Dang. The kids are not learning, so why don't we cut teachers' pay even further?
Because it is like this: You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.
If a student simply doesn't have the drive or the desire to learn and only wants to do just enough to barely get by then it is the student's fault (as well as the parents for not instilling a better worth ethic in their child).
Yes there are students that WANT to learn but have a disability that requires them to need accomodations, but if that student has that drive and desire to do it, they will learn and excel.
If a student is simply lazy and has no desire whatsoever then there is a problem WITH THE STUDENT and not the teacher.
We also have those students that use their disability as en excuse to not have to work, we also have students that want to claim they have a disability to get out of doing work. The common ones often used are ADD/ADHD, and Dyslexia.
Yes I admit there are crappy educators out there, but there is a reason why they should be evaluated on a regular basis, and mentored so if their teaching method isn't working for the majority of their students thy can modify or change their method as needed to ensure that their students feel comfortable in the classroom as well as the students consistently reaching skill sets and grasping new information. If a teacher is failing evaluations, they are generally given a re-evaluation, a recommendation, and if they still do not improve the school often decides to not renew the contract with that teacher at the end of the academic year. But not all teachers are crappy.
Now, let's not forget all these Hispanic children that come from non-English speaking homes and they never use English until they reach Kindergarten age and they are literally having to be taught the English language while also having to learn the skill sets as required by State Law. They will consistently struggle academically because they do not have a full English vocabulary by school age as most English speaking children do. English is their second language. The ESL programs are struggling to make this work but often these children will not practice English outside of school because they are not comfortable with it and they will cling to their Hispanic community and will primarily use Spanish. OR even more sadly once the child learns English fairly well by the 2nd or 3rd grade (remember they are 8/9 y/o with an English vocabulary of a 4 or 5 y/o) their parents will take them and use their children as interpreters in adult matters such as legal proceedings, buying a car, buying a home, speaking with school officials, ordering at restaurants, etc.
It's not a one-size-fits-all system and in this day and age, it never will be.