Teachers become scapegoats

Teachers become scapegoats

Many teachers may lose their jobs if testing scores do not improve.

Why should teachers be scapegoats for something they have no control over? Many states have already fired teachers in schools that do not have passing scores on standardize tests.

President Obama supports firing teachers, and the American Federation of Teachers is furious over what is happening to the teachers.

Texas, Georgia, and Rhode Island — just to name a few — have fired teachers due to poor test scores.

Why fire teachers for something they have no control over, and why do people think that it is all right to do this? Why now do they want to hold teachers accountable for what happened with the test scores?

Many factors go into why a school would not have passing test scores. It is not just how the teacher teaches.

One factor to consider would be the location of the school. Is it in a city or a suburb?

Location is important because it affects the amount of funding the school receives. Most of the time, city schools have less funding then schools in the suburbs.

Another factor to consider is the economic profile. Students who live in low-income families may not do as well in school as someone who is considered middle class.

The school boards that approve firing teachers say teachers must be accountable for what is going on. Based on the falling test scores, these boards believe the teachers are not teaching what the students need to know.

Teachers should not be singled out and held accountable for all standardized testing scores. Not every student is going to do well on these tests because some students have test anxiety.

If the president and other officials feel they can play the blame game and if they think this is what is going to improve our schools, they are wrong.

These public officials need to develop other criteria with which to measure how effective the teacher is in the classroom, instead of solely basing their findings on standardized test scores.

Joyce Humphries, Springfield