President Obama will give his State Of The Union address on Tuesday.
Jim Horn from the excellent blog, School Matters, has written what he’d like the President to say at his post, The State of the Union’s Schools: That Part of Mr. Obama’s Speech We Would Like to Hear But Won’t.
And Michelle Rhee has shared her own perspective in The New York Times.
It’s easy to guess which one is closer to my preference.
What would you like the President to say?
Leave a short paragraph in the comments section of this post and I’ll publish them all on Tuesday.
(By the way, in case you’re interested, I wrote my own post last year prior to a major speech by the President sharing my recommendations about the points I would have liked him to make)
How about, “You know, I’m completely in over my head here. What do the teachers think we should do?”
That if teachers wish to be considered professionals, then they need to embrace the one thing which characterizes every REAL profession: Accountability. Doctors, lawyers, and stockbrokers are judged by the results they’re able to generate; so too must be our teachers. Should they perform admirably, then they must be compensated accordingly. However if they should fail to perform, no excuses will be accepted.
Gone is the time when we can believe the idea that anyone can be taught how to teach. What matters is not picking the perfect curricula or high yield strategies: What matters is getting smart people from great universities into teaching. We can do this by shifting the compensation structure from one which rewards seniority and complacency to one which rewards innovation and results.
Likely the unions will oppose these needed reforms, because they stand for their own self-interest. Fortunately, the teachers’ unions have never been weaker. There is a bipartisan consensus emerging behind reform, and the union leadership is finally beginning to realize that it’s time to play ball or be crushed.
I would like the president to announce the reason Michelle Rhee can not produce a valid birth certificate, is because she is a cyborg. Everyone knows that cyborg’s are not born. They are made. And even if she was made in someplace like Utah, that does not mean she has a valid birth certificate.