracia.
5. Flexibilidad: Tú no puedes enseñar a cada niño efectivamente utilizando el mismo método. Tú vas a tener que conocer bien a tus alumnos (organización) y vas a tener que saber cuál es la mejor manera de enseñarles a cada uno para que cuando alguno te haga una pregunta tu puedes contestarla de manera que el niño comprenda lo mejor posible. Eso toma una enorme cantidad de educación profesional, el tener familiaridad con las diferentes técnicas de enseñanza. Vas a tener que ser un maestro camaleón.
6. Confianza: Los niños te va a comer vivo si a ti te falta confianza. Yo me pasé dos años trabajando como maestro substituto en una de las partes no muy buenas de Dallas así que conozco la importancia de tener confianza en el salón de clases. Vas a tener que tener un buen plan, y vas a tener que ponerte los pantalones para poder seguir tu plan a pesar de las quejas de los padres, administradores molestos y niños quejumbrosos (o malcriados).
7. Elocuencia: ¿Quieres perder el respeto de los padres? Párate frente a una conferencia de padres y maestros y batalla con tus palabras. Habla con los administradores o el consejo escolar con montones de ems y aahs y comos y estes. La habilidad del habla es una necesidad en muchos trabajos, pero nunca tan importante como lo es en el trabajo de la enseñanza. Si eres un maestro, y batallas con esto, enlístate en un grupo como el de Toastmasters. Cualquier persona puede ser un buen orador; solamente se requiere de práctica.
8. Dureza: Yo no sé si los maestros hoy en día todavía pueden dar detenciones o si hasta eso se les ha quitado como forma de castigo. Cuando los niños se pasan de la raya los maestros tienen que estar ahí listos para ponerlos de vuelta en su lugar. Los maestros no pueden funcionar con 30 niños mal portándose. Un maestro estricto es un buen maestro. Seguro, es fabuloso el sonreír y reír y ser divertido, pero no todo el tiempo. Tus alumnos tienen que saber en donde se encuentra el límite, y no deben gustarles las consecuencias por pasarse de la raya.
9. Ingenioso/Perspicaz: El poder relatar información de manera nueva e interesante es otra marca de un buen maestro. El explicar un concepto histórico, por ejemplo, requiere de bastantes desviaciones durante su transcurso. Los maestros deben poder explicar todos los detalles durante el relato antes de alcanzar el concepto final. No pueden simplemente brincarse a contar acerca de Alarico sin explicar cómo fue que un tipo como Alarico fue posible en su tiempo. ¿Y qué pasa si tus alumnos no saben nada acerca de Roma y no pueden establecer la conexión? Ahí es donde tu ingenio y perspicacia entran en juego. ¿Qué tan efectivamente puedes meter ese palo cuadrado en el hoyo circular? Puede que se requiera de un poco de imaginación, y los maestros quienes solo recitan lo que viene en sus manuales de enseñanza están destinados a fracasar.
10. Altas expectativas: Unos cuantos años de tareas mediocres y proyectos a medias es suficiente para cercenar el espíritu y las expectativas de bastantes maestros buenos. Algunos maestros pueden sobrepasar la desilusión con una combinación de entusiasmo eterno y altas expectaciones. Es un hecho el que no todos los niños vayan a responder, aún a una buena enseñanza. Sus desventuras no deberían ponerse en el camino de esperar grandes cosas de aquellos quienes pueden lograrlo.
La enseñanza, cuando se toma en serio, es una gran y respetable profesión. Los mejores maestros pueden proclamar ser instrumentos de progreso. De la misma manera, los malos maestros son, al menos en parte (junto con los malos padres), responsables por la decadencia de la curiosidad intelectual, la cual lleva a la decadencia de las civilizaciones. Suena dramático, ¿no es así? Pero, es cierto. No importa qué tan desesperadamente tu jefe quiera ese reporte de TPS, para mañana o la próxima semana ese reporte va a ser olvidado, tu contribución en general, en el gran esquema, es insignificante. La intervención del gobierno en la educación es una de las peores cosas que le pudieron haber ocurrido a la profesión. Todas las características antes mencionadas serían más comunes si se les permitiera tener éxito a los maestros quienes son verdaderamente buenos y si se expulsaran a aquellos que son malos, dándoles más importancia a los niños y no a los beneficios de la unión de maestros y la seguridad de empleo. Pero, ese es tema para un artículo diferente.
