Waiting for Superman: Part 2

In today's section of Waiting for Superman, I was actually really interested in teacher's unions. I feel like I've heard about teacher's unions ever since I was real little, but I never know much. I hear from some people that they are absolutely amazing while I also hear they are the worst thing anyone ever created. No one ever told me specifics so I generally ignored the topic. When I saw it on Waiting for Superman, I think I am generally split with my opinion.

Teacher's union, they say in the video, are put in place to save the teachers' tenure. However, when a school board tries to rid itself of truly bad teachers who aren't helping students, they are unable to because of teachers unions. I find this incredibly frustrating! There are some incredible teachers out there. I have had about a handful of amazing teachers who made things interesting, could relate to students and their problems, and actually taught well. I believe these teachers should be rewarded for all the work they do to make their classrooms so awesome.

On the other hand, I have also seen some bad teachers. I see how their lack of interest or failure to relate to the students effects their classes. If a teacher isn't positively impacting their classroom, I feel they should be evaluated and possibly removed.

In the video the woman who was the superintendent in Washington DC, I think her name was Rhea, was trying to do just that. She wanted to revamp the entire educational process! She wanted to get rid of bad teachers, get better ones, extend the school day. All of which was vetoed by the teacher's unions. She is trying to give the students of DC a better chance at a good education, but the adults can't seem to move past their own selfish ideas. It doesn't seem logical how a teacher would not want the best possible education for their students.

I'm sorry if that was a little rant-like, but I just get very frustrated when it seems like adults are the ones in the way of a child getting a good education versus a child getting a poor or mediocre one. Until next time!