I just heard Mitt Romney say a few words on education. 
There was a time when I might have considered voting for him, but no more.
The gist of his comments went like this: You can’t do anything about older teachers. They’re not good enough but they’re protected by those horrible teaching unions. We need to get rid of those bad unions so we can get rid of the bad teachers (these old guys, right?).
However, there’s real hope for the new teachers. These are the good teachers. We can make sure they get a really good education so when they get into the classrooms, their superior knowledge will keep the students so interested that they’ll get a really good education themselves.
Just about every point here is mistaken. No matter what the age, there are good teachers and bad teachers. More content classes will never change that. Teacher unions give teachers some ways to negotiate, but their powers are extremely limited. School boards and budget realities also hold a great deal of sway.
Mr. Romney, what kind of people are attracted to jobs that start out under $30,000 a year? Teachers are for the most part dedicated, passionate about students, committed to helping people learn. This is true of teachers of all ages. We can hope for better, but in the immediate future, there simply will not be more budget for better teacher salaries.
Statistics show that most teachers begin OK but get better over time. From experience, we educators know this is true.
And as an older teacher, but a very good teacher, I am offended by the incorrect blanket statement that age is a determiner of excellence. It simply is not so. Romney has bought into someone’s incorrect line of thinking.
If he has done so on this, how many other misinformed lines of thinking is he espousing?
No vote from me for Romney.