I’d be curious to see how most teachers rate themselves on these 11 criteria. Would they even agree?
Keith
I think you need to get the facts my friend , the school system is in the toilet because of the NEA at fed and state level.. They wouldn’t let the teachers do there jobs. In almost every school system the teachers are teaching to the tests that the fed has set for them so they can keep getting the extra funds that come down from the state and fed level. Most of the new teaching curriculum is all about dummying down of America because a dumb population is easier to control.
The internet will be the next target. I am afraid that other countries will be kicking of butts for a long time and we will be a 3rd world country in short order.. So wake up and look around and watch very carefully at what the far left in this country are doing to us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
David: The facts of what public education is has nothing whatsoever to do with what makes a good teacher. A good teacher is still a good teacher. I could be talking about a Japanese teacher, a private school teacher, a homeschool teacher, college professor or whatever. Good teacher = good teacher. The cause of our failing system is another article altogether.
Not that I disagree with what you say — It’s just an article for another day.
David, pay attention to the point of articles you read. Keith never said that not having these qualities is what is wrong with the ed. system. The point he was making is that teachers unions should reward teachers with these qualities instead of rewarding the ones who have been there the longest. That is why the “dummying down” is occurring. These unions that help members regardless of their qualifications or results are what the far left is producing and I think that is what you believe as well. Don’t be so quick to argue, friend, I think you are on the same side as us. Keith, very good article. I have had some similar experiences, such as a history teacher who singled me out as a trouble maker because I called her out on a mistake she made in class. The teacher said one thing, and I asked why our textbook said something else. I was sent to the office for having a good memory and for being able to find the page I was referring to that corrected her mistake. That should never have happened. The only thing learned that day was that some people can’t handle criticism even when done in a polite way. I have a sister-in-law who has worked hard to get her teaching degree, and I believe she should be teaching at a better school, but the system is full of old teachers that do enough work to skate-by and are protected by their union.
Good list Keith.
Keith is right! A good teacher is a good teacher but greedy andf crr4oked union leaders and crooked politicans make it very difficult for good teachers to teach. Get the government and unions out of the educational system altogether and good teachers can teach without their hands tied.
The main problem is that public-sector unions such as teachers’ unions are far too powerful, and in most cases, have no real mandate for existence.
Private sector unions represent their members to ensure they are being treated fairly, and the employer and employee both have a seat at the table. Does the taxpayer have a seat at the table in negotiating their handsome contracts, lavish pensions, and generous time off? In Cook county alone, teachers’ unions have negotiated an average PART-TIME salary of more than $80,000. Is it any wonder why the number of teachers per class is too high? Did the employer have a say in this contract? And why is it that when offered an option between increasing the number of teachers to reduce the student-per-teacher ratio and increasing salary, the teachers always seem to favor the salary increase?
The bottom line is that teachers unions have to go. They have negotiated contracts with benefits (including exorbitant pensions) that have played a huge role in the bankrupting of states; contracts with no opposing party at the negotiating table. One need look no further than California for the results of this stupidity. The poor quality of education and apathy toward keeping costs in check are obvious. Secondly, we need to stop pretending that today’s teachers are noble civil servants. They are SELF-serving just like every other human being, and are often undeserving of the tenure they get at various levels of education. Let the market and their individual accomplishments determine what they are paid. And if they don’t like it, they can apply for employment in the private sector.
There are many problem kids in schools these days, and when they act up it’s not the teachers job to deal out punishment. If they disrupt the class, send them home and don’t let them back until a parent can come to school with them, sit next to them and keep them in line. Failing that, the parent can be arrested and hauled off to jail.
Secondly unions should have no say in the employment of teachers. If they don’t cut it they are gone. Parents should be the head of the school, represented by the school board. Not the teachers. That is the reason the PTA starts with a P
and ends with Association. The teachers are supposeto be the glue that binds them together. Not that which seperates them as a union dictates.
