Opinion

Today’s lesson for Gov: quit blaming our teachers

The Issue: Gov. Cuomo’s attempts to introduce a new teacher-evaluation system for New York public schools.

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Teachers are the scapegoats for a failed education system (“Schools’ Bitter Fruit,” Michael Goodwin, Jan. 22).

When children fail, teachers are bad. When students pass, teachers are good. If it were only that simple, we could rectify the situation by firing bad teachers.

Gov. Cuomo, Mayor Bloomberg and The Post do not get it.

An education system must address all aspects, including students, parents and the fact that not all children are equipped to go to college.

The reality is that schools are bad because students are bad.

Elio Valenti

Brooklyn

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If bad teachers are the reason kids don’t learn, are doctors the reason for the obesity epidemic?

And will legislation change all that?

David Rabinovitz

Brooklyn

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The teachers union is not to blame for the teacher-evaluation debacle.

The Department of Education refuses to negotiate safeguards against abuses of power.

It’s the city, not the union, that fears and hides from accountability.

Ron Isaac

Fresh Meadows

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Many years ago, I was licensed to teach in New York City for both junior high and high school.

These licenses were granted only to candidates who had passed a battery of tests and showed themselves to be capable in the classroom, well spoken and, in general, models for the students.

Undoubtedly, an inept applicant would occasionally slip through the cracks, but l,500 of them? How did these incompetents get into the system in the first place?

Catherine Dillon

Manhasset

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For too many years, the greedy unions have been making governors jump through hoops and have used increased taxpayer dollars to buy state pols.

If Cuomo pulls this off and stays tough, he’ll certainly generate lots of fans.

It will be difficult, even for the unions’ strongest supporter, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, to buck Cuomo on this one.

There is no unreasonable demand here.

These are our children. We’re picking up the tab, and we want them educated by competent teachers.

Rae Mackenzie

Hoboken, NJ

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A cardiologist tells his patient to lose weight and he doesn’t. Soon the patient has a heart attack.

An accountant tells his client to reduce spending and he doesn’t. Soon, the client declares bankruptcy.

A coach presents a practice schedule to a player. The player doesn’t adhere to it and gets cut.

A teacher assigns homework, and a student doesn’t do it. The student fails.

Somehow, no reasonable person would hold the cardiologist, the accountant or the coach responsible, yet the teacher is to blame.

The view on education sure has taken a strange turn.

Jessy Friedman

Marlboro, NJ

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To improve students’ learning, Cuomo wants to add their performance on state and local tests to other criteria used to evaluate teachers’ effectiveness.

I have not heard anyone mention how to improve the evaluation of guidance counselors and deans.

These educators seem to have a free ride despite the influence they have on students’ attitudes and classroom behavior.

Carol Swenson

Lake Grove

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Teacher evaluations, while important, are only a small part of the problem.

Contrary to the horror stories that The Post has been running, most New York public-school teachers are competent and work their butts off.

If all bad teachers were fired tomorrow and replaced with good ones, the overall quality of our schools would be pretty much the same.

The decline of public- school education is the result of many complex sociological factors, including poverty, cultural coarsening, political correctness and a sclerotic bureaucracy that stifles teacher innovation. They will not respond to quick fixes.

Mark Stuart Ellison

Brooklyn