Clearly my use of the modifier ‘young’ was misconstrued. I should have clarified that I was referring to a state of mind.

Older, wiser, vigorous teachers should be treated as a protected species! Burnt-out, whiny, bitter, hostile, entitlement hunting, not-in-my-job-description, ‘education professionals’ would have a difficult time with the necessary reforms.

Reforms is a mild word for the changes that need to be made. that’s why I said it would take two years.

Someone asked what school I work at… heh-heh-heh! I do not work in the NPS, wouldn’t dream of it! No, I work in the private sector. I have responsibilities, and accountability; the two major characteristics that are missing from the government school system.

Tenure is a concept that, like PATCO, has outlived its usefulness, and caused its own destruction. If a teacher is seeking tenure, (s)he should do it at any of the great universities.

What are the goals of the NPS? There are several, but which are the important ones, and which are the consequential? I believe the primary goal is to produce well educated young adults. Further, unlike the private sector where time is a variable constraint to be optimized, in the schools the full cycle is fixed to 13 years.

Before I close this note, I must raise a few more hackles in the readers. I will state that the quality of the feedstock varies over a wide range. However that is OK, because although there is a wish that the characteristics of the final product meet some idealized standard, the harsh reality is that there is a broad range of acceptable qualities that constitute a graduating class. Ooh — I can hear it… my ears are burning.

But I see by #207 that it’s all moot.