I am inspired by great teachers and there used to be a lot of them. But today, partly because of Teacher Union self-serving bullying of the education system, And partly because of bad school administration, our nationwide education system is in tatters. Great teachers are not rewarded, bad teachers are protected and the teacher’s union constantly blockades efforts to install programs for teacher accountability. Because of this the US which often brags about it’s education system, only ranks 18th among Industrialized nations. But it’s worth than that. Many smaller countries are not only catching up, but surpassing us. We must do something to stop the negative influence The Teacher’s Union is having our on education system. It’s a national disgrace.
My opinion is that your list is also a good list for a good parent! I have always wanted to teach, and you’re right on once again.
Oh, the ties that bind. My toughest day of teaching was going to work on 9/11 and how to explain to children what happened without getting into politics and stepping on any parental toes.
I miss the children, I do not miss the bureaucratic b.s. I vowed my youngest would never be “in the system.”
As a parent and as a co-worker, I’ve experienced teachers that should’ve been arrested, some that were overworked and needed a revamping and some that were fresh and naive. Then there’s my friend who recently received her masters in education that has no business teaching children. Thankfully she hasn’t been able to get a teaching job.
Teaching, just like anything else, is finding a good balance. I was strict, but fair; not there to make friends, but to teach. (teaching the love of learning, not to test)
I won’t argue about what is screwing up our educational system today, but I will say that I agree with your list of traits of a good teacher.
Teachers unions indoctrinate teachers and dominate and influence all legislation in Congress and state legislatures:
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A Complete New Faith Being Pushed On America — At Taxpayer Expense
.by Bob Larimer on Tuesday, December 14, 2010 at 9:47pm.
No one takes on a public policy stance without some firmly held belief, some foundational principle or worldview which they embrace, and from which they reason.
What has been happening in our society for decades is a titanic battle between two powerful, competing worldviews. Unfortunately, one of those worldviews has had the advantage of pretending to be a ‘reasonable’ belief that is ‘free from religion,’ and which has gained access to your tax dollars. We have been financing a takeover by a Christianity-replacing faith.
The new PC faith, the belief system of true-believing liberals, is actually a thoroughly developed, reasonable-sounding worldview. It is self-identified as a “Bold new faith” which must be “Established” in “All mankind’s institutions and associations,” in Humanist Manifesto I. http://www.americanhumanist.org/Who_We_Are/About_Humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_I
And in Manifesto II we find the ultimate goal:
“World Community
TWELFTH: We deplore the division of humankind on nationalistic grounds. We have reached a turning point in human history where the best option is to transcend the limits of national sovereignty and to move toward the building of a world community in which all sectors of the human family can participate. Thus we look to the development of a system of world law and a world order based upon transnational federal government. This would appreciate cultural pluralism and diversity.”
http://www.americanhumanist.org/Who_We_Are/About_Humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_II
Many citizens see the symptoms and the effects, but most people do not realize that there is a battle of major cultural significance, an all-out tug-of-war of ethics and ideology, happening in America.
This is how the new secular/progressive ‘faithful’ are organized and how they behave:
The ACLU are the legal enforcers of the new faith (Obedience), brandishing their flaming secular legal sword at any slightest whiff of Christianity that dares to pop up anywhere in public life. The ACLU has been very visible and vocal in public policy struggles, though most citizens are mystified by the motives and strange positions taken by this so-called defender of ‘rights.’
The ACLU goes to court to enforce ‘separation of church and state’ found, NOT in America’s Constitution, but found in the Humanist Manifestos and the old, failed Soviet Constitution, Article 52:
“The church shall be separate from the state, and the schools from the church.”
The ACLU and Humanism are philosophically and historically tied together.
Roger Baldwin, ACLU founder, stated categorically: “Communism is the goal!” He refused for the rest of his life to modify the statement or take it back.
