Teachers: Did anyone see the Dateline exclusive 'American Children are Stupid'

Not a teacher, but I watched it and I totally agree. I even told DH 'we better save for a Montessori school for our future kids' no way am I putting them in a public school system where there are truly lazy teachers that feel 'protected' by the union. That's insane!! Those kids from Belgium kicked butt! That's a sad thing when a HS kid can only read at a 4th grade level.
Luckily, the schools where we're moving to are better than NYC schools but still...

i didn't see it - but what did they say?

i have to take offense to the lazy teacher comment posted above though....i am certainly not lazy and my students are certainly are not either - nor are they stupid. and all of my 8th graders read above a 4th grade level.....not that i necessarily agree with the entire notion of the reading level to begin with!

Well, the lazy comment wasn't directed toward teachers that are actually qualified and love their job and do it well...those teachers are heroes and IMO should be compensated or rewarded as such. I'm talking about the pedophiles, the ones that show up drunk, the ones that don't care. The program covered a broad range of them. As a student of the public school system I can certainly say that I encountered my fair share of all of the above...and then some. There were definitely teachers that should not be in a classroom.

BTW, the program was NOT on Dateline, it was on 20/20 on ABC. Well worth watching! I'm sure you can find a recap or info online. John Stossel (sp?), as usual, did a great job!

What gets me is that they focused on the lazy teachers, but what about all of the politics involved, or the ignorant parents who won't agree to test a child because they don't want them to be labeled?!?!?!!? Alot of kids get pushed along or fall through the cracks for those two reasons. None of that was mentioned last night....there are so many more factors that come into play with regard to the success of a child in school. Before they aired that they really should've taken a look at the bigger picture. I found it very offensive and one sided, but I guess that's reporting for you!

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Posted by jes81276

What gets me is that they focused on the lazy teachers, but what about all of the politics involved, or the ignorant parents who won't agree to test a child because they don't want them to be labeled?!?!?!!? Alot of kids get pushed along or fall through the cracks for those two reasons. None of that was mentioned last night....there are so many more factors that come into play with regard to the success of a child in school. Before they aired that they really should've taken a look at the bigger picture. I found it very offensive and one sided, but I guess that's reporting for you!

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I actually saw it more as a report on the fact that the school system is a monopoly and you (the parent) don't have a choice regarding the school that your child goes to. It was a 'pro-voucher' report...and of course that doesn't sit well with most teachers, the union or government. But I think it's hideous that the per child expenditure has gone up significantly yet test scores have gone down.

Yes, there are definitely bad parents and lots of politics (which was touched on) but there's also a 'cushion' for those 'bad' teachers *which I'm sure none of you are* because they have tenure and are in a union so it's pretty impossible to fire them. In any other job, if you don't perform well or act innapropriately you can be fired, how come that's not so true for teachers in the public school system?

Again, I think the Belgians got it right. And the fact that those kids could speak like 5 languages and know how to read, write and do basic math (something some of our students in HS can't do!) is worth looking into here...what are they doing so different? The parents have a CHOICE...the teachers are held responsible...IMO America's ignorance is going too far.

As a teacher, I thought it was one sided also, but they did have some very good points. Here's some examples of what they talked about. Im just hoping people don't start thinking negatively about teachers.

One thing they spent a lot of time on was the strong unions we have.

We are protected by the union, which we need, (For example me, I had PERFECT OUTSTANDING observations for 3 years. I was voted top 10 teacher of the year and have NUMEROUS letters from parents thanking me, etc. I had taken about 9 sick days last year because my son had pneumonia 3 times.. borderline hospitalized once, and the stomach virus. The same principal who gave me PERFECT observations tried to let me go. The union stepped in and I didn't have to go anywhere.) however we all know some teachers who should NOT be teaching. They used examples as teacher sex offenders. They had tenure and it took the school district years to fire them. They weren't allowed to work with children, but had to report to the 'rubber room' every day and they still got paid. The amount of money was unreal that they paid these teachers for not even working.

They showed a lot of mismanagement of money. Look at Pat-Med

They showed a clip where teachers were teaching in mobile classrooms while the administration was having a new building built for administration, and it looked like a palace.

They showed a lot of mismanagement of money. Look at Pat-Med

They showed a clip where teachers were teaching in mobile classrooms while the administration was having a new building built for administration, and it looked like a palace.
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And the thing that stinks about this is that we get the bad rap....how many times do you hear that teachers make too much money. If only they knew how much time goes into being a teacher....and money too! Unfortunately we cannot control the mismanagement of $$$$$ and it gives us a bad name as well!

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Posted by jes81276

And the thing that stinks about this is that we get the bad rap....how many times do you hear that teachers make too much money. If only they knew how much time goes into being a teacher....and money too! Unfortunately we cannot control the mismanagement of $$$$$ and it gives us a bad name as well!

