We are not that far apart in what we expect of schools, FF, but you have given up on public education and I have not. I believe you are still not understanding my message.

Look at your own post...

...I am the guy who was regularly called on the carpet because I insisted that kids do work in order to pass....

...The touchy-feely types wanted me to feel bad about my teaching....

...I caught heat from the administration over everything from locking tardies out of the classroom to harrassing smokers behind the greenhouse....

Don't you see a problem here with the system? While it may occur in some private schools, it is not rampant, and will quickly rectify itself because parents won't send their kids to bad schools, if given a choice. The problem is with the government running the schools and trying to make everyone happy. You can never make everyone happy, and that is why "one size fits all" doesn't work.

I don't think you are the cause of the problem. Nor do I think that most teachers are the cause of the problem. I think the problem is one that is endemic in almost any government run enterprise.

FF