“In later years Baldwin occasionally wrote for The Humanist. On one occasion he reviewed a book for The Humanist by Corliss Lamont whose credentials as a Humanist include being named “Humanist of the Year” for 1977, being signatory to Humanist Manifesto II, and serving as honorary president of the AHA. Baldwin gave this evaluation of Lamont’s book: “It reads like an expanded annual report of the Civil Liberties Bureau.”(6) In addition to Lamont’s Humanist affiliations, he also sat on the ACLU board for many years, thus further demonstrating the compatibility of Humanism and the ACLU. (Eventually, Lamont did reject the ACLU because of its stand against communism.) Baldwin served as Director of the ACLU until 1949, but thereafter continued to influence the Union as a member of the National Advisory Council.” — http://truthmagazine.com/archives/volume28/GOT028220.html?PHPSESSID=82a8ccd5166720259fa609741a9a97f4
‘Gay rights’ activists are the shock troops (Onward, true-believing soldiers), the politically astute, PC Inquisitors, the aggressive vanguard of the Humanists. Dare to question their ‘Diversity!’ mantra and you will face rage and possible lawsuits.
Environmental extremists are the preening, ‘righteousness’ arm of the Humanists, ‘saving the planet’ (Salvation) whether you want their messianic ministry and their Big Brother garbage-monitoring e-chips forced on you or not.
The ‘Choice’ crowd makes certain that the blood of innocent unborn children (Rituals) is offered up to their cause. Their noble efforts are not to be questioned, and regarding their ghoulish practices…just do not think about the 50 Million babies butchered so far.
Liberal politicians enforce charitable ‘tithing’ (Sacrificial giving) through confiscatory taxation, scolding about ‘fairness’ and equitable ‘redistribution’ of wealth and resources, then use the money to advance Humanist principles and grow their influence through tyrannical public policies.
Publicly financed education – K-12 and university – provide training in the correct manner of thinking and behaving (5-day-per week Sunday School and Missionary outreach), constantly demonstrating or subtly hinting that Christianity is as primitive, dangerous, irrelevant or as ‘harmful’ as other world religions, lawfully sanitizing any last vestige of a Christian heritage from our society, and teaching students to earnestly – and wholly erroneously – chant that “America was founded on freedom from religion!”
Teachers Unions – from the N.E.A. and down through outspoken activists in their state and local unions – and ‘International Unions’ are the fraternal organizations (Faith-based organizations) associated with the Religious Left, they give votes, money and activist shoe leather to the Humanist movement. They are also the most powerful, influential lobbyists in D.C. and your state Legislature, making all kinds of legislation, not just education, their business. Politicians are ordinarily afraid to defy them. That is one of the reasons for their vitriol and outrage against Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=473539445966
“I am convinced that the battle for humankind’s future must be waged and won in the public school classroom by teachers that correctly perceive their role as proselytizers of a new faith: a religion of humanity that recognizes and respects the spark of what theologians call divinity in every human being… The classroom must and will become an arena of conflict between the old and new — the rotting corpse of Christianity, together with all its adjacent evils and misery, and the new faith of humanism, resplendent with the promise of a world in which the never-realized Christian ideal of ‘love thy neighbor’ will finally be achieved.” — “A Religion For A New Age,” The Humanist magazine, January-February 1983 [Volume 43, Number 1]
For any who remain skeptical about the influence of Humanism on education, just plug in the terms Life Long Learning, a comma, and Humanism into Google. You will get a tremendous amount of documentation that will demonstrate just how fully saturated with this new belief system all branches of education – and the training of educators – really are.
The dominant media culture – and entertainment media – are the high priests of the faith (Evangelism), always attacking the ‘Religious Right,’ but never once doing an expose’ on the ‘Religious Left.’ Have you ever seen a ‘news’ program about the Religious Left?
Gatherings of Humanist-indoctrinated faithful (Worship services), usually involve someone quoting disjointed poetry about someone’s village and someone elses’ children, or chanting protests and Humanist mantras. They can include inspiring music by special guests, and ghastly spectacles such as those screaming, chanting crowds, wearing theme T-shirts at the memorial services of innocent people gunned down in Arizona. The gathering at the Capitol Mall in Wisconsin, complete with the Communist Party marching in solidarity with teachers unions and ‘international unions,’ along with Barack Hussein Obama’s own campaign organization (Organizing For America), are also participating in a noisy worship service. Their self-righteousness is on full display. Not much decorum or solemn assembly at such services? Well, it is after all, a different kind of faith. http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0211/DNC_playing_role_in_Wisconsin_protests.html
As Michelle Malkin points out in “Teachers Union 101 — A Is For Agitation”:
“Agitation,” of course, is a full-time job for teachers union officials in New York and across the country. As the New York Post reported exclusively this week, the city Department of Education compensates some 1,500 teachers for their union activities and also subsidizes other teachers who take their places in the classroom: “It’s a sweetheart deal that costs taxpayers an extra $9 million a year to pay fill-ins for instructors who are sprung — at full pay — to carry out responsibilities for the United Federation of Teachers.”
