The problem with public school is not overcrowding in the classroom. The problem is not teacher unions. The problem is not underfunding or lack of computer equipment. The problem is your damn kids.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Instead of unfairly demonizing teachers, we should be working with them to find solutions to the problems in our schools and make sure every child gets an outstanding public education.
Our public school system is our country's biggest and most inefficient monopoly, yet it keeps demanding more and more money.
As the son of a union activist and a lifelong Democrat, I've always thought that privatizing our public schools is not the answer. We must strengthen public schools.
In public schools, classes are bloated - it's ridiculous.
Often times the public school teachers are ridiculed or they are made to feel inferior but this is really undeserved.
The teachers' unions that block school reform have done serious damage to the union brand. The public no longer views unions as their friend, much less their champion. They view them as corrupt, intransigent and more interested in protecting their political clout within the Democratic Party than protecting their members or even school children.
If more people got involved with their local schools, if more companies donated money, a lot of the problems that are plaguing our schools and our youth would disappear.
Kids in urban and rural areas face so many challenges, and they show up at schools that don't have the extra capacity or extra resources to meet their needs.
And then the conditions of safety - or lack of safety - for teachers in public schools, and the disparity between public schools and private schools is shameful.
I think the problem with schools is not too many incentives but too few. Because of tenure, teachers' unions, and the fact that teachers generally aren't observed in their classrooms, they can do whatever they want in class.