The Teacher wars

A history of one hundred and seventy-five years of teaching in America shows that teachers have always borne the brunt of shifting, often impossible expectations. Understanding the historical perspective, and the political and cultural baggage that is tied to teaching, is crucial if we have any hope of positive change. American education's many passages, including the feminization of teaching in the 1800's and the growth of unions, shows that the battles fought over nearly two centuries echo the very dilemmas we cope with today. Recent innovations like Teach for America, merit pay, and teacher evaluation via student testing are actually as old as public schools themselves. Long-festering ambivalence about teachers--are they civil servants or academic professionals?--and unrealistic expectations that the schools alone should compensate for poverty's ills have driven the most ambitious people from becoming teachers or prevented those that do, from sticking with it.