What do You Expect From a High School Education?

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "5 Year Contracts for Plainview Teachers?":

I find it very hard to believe that you would have taken the same exams that your aunt took 30 years ago. You must be mistaken. Not only is it difficult to believe that your aunt could actually remember a particular exam from her high school days, but the possibility that you might have had any of her teachers (who probably retired by the time you were there) is very slim. When you say "the best isn't good enough", what exactly do you mean? What is it that you expect from a high school education? POBJFK offers a great variety of classes, numerous extra-curricular activities and an environment conducive to learning. You may not have found relevance in the projects or homework you were assigned, but I'm fairly certain that the teacher (adult) who prepared the lessons for your classes believed that you would learn something as a result of completing these tasks. We all know that projects and papers are not announced a few days before they are due. It is more likely that procrastination was the cause of the perception that these "big" assessments were not given with ample time to complete them. Do not be mistaken - the students are the top priority at POBJFK. Although the tenure system is not perfect, its main purpose is to prevent teachers from being fired for no reason. It is the job of the administration (department chairpeople, assistant principals, principals, assistant superintendents and ultimately the superintendent) to insure the community that their faculty performs to the best of their ability. If they do not observe new (and experienced) teachers often, then there is no accountability. Teachers should be willing to have an administrator enter their classroom to observe a lesson at any time. It is then the responsibility of the administrator to write up an accurate report of the interaction between the teacher and his/her students. There must be standards for each department that are enforced. It shouldn't be the case that 1 teacher is giving 1 test in the same marking period that the majority of the department is giving 4 or 5. It is ignorant to believe that people will ALL perform at the highest level possible, when there are no consequences for their actions. It is crucial for administrators to do their jobs so that the faculty can be comprised of effective teachers. Make no mistake - although the union defends its members that are tenured - there would be fewer "bad apples" IF they were weeded out by the people whose job is to keep the students as their top priority.