Greetings, and welcome to NewEdu, a blog designed to inform the public about news and present information about the current state of America’s teachers. Our diverse group of three Dartmouth College students will frequently be updating this blog over the next two months. We believe that overhauling the American education system will inevitably be an arduous and lengthy process, but reform in this area will be key to the future success of the United States. The education issue itself is vast and no individual reform will be able to solve this important problem on its own; there is no education panacea.
Therefore, instead of discussing education generally, this space will be used primarily to discuss and promote one aspect of the push to improve America’s schools: the need for quality teachers in public school classrooms. One way to achieve this result is by ending teacher tenure, instituting merit pay schemes, and defining a concrete and effective means of evaluating teacher performance. These ideas are not new, nor are they uncontroversial, but we are certain that teachers, above all other factors, are the number one determinant of classroom success. Maintaining high levels of performance for public school teachers will only be possible by incentivizing talented individuals to teach (who may have otherwise chosen more financially rewarding careers) and by identifying and rewarding the teachers who make the greatest impact on our children. Like members of any other profession, teachers must consistently perform well in order to keep their jobs.
Our group, which consists of members from all political perspectives, understands that some special interest groups will oppose these measures. We are confident however that once these opposing forces appreciate the actual benefits of these measures for both students and teachers, they will learn to support our efforts as well. Stay tuned for more updates throughout the weeks and months ahead, and thanks for reading!
Therefore, instead of discussing education generally, this space will be used primarily to discuss and promote one aspect of the push to improve America’s schools: the need for quality teachers in public school classrooms. One way to achieve this result is by ending teacher tenure, instituting merit pay schemes, and defining a concrete and effective means of evaluating teacher performance. These ideas are not new, nor are they uncontroversial, but we are certain that teachers, above all other factors, are the number one determinant of classroom success. Maintaining high levels of performance for public school teachers will only be possible by incentivizing talented individuals to teach (who may have otherwise chosen more financially rewarding careers) and by identifying and rewarding the teachers who make the greatest impact on our children. Like members of any other profession, teachers must consistently perform well in order to keep their jobs.
Our group, which consists of members from all political perspectives, understands that some special interest groups will oppose these measures. We are confident however that once these opposing forces appreciate the actual benefits of these measures for both students and teachers, they will learn to support our efforts as well. Stay tuned for more updates throughout the weeks and months ahead, and thanks for reading!
Ryan
This looks so cool! Can't wait to read more!
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