American teachers are the problem in urban education

IT SEEMS quite evident that Jason Kaye has never taught in a public-school classroom and is therefore incapable of casting the ballot for the "Are teachers the problem?" vote.

In concluding that teachers unions and teachers are the problem, Kaye fails to acknowledge the thousands of teachers who either come a few hours before the start of the school day and/or stay many hours after the dismissal bell has tolled to talk with parents and to tutor children for free!

In concluding that teachers would have to do more "heavy lifting" if this American education system is to succeed, I ponder the possibility that he hasn't considered the teachers who spend hundreds of their own dollars to refurbish old computers. I wonder if he's thought about those teachers who have created their own minicomputer labs because the urban system is underfunded!

He states that "teachers should encourage public-school systems to provide more opportunities for parents to participate in educating their students by having more teacher/parent meetings . . . at night. . . . " This because, according to him, parents have to work two or three jobs in this tough economy. Would that suggest that teachers aren't parents? Would that suggest that teachers also don't work two or three jobs to make ends meet? Perhaps, Mr. Kaye, $45,000 a year isn't enough to support a family of four and that's why some teachers take those coaching positions, a second job right down the hall!

Too much vacation time? Has he spent seven hours a day and nearly 180 days a year with either 33 active 5-year-olds or equally as active 12-year-olds? Or perhaps he's taught five to six classes of 30 16-year-olds who would tell him where to go and how to get there!

As I respond to this fictional assertion that teachers are the problem, I'm on the bus getting ready to join my grade partners and other teachers whose day begins at 6:15 a.m. at the school and ends after marking papers well into the evening at home!

No, Mr. Kaye, teachers aren't the problem. The problems we face in urban education are more complex than that. Yes, "leave it to American teachers to give each other high-fives and pats on the back for slightly increased test scores." This is because no one else will!

Stephen R. Flemming

Philadelphia