Reply to incompetent teacher -- what can parents do?

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[quote=Anonymous]My spouse teaches middle school and last year was a nightmare with one position in the department.  The teacher left over the summer (most teachers that are leaving make it known in the spring after the get hired for a new position, giving the school the opportunity to replace), so they had a very short window to find a replacement.  The person they got was not the best, but qualified.  Unfortunately, that person quit early in the school year, and they were left scrambling again to find either a qualified permanent teacher replacement, or a qualified long-term sub.  Neither one materialized and the studnets went through five different teachers (including my spouse for the final months of the year).  The kids really suffered, and they offered a free mini summer school with the opportuntiy to retake the exam, so they could get the high school credit.  Even in middle school, an incompetent teacher makes a difference.

I'm curious, though, OP, how you know that the teacher is incompetent.  What examples do you have that brought you to this conclusion?  Is there usualyl a high teacher turnover rate at the school?  My spouse's school is "less desirable" and they have a difficult time keeping teachers for the long haul.  Maybe your child's school is not rushing the process because they know it would be difficult for them to replace the teacher.

[quote=Anonymous]This is exactly why teacher's unions are a bad thing.  I can't believe people don't jump on this!![/quote]

Unions protect workers from unjust firing (among other things).  Do you feel the same way about police unions?  Fire fighter unions?  Factory worker unions?  While I agree it's important to be able to remove "incompetent" teachers, I'm not comfortable with the idea of an administrator having the power to immediately fire a teacher with no protocol in place.  The teachers' union in question has negotiated a process for removing incompetent teachers, and from the OP's post, it looks like that process has already started.

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