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I agree. I have gone to school for about 7 years. I have my masters degree and I had to sub, work part time and pay for my insurance until I could even get a full time teaching job on L.I. Now I make around 50,000. How can I even afford a house here? And people complain we make too much money?? I started at 38,000 with 5 years of college behind me. I owe about 40,000 still

I am horrified and stumped by what I see my 4th graders thinking everyday

We had the ELA last week and one of my girls wrote her essay that was suppose dto be about Browney the Cow and wrote 'Browney is nice. Everyone likes browneys. they are yummy and sweet'

You tell me that after 4 months I am the one at fault for a 4th grader who reads and thinks at a Kindergarten level!!!!

I completely agree that American students are dumber than other countries- I see it 1st hand- but I am completely STUMPED as to what we can do!!! I feel so stuck and upset that I have to teach 5+6 and how to spell 'that' .

Its only 1/2 of my 1st year and I already want to quit because teaching is no longer what its supposed to be

I have been a teacher for 11 years and there is great truth to the report. However, I also agree that it is not entirely the school's fault when students don't succeed. There is an old proverb that states 'You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.' This is what are students are like. The parents play little or no role in the student's life. Students are caught up in celeb status and blin-bling. They all think they are the next big thing. Parents inflate this false ego and the kids fail.


On the other hand, America should never be compared to countries that are dominantly one race. There is such diversity in America that language is a huge issue for many of the students that attend our schools.

I also found it interesting that there were very few teachers who were intereviewed.

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Posted by jes81276

What gets me is that they focused on the lazy teachers, but what about all of the politics involved, or the ignorant parents who won't agree to test a child because they don't want them to be labeled?!?!?!!? Alot of kids get pushed along or fall through the cracks for those two reasons. None of that was mentioned last night....there are so many more factors that come into play with regard to the success of a child in school. Before they aired that they really should've taken a look at the bigger picture. I found it very offensive and one sided, but I guess that's reporting for you!

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It is not always the PARENTS that do not want their kids labeled. It is often the school districts.

I also find that no matter how much effort teachers put into what they do in the classroom, without support from home, its almost useless. If the parents have lack of interest, the inability to read or do not speak the language in which a child's assignments are given, how can you expect a child to excel? The answer? YOU CAN'T.

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Posted by Goldi1021

I also find that no matter how much effort teachers put into what they do in the classroom, without support from home, its almost useless. If the parents have lack of interest, the inability to read or do not speak the language in which a child's assignments are given, how can you expect a child to excel? The answer? YOU CAN'T.

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I agree with the lack of interest thing, but I disagree about the language thing. This is not true for every child. I came to this country not knowing a lick of English and was placed in a regular 6th grade class because the school I went to didn't have ESL (and I refused to go to another school that did! ) and I picked it up so fast that within that year I was reading and writing and was a runner-up in the classroom spelling bee that year. I graduated 6th grade in the Honor Roll. My brother came here and was placed in 9th grade (also regular class) and mantained a 95 average without speaking the language. My sisters and brother recently moved to GA and were placed in regular classes (9th, 11th and 12th grades) and are also steady 'B' and 'C' students even though they speak no English and no one there speaks Spanish. So it's definitely up to the child...the fact that the parent doesn't speak the language is not as important as the child's desire to learn. So you can suceed without support from home - you do need school support and teachers that care. I had much help and tutoring from my teachers and hope today's students are as fortunate. I will never forget my 6th grade teacher and how amazing and generous with her time she was. I was treated like every other kid, spoken to like every other kid and eventually I learned and excelled.

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Posted by Goldi1021

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Posted by jes81276

What gets me is that they focused on the lazy teachers, but what about all of the politics involved, or the ignorant parents who won't agree to test a child because they don't want them to be labeled?!?!?!!? Alot of kids get pushed along or fall through the cracks for those two reasons. None of that was mentioned last night....there are so many more factors that come into play with regard to the success of a child in school. Before they aired that they really should've taken a look at the bigger picture. I found it very offensive and one sided, but I guess that's reporting for you!

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It is not always the PARENTS that do not want their kids labeled. It is often the school districts.

I also find that no matter how much effort teachers put into what they do in the classroom, without support from home, its almost useless. If the parents have lack of interest, the inability to read or do not speak the language in which a child's assignments are given, how can you expect a child to excel? The answer? YOU CAN'T.

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AMEN SISTAH!!!! Maybe us teachers should get together to do our own report on students in America....maybe when parents see what we are stuck dealing with, they will try harder to put forth some effort into make their kids accountable for HW and studying

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AMEN SISTAH!!!! Maybe us teachers should get together to do our own report on students in America....maybe when parents see what we are stuck dealing with, they will try harder to put forth some effort into make their kids accountable for HW and studing

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I agree!! It made me angry and I didn't even finish watching it. Everybody wants to blame teachers; well, teachers CAN NOT be responsible for raising these kids. We only have them from 7:20 to 2:10 or whatever time your school may run. From that, I have students 40 minutes out of the day unless they need/want extra help which I am ALWAYS willing to give (even as a sub or student teacher) !!! Parents need to step up and be held accountable for some of this as well.

As for 'dumbing down the work'....NEVER! I set VERY high expectations for my students and will not accept anything but their very best.

But that is AMerican journalism at it's best, once again showing one side of the story.