Everywhere we hear about teachers and test scores. We seem to have forgotten the most important element in education: the student. Why is there no discussion on the student responsibility? When is the student going to be held responsible for learning? Teachers can do all they want, but if the student is not willing to learn, all the work is done for nothing. We hear people discuss about  teachers motivating the students. What happened to the home environment? What happened to the value system that is developed in the young people in their formative years at home? What are the responsibilities of the parents?

Many opponents of teachers complain about teacher tenures.  All educational institutions have administrators.  The Board of Education and the administrators make the decisions on giving tenures to teachers.  They have enough time to observe teachers, document their activities, and hold conferences with them.  There should be enough information in the habitual three year period to come to some reasonable decisions.  Even after providing tenures, the administrators should continue their administrative duties which include supervision.  Tenures may be and can be broken if proper documentation is maintained and provided.  Everything involves effort.  Recently, many administrators  (not all) are seen to sequester themselves in their ivory towers.  They seem to forget that an educational institution works efficiently only if the supervisors and the faculty members work as a team for the common goal.  The parents should also shoulders their responsibilities from the home end.

How can all the multitudes of discussions take place without considering all aspects of learning and education? Education is a human endeavor with all the intangibles thrown in. How can a standardized test evaluate learning?

Bill Gates talks about training teachers. It would be wise to attract bright people into the teaching profession. Most teachers these days lack in the content area of their subjects. A teacher should master the subject and be in a position to transmit the thirst for and acquisition of knowledge to the students.

The problem of education cannot be solved with stop gap measures; it needs some gargantuan overhaul.