The UFT soldiers “collect top pay and fringe benefits, but work just one class period a day.”
Nice non-work if you can get it.
NYSUT, by the way, is the parent of the double-dipping UFT, which itself rakes in $126 million in member dues — but only reimburses the city less than $1 million out of the $9 million it costs to take teachers out of the classroom to serve at the altar of Big Labor. UFT is also a chapter of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), which spent nearly $2 million on the election of President Barack Obama in 2008. (In return, you may recall, the Obama administration granted the UFT one of its coveted health care Waivers for Favors last year — exempting the behemoth union in a sweetheart deal from the federal mandate’s costly rules on phasing out annual health coverage limits.)
The forced-dues racket is big business for teachers unions crying poor. In Ohio, the state’s education association siphoned nearly $23 million from rank-and-file school workers to fatten up its union staff. The Ohio Education Association donated more than $1.6 million to Democratic campaigns last year and tossed off five-figure checks each to union and progressive allies in Oregon, Colorado and Policy Matters Ohio, a left-wing think tank funded by radical billionaire George Soros.
At the federal level, the National Education Association squandered $13 million in teachers’ dues on every pet liberal cause and crony from the AFL-CIO ($150,000) and AFSCME ($90,000), to the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate ($200,000), Media Matters for America ($100,000) and the White House brigade at Health Care for America Now! ($450,000).
The goals of the teachers union machine are not academic excellence, professional development and fairness. As former NEA official John Lloyd explained it: “You cannot possibly understand NEA without understanding Saul Alinsky. If you want to understand NEA, go to the library and get ‘Rules for Radicals.’”
The goals are student indoctrination, social upheaval and perpetual agitation in pursuit of bigger government and spending without restraint. No wonder the signature “solidarity” color of the teachers union protests this month is red.”
http://www.facebook.com/notes/michelle-malkin/teachers-unions-101-a-is-for-agitation/10150096453830677
In the meantime, the naive and unaware are trampled, totally overwhelmed by the insistent, uniform, relentless nature of this full-scale, taxpayer-financed attack on traditional American values and Bible-believing Christianity.
All of the groups above consistently chant the ‘Diversity, Choice, World Community, Cultural Pluralism, Consenting Adults, Redistribution, Separation’ mantras of the Humanist Manifestos. If you study the issue, you will find that none of these PC worship words were used in ‘the news,’ in city councils, county commissions, state legislatures, Congress, the courts, public schools and college campuses, entertainment, music or public policy battles until AFTER the Humanist Manifestos were promulgated, first in 1933, then revised and expanded in 1973.
The outcomes of the influence of Humanist goals and beliefs on American society have been devastating:
http://www.c4cg.org/humanist.htm
Having been shown these things, no one can plead ignorance or attempt to employ false equivalences regarding the Religious Right and the Religious Left. Can you guess why you’ve never read, heard or seen a ‘news’ story exposing the Religious Left? Why would religious fanatics expose their own destructive goals?
America’s future hinges on which worldview our society ultimately embraces. If we allow the wrong choice to be thrust on us, we will not survive as a nation.
The Humanist movement is evil, manipulative, tyrannical and wholly dishonest. It will destroy us if we allow it.
When you hear ‘Diversity’ being chanted, know that Humanism is being preached.
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=178479305966
For those who doubt the existence of this new religion, here is how they style themselves in a soon-to-be-launched national advertising campaign: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5295iAo5aek
http://vimeo.com/16661719
Note that the new evangelists do not simply push their new faith, they first attack Bible-believing Christianity with out-of-context quotes. But at least they are finally coming out in the open, instead of indoctrinating from behind the scenes as they have done for decades.
