Make Teachers into Professionals

I believe that admission into the national teacher union should be mandatory for all teachers. There are some that say teachers should not join into a professional organization because it is “unprofessional.” “Professionals do not belong to unions!” They say.
I say that we need to all be in a professional organization in order to be professional. No one will say that medical doctors aren’t a profession. In fact, every single M.D. in the US is a member of the American Medical Association (AMA). It’s their professional organization where membership is mandatory (and never frowned upon). In fact, the AMA is the main determinant in admission into medical school. The government does not decide the professional practices for doctors, the government does not test doctors for certification, the government does not interfere with medicine (or when they do, there is significant resistance from their profession, i.e. stem cell research, etc.). Instead, certification and professional standards come from the AMA.
Additionally, every lawyer in the US is a member of the American Bar Association—that’s their professional organization. Dentists, veterinarians, real estate agents, air traffic controllers, and many more all belong to their professional organizations. Therefore, it is preposterous to say that teachers shouldn’t have their own elite organization.
It should be the National Education Association that should be creating teaching standards—not the government. Much like the AMA created MD curriculum and standards and the Bar association created the curriculum and standards for lawyers. The lists go on and on of how professional organizations are essential for a profession to have any control over their destiny.
There is a historical record as well. Throughout history, guilds and masters have been the keepers of their crafts—only allowing those who possess the drive and mastery to be “in” and have the “secrets.” Teaching should be no different. Just because this is a publicly funded profession does not mean that it should be publicly controlled. Doctors and lawyers are “publicly” funded, but only doctors and lawyers attend to their standards, accreditation, and admission. Teachers, on the other hand, have acquiesced to the public for far too long.
I understand that other professionals are licensed by the government. That’s ok with me. I am ok if the government is making sure that doctors are being safe, lawyers are being honest (ha ha ha), and bankers being ethical. It’s ok for teachers to be licensed as well. The problem is not government involvement, but the degree of government involvement. The only way the government will start treating teachers like professionals is if we all join the union—every last one of us—and be professional.
I am glad that the representatives from the teacher union, Sherri and Robyn, came to the C of I to tell us about their organization. I am happy that I am going to be a part of it. However, I am unhappy with the methods the union uses. We need to push more and more teachers to join. One hundred percent membership should be our goal. Only then will teachers be given the power, influence, and prestige that we deserve. Only then will we be a profession.

Advanced Dolphin

I have figured it out!

I have heard of some people having trouble in their data collection. Well, since listening to the superintendent of the Payette School District, I have decided to run for school board. Seriously. At least I would be able to get any kind of data about schools I wanted. If I were a member of the school board, I would have access to ISAT scores and other data that students and researchers would need. So I could help out anyone who needed help with data collection from C of I.

There’s another reason for running for the school board. I am going to DO something about schools. Instead of just laying back and taking top-down decisions and complaining about them, I am going to be at the top and make better decisions. Some day, when you see my name on the ballot, please vote for Richard Le Roy Zuercher. Now I need a campaign slogan!

Z

PS
Just for clarification, I don’t think I’ll be running this year.

Zuercher Chapter1 draft 1 07-02-08

Meet my new cat!

Shrooms anyone?

Read this article from MSNBC.com about the psychological benefits of taking psilocybin – A powerful psychedelic that has been used as a medicine for thousands of years!