Subaroo

I think there are metrics to measure a teacher, more subjective though. If you have other objective ways to measure teachers then lets talk about them, but I think right now we are talking about standardized tests. Standardized tests to determine a teacher's salary do not work.

Right. College professors are experts. K-12 teachers are...teachers.

Well maybe we are talking past each other when we say "merit pay." When I say merit pay, I'm referring to paying teachers based on their students' results on standardized tests. Is this what you mean too?

...and P.E. teachers, and Art teachers, and Music teachers and Shop teachers, and Photo teachers...

This is what other countries are great at, weeding out bad teachers. In other countries teachers almost self police. It is such a sought after profession and requires so much investment to get there that those who do make it take it very seriously. Agreed. Teachers Unions are in the interests of teachers, not students.

Better training and education will yield better results, at least in teaching. Schools need to be encouraged to develop their teachers through things like collaboration, conferences, further education, and peer monitoring. That will produce better teachers. Get better at your job and we'll pay you more. Not, you better make sure your students do well on this test. Teaching is an odd profession where it's kinda hard to evaluate performance.. at least by test results. It creates a whole bunch of problems. And what about this.. my father-in-law just received his second master's degree in (something like, I can't remember exactly...) Early Childhood Special Education. He teaches special education students, half of his students can't even take tests.

Why did you include the second sentence? Do you disagree with the merit pay part? I don't want to assume anything so I'll let you explain before I respond.

bllleeehh... I have to partially agree with this. I'm a fourth year university student, two semesters from obtaining my teaching license in the state of Kansas. I come from a family of educators, and through my professors, family, and fellow students, this topic comes up a lot. While I think that labor unions have done, and continue to do, great things for this country, I have mixed feelings about teachers unions. They do serve a genuine and responsible purpose. Teaching is a profession with many variables and requires a lot of flexibility and freedom, and tenure protects and enables good teachers to be able to find the most effective ways to teach. But tenure is also abused by many teachers as well, and I don't think anyone could disagree with that. Research has shown that the most significant factor in a quality education is the effectiveness of the teacher, but the problem of poor teachers in the US does not rest solely with the teachers unions. Most of the top performing countries are even more heavily unionized than they are here. To elevate education across the board, we need to elevate the profession. We need to attract better applicants to university programs and make obtaining a teaching license harder. Teachers also need to be paid more, not by merit pay , but by the amount of training one has. And I hate the back and forth over education funding. The US already outspends tons of other countries on education, and we still do worse. The problem is not that we don't spend enough on education, it is that we don't spend the money well. Throwing money at our current system might make a little difference, but it will do nothing to improve it to a level to make us competitive. That being said Republicans, doesn't mean we can cut funding to public schools and invest all our money private schools, that doesn't do us much better. The solution with the money thing is to apply it more evenly to public schools. Some schools are great, others are crap, and it has to do with the distribution of funds. Everyone deserves a good education, and it's really not fair to the students that their level of education is based on how much money their parents or neighbors have. The fact is, most great education systems around the world are public and unionized . I support unions on the basis that I support increased workers rights, but I really don't know enough about how other unions operate so I'll have to stop my comments here. I know your beef is with organized labor and you were just using teachers union as the spotlight, so I'll agree with that part, the teachers union really grinds my gears sometimes. I wish we could have the conversation about unions without including teachers unions in the debate... the union is definitely needed, but every now and then I just want to scream "f*** you, teachers union!" Sorry if my education rant was off topic, lets get back to fighting along party lines again

70-80%, but that is because the top 10% control 80% of the nation's wealth. They should be paying the majority of taxes. But even based on this, the tax is effectively proportional, if not regressive. That is inherently unfair. Our tax system is set up to be progressive, but functionally it does not operate that way. That is why liberals are upset. Not because people are rich, but because those who are rich have the means to take advantage and game the system. We are only asking that we all play by the rules, that the rules are fair, and that those who disagree with us do so by using proper grammar.

http://www.examiner.com/article/study-shows-fox-news-viewers-less-informed-than-those-who-watch-no-news More dumbshitness for ya.

It's fine to have racist/homophobic/ignorant views, and negative attitudes towards education. But keep them to yourself, don't be a legislator. The problem with the Republican party is that their policies are driven by these beliefs, these views, and these fears of the other. Thankfully, the truth is that the Republican party is getting older and the country is moving forward, eventually the old generation will die and some of your ideas will die with them. In the meantime, stop pretending to be the civilized ones.

http://gawker.com/5949544/arkansas-state-rep-slavery-may-actually-have-been-a-blessing-in-disguise-for-blacks ...and here comes the racist evidence. You guys are a joke.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyD1kuZ31bo&feature;=BFa&list;=WL7A83EADA8B61CE86 More evidence that your party is run by morons. When you have views like this, you deserve to be called names.

http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/high_iq_liberal_atheist_monogamous_/ Here's a fun article about intelligence and political affiliation. But my point about Republicans being dumbasses isn't about intelligence, it is about their quest for education. Republicans demonize education in every facet. And what about (it was something like the Texas Republican Platform) being against "higher ordered thinking skills." Give me a break. Republicans are the definition of ignorance. Pppfffft, talk to me about ignorance, GTFO!

Dude I’ve never said anything here that wasn't true. If you can’t have a dialogue based on what I say and just get butthurt, then go away. You haven’t responded to anything, it’s just, “waaaaa, waaaaa...” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n5oa55EsmI You belong to a party of dumbasses, and you embrace it.