Still skeptical that Humanism is a religion? See Torcaso v. Watkins, U.S. Supreme Court, 1961, where Justice Black remarks that Atheism and Humanism are indeed religious beliefs.
http://supreme.justia.com/us/367/488/case.html
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Education is getting worse and worse, I believe that teachers and the administrators are more in this for the money. I can remember growing up and teachers would call your parents for whatever reason at home, at night on their time. You won’t find that now. Teachers are more concerned with what the test scores will say about them and the school not about how well Jack or Jill now understands math, just look at the mess in Atlanta with the teachers and the administrators changing the CRCT test scores so that they would look better. What would happen if a child got caught cheating. I am not saying that this is all of the teachers, but the few that are there for the child will not be with them their whole education.
Unions are killing the economic system. The teachers unions strikes and uses the children as pawns. All unions workers should pay their own health care costs and retirement costs. That burden should never be put on the privet sector. Do you ever see the teachers go on strike over the summer break? NO, only during the school year. Teachers should get raises based on merit only.
I am a retired preschool teacher,it all begins when the children are little and with the parents and teachers working together.Teachers have more behavior problems and have no control with them,while trying to teach. There needs to be 2teachers in a classroom. It all begins at home,first,good manners,respect for authority,and prayer and God!
Hello. My name is Wayne Williams and am a retired school teacher. and father of 3 fine daughters. My parents were also career teachers. My nephew and his wife and many other relatives are professional educators as well.
I am having difficulty understanding your reasoning behind your union-bashing. I think we can both agree on many things regarding education. As a Christian it is never my aim to hurt and criticize others, even to those who disagree with my views. An I am not a left-wing leaning unionist carrying banners and trying to stir up trouble and public sentiment. I simply do my job every day like most people in America.
I just would like to refute some of the statements made by Tom above. I do comtribute toward my own health insurance as does the school system. We are highly trained professionals, and are highly trained and worthy of the work we do. The Bible does state “not to constrain the ox while he is threshing”. I have never asked the private sector for much, if anything. Remember, in criticizing teachers unions (and we both know there is sufficient room for improvement here), that you are taking aim at hard working Americans like yourself as well. Please spare us the unjust accusations simply because you are on the “other side of the fence” of the education system. I do wish school systems would at least allow voluntary prayer and teaching of the Bible. After all, the Constitution never forbade it in the first place. And my first allegiance is to the God of the Bible and not any institution on this side of heaven, though such imperfect Institutions are ordained by God for the public good. The Bible itself teaches that.For example, I wish more schools taught about creation science, but how many of us parents are on Textbook curriculum committees? We are still responsible to participate in the public forum about these things if we want to see improvement.
Please take a close look at yourself and please reconsider you position at attitude. Remember, that we are both working toward the same goal: the betterment of our society through the education of our youth. We must not forget that.
Thank you and God bless you.
The union is the lesser problem and apparently you folks are NOT aware of how the system really works. The REAL problem is TENURE. Shoddy teachers get to sit back and laugh at the younger motivated teachers once they get their tenure, and the unions have nothing to do with it. Contrary to popular belief the union does not have the ability to keep the jobs of failing teachers, but tenure ensures they can not be replaced by more motivated ones. A union can not protect someone who refuses to do the minimum requirements of a position. In a subjective situation where it is almost impossible to quantify.let alone qualify the job someone is doing the burden of proof is put on the union not the school system. This is shown more and more in the courts today, yet nobody bothers to look at the aspect of tenure. The long time situation exists yet the younger newest teachers who are the most motivated are not able to make a change in the system. WHY NOT? Because THEY are the ones who are easily replaced or removed. WHY? They lack TENURE … and the situation continues on and on and on. It doesnt take a rocket scientist to see this. But it does take some common sense and the logic to reason beyond looking for scapegoats, instead of actual causes. And before some mental midget starts throwing stones and flinging insults, I am ANTI UNION due to the criminal graft that they all are involved in… But you need to convict the right criminla on the correct charges.
Unions have been destroying business for decades, and now they are destroying our education system. Amazing they have found a new area to wreck America!
Teachers should be paid like every other person in the world…by how well you do, NOT because you think your someone special!