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Originally Posted by BigBen
Do you think these fucking teachers have read Shakespeare? Chaucer? I bet not. They got a couple of classes in English Lit under their belt, and they plagarized the fucking essays in the first place. The Lesson Plan spoon-feeds the shit they are supposed to discuss. They don't care about Shakespeare any more than your kids do.
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Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're launching a huge insult at the majority of teachers. Most teachers in the United States start out at 28k a year. Secondly, most states require a Master's degree or completion of teacher training beyond the baccalaureate level. Furthermore, most states also require that teachers pass a general education assessment test, such as the CBEST (California and Oregon's exam) or the WEST-B (Washington State's exam). Then they must usually display knowledge of the subject through another assessment exam.
For teaching in secondary school in Oregon, the requirements state I must have an undergraduate degree in my subject area. That means a degree in English. And guess what my specialty is? You got it--Shakespeare. I'm not alone, either. And I'm pretty sure very few of my classmates plagiarized their papers--I know I sure didn't. As for being spoon-fed a lesson plan...sure, more and more teachers are having to teach to the test, but that's not their fault. We can blame No Child Left Behind for that one.
No one with only six credits of English lit would ever get hired to teach secondary English, and you usually need more than that to teach in elementary school too. So let's not pick on the teachers, eh?
They're doing the best they can given the pretty awful situation in American education at present. They're sorely underpaid and overworked. If anything, they deserve our pity, not our scorn. Our educators are being asked to step up to the plate more and more in ways that parents should be, and that's what makes education difficult in modern times. Most teachers I know show up every day with a passion for the work they do. Some don't, however, and I think that has more to do with the bureaucracy, the bullshit, the paperwork, and the stuff OUTSIDE of the classroom than it does with the subject matter or even the kids.
But please, let's not lump the good educators--and there are many--in with the few bad apples.