[twinklesweep]

How unfortunate once again to see one group of working people being pitted against another such group, where neither benefits but you can be sure someone else does.... And then there are the ignorant folk who buy into this, further fostering an “us versus them” mentality. In truth, what we need is a greater focus on simply “us” and quit the blame game! “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.” There isn’t a time when Benjamin Franklin’s comment has not been relevant!

There are incompetents in every field, and it’s easy to say in the corporate world that it’s a matter of simply firing them, which is not possible in a public service-type job where one earns tenure or permanent status. Sadly, it’s often incompetents in this situation who are most often cited. I ask, where is the responsibility on the part of management insofar as weeding out these individuals prior to their being granted such protection under the law? If I were a betting person, I would wager that they didn’t become incompetent overnight….

And then there’s the “Peter Principle,” of incompetents kicked upstairs. Reading through this thread, I’m reminded of the power of the ballot box and the ability—not always but often enough—to keep such persons out of certain jobs, even unpaid leadership/policy-making jobs such as on governing boards like those of school districts.

And why such hostility toward teachers in particular—and an appalling level of ignorance about the field by those whose focus is on nurturing the chip on their shoulder and strengthening their adversarial points of view? Jealousy or envy based on ignorance of what is actually involved in this field? These are the folks to whom we trust the education of our children, for goodness sake! Rest assured it was not decisions by teachers that eliminated spelling and times table memorization as well as subjects like geography (“Yes, Virginia, there really is a world out there!”) and civics (“The rights and responsibilities of being a citizen? Nah, they don’t need that! Besides, they’re easier to control without it!”)

OK, I’m off my soap box; let the flaming begin….