WulfCry Weblog

I ran across this interesting article about education reform and candidates’ reluctance to address it on the campaign trail. As a largely conservative critique of both Democratic candidates and teacher’s unions, it predictably harps on teacher accountability. Not to downplay accountability–as a former teacher I have seen firsthand the typical product when there is no incentive to excel. But it is only one piece of the puzzle.

Indeed, the article itself opens by pointing to three common threads in countries with superb educational programs:

The answer came back, somewhat unsurprisingly, that these countries have the best teachers: educators who are respected, rewarded, and held accountable for their performance in the classroom.

But then the entire diatribe revolved around accountability–not respect or rewards. I left teaching precisely because it was not rewarding. Parents and administrators don’t respect you, and tend to point their fingers at teachers for underperforming students rather than even questioning whether the student is putting forth any effort. And with a payscale that would be a pay cut for janitors and cabdrivers, it’s no wonder the majority of new teachers don’t stick around.

In short, accountability is only a piece of the puzzle, and can’t be oversimplified into financial bonuses for getting kids to pass standardized tests. Any attempt at accountability has to look at teaching for what it is–an art and a valuable public service. In addition, you have to include the other two ingredients if you want the educational system to succeed. If good teachers aren’t respected or rewarded, don’t be surprised if they decide to go into fields that apparently value their talents and education more highly.