Waiting For Superman

I used to think that the tobacco and gun lobbies were among the most dangerous organized groups in America. Add Unions to this list; organized labor, especially the teachers unions. The fact that the teachers unions (NEA and AFT), backed by the academic minds that are responsible for educating our children, labor to perpetuate an anachronistic concept like tenure AND THINK IT’S OK speaks volumes in and of itself. First, they are positioning themselves as commodities, which is just…stupid. Educating America’s children is so vitally important to our future that it cannot and should not be left to people who think that it’s reasonable to expect – be entitled – to KEEP YOUR JOB FOREVER REGARDLESS OF PERFORMANCE. Anyone who thinks this is acceptable really does not have the intellectual firepower required to teach our children. NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO EXPECT TO KEEP THEIR JOB FOREVER REGARDLESS OF PERFORMANCE, whether they are a physicist, a factory worker, a teacher or the CEO of a giant company. Are you kidding me teachers? To anyone who believes in the idea of “tenure,” SHAME ON YOU. As many of us in corporate life know, the so-called “democratization” of merit raises for example, does nothing but demoralize the high performers and reward the mediocre. It is concepts like tenure, which have long outlived the reasons for which they were established, that is going to kill this country. Clearly, it is the mediocre performers who cloak themselves in union rhetoric. It’s both cowardly and easy to hide behind the shields of the unions. But that kind of behavior is characteristic of the mediocre middle. Meanwhile, the United States of America continues to fall behind in almost every single category you can imagine. How can this country possibly innovate and lead the world forward when we are busy rewarding mediocre talent in every field, especially those who are entrusted to educate up-and-coming generations of children? Oh and by the way, keeping those teachers who are crappy in their “lifetime-appointed jobships,”  prevents potentially excellent teachers from getting a job. Wake up America. The concept of seniority is as dead as a Triceratops. The teachers unions’ tone-deafness to the tenure issue makes them ripe for evolutionary failure. This movie made me so angry, I want to tell everyone I know to start demanding at every level of government that teachers be held accountable for their performance JUST LIKE THE REST OF US ARE EVERYDAY IN OUR JOBS. Exactly what planet are teachers living on anyway? You should be motivated to perform at the highest level possibly everyday. And if you can’t do that, you’re in the wrong field. GET OUT. Guess what, for the rest of us, those who don’t teach, our performance is measured against goals and objectives which we strive to attain EVEN THOUGH WE DON’T HAVE COMPLETE CONTROL OVER SOME OF THE DECISIONS THAT OUR COLLEAGUES OR BOSSES MAKE. The POV of the teacher’s unions simply demonstrates how hopelessly delusional they are and how out of step with the world they continue to be. A frightening prospect by itself as once again, these are the people filling our children’s heads for roughly 7 hours a day. If you are a parent, you owe it to your children to see this film. And you also owe it to them to actively help to reform the educational system starting with abolishing tenure. HATS OFF TO MICHELLE RHEE AND NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR CHRIS CHRISTIE. What you are doing MATTERS GREATLY. I urge everyone to see Waiting For Superman. Demand Great Schools. Email your elected officials easily right here.