and PTAs can cause a lot of problems...but they can solve a lot too! Just like parents. Some parents are a teacher's saving grace, reminding them constantly that there are people who WORSHIP them for what they do for the children. Some parents make a teacher want to go homicidal with justifiable rage.

And some notion that everyone needs to know the same of everything is a little...ridiculous. I think we need to have some national standard...but for a nation this large it's just impossible to implement at all levels. Set a bar for graduating knowledge and let states, regions and districts find the best way to achieve that for their area. Some demographics will benefit from different teaching models, and different types of teachers. The tattoos my mother has would be appalling for some parents and schools...in the school she taught first grade at, they helped certain lower income minority families feel more comfortable with this little middle class white woman. Different strokes for different folks and all that jazz.