What about the students?

Teacher unions seem to be so focused on protecting all teachers, keeping them on the same playing field, and not realizing the importance, or need, for schools and reforms to be able to single out the "bad eggs." It seems as if teacher unions are trying to "hide the bad teachers" in the contracts they have. This idea was proposed last night and truly seems to be on the right track.

"America’s teachers unions — particularly the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers — are the most organized and powerful voices in education politics. These unions continue to block reforms needed to improve our nation’s schools by putting their focus on teachers rather than on the students they teach." -- www.teachersunionexposed.com

If the objective is to help our students succeed and help them excel at the level needed to attend universities, then why is it not easier, or why has there not been improvements made, to get rid of the teachers who are "bad" and not teaching the material to the extent needed? And yes, not many of us have encountered those terrible teachers, because most often we tend to have the average teacher, and not those teachers on one of the two extremes.

I think the teacher unions are the start of the issue, and being able to adjust their contract and fire/replace teachers who do not know the material, do not understand how to teach students, and possibly even those who simply do not care enough about the needs and progress of our students, would be a step in the right direction. Not only are the teachers, and the teacher unions, to blame, but then we also have to look at home environments and whether or not students are being motivated and pushed to learn and review their materials at home, not just in the classroom. If students do not have the necessary resources, as well as if the schools do not have the necessary resources to hire an adequate number of teachers along with providing students with the essentials for learning, then how can our students and schools ever raise test scores, and improve their levels of knowledge?

These are two key concepts to be looked at and researched on the alternatives we can offer, and the funding abilities that can be provided on these levels. But teacher unions are a definite must to re-evaluate, and I feel that teachers, or at least the good ones that care about their students, should be on board with this idea and help to develop new contracts that can be issues to improve the problem at hand.