What makes a good teacher? The Bush Adminstration and the various school adminstrations in Colorado Springs think that they have the answer to that simple question. They think that a good teacher is one that is bullied by themselves, and that is forced to follow fixed curriculums that somehow are to make them ‘accountable’ for what they are doing in the classroom. They think that constant testing is an integral part of the teacher bullying process, where local school boards have to be bullied by the federal government who in turn bully the teachers, who in turn bully the students who in turn take ‘tests’.

All this is rather sad and pathetic, especially when students are taught a nonsensical course called ‘bully proofing’! Comical is it not? Oh, and did I forget that part where the school boards tend to bully parents that might not be so behind the bullying of ‘No Child Left Behind’? That is important, too. All this bullying from up on high is to convince all of us below that we are powerless people.

‘Do as you are told!’

But there is another approach than this authoritarianism masked and disguised and packaged to us as educational theory. It is allowing the teacher, hence the students, some freedom. See… What makes a good teacher?

America currently has few good teachers and few educated students. What we do have is ‘No Child Left Behind in Being Screwed by the Public Schools’ program. Another reason to be less than proud of what America has become.