hmmm, it's all over the news, AXIOS reported it... Gallop poll showing satisfaction w/ K-12 has hit an all-time low. This could fit under the latest findings & my long-term knowledge of personality tests. Folks love the results of personality tests, & astrology & all that stuff. They say what you want to hear. You answer how you think you want to be. Even w/ Myers Briggs all the twists & turns that that personality test claims will weed out the 'answer the way you want to be' kind of stuff, it really doesn't. I could dig up the latest findings to back that up, but for now I'll get to the point of this education poll. Folks who cannot get out of the education system will be the most prone to say it's ok. They don't want to say anything like 'My child is suffering & I'll just let him/her suffer'. Or they don't answer the poll. When I had my business, way back in the dark ages, working w/ kids in day care centers, some of those centers I visited were, to be quite frank, atrocious. The parents had no choice. That was before stricter regulations were in place, & those parents, w/ no choice, rated those centers as great.
ok, saying all that, here's the link to the Gallop poll, showing an all time low, which could, based on my ramblings, be even lower. Thank you, Teachers' Unions everywhere, even w/ more & more $$$ poured in:
Oh, there are some places, Chicago?/& or other blue areas?, but maybe since they've been 'caught' they quit, where leaders of the TU, School Board & other higher ups sent their kids to private schools instead of public. ie: Stacy Davis Gates is the president of the Chicago Teachers Union, and she sends her kid(s) to a private Catholic School saying "her family believed a private school offered her son opportunities they couldn’t find nearby in Chicago Public Schools." But she doesn't believe in free choice for other parents.
TX has closed several failing schools. These schools were failing for years, but, hey, the Teacher's Union opposed the way schools were rated & tried hard for many years to not provide the information directly. Rankings were buried in lengthy PDF reports, the media didn't cover it at all, parents didn't know schools were rated. Then in 2019 things changed. The A–F system launched. More understandable for the general public. The state strengthened the “five‑years‑failing = closure/takeover” rule. This rule existed earlier, but enforcement tightened around 2017–2023, especially after a Houston ISD case (Wheatly HS had 7 consecutive failing yrs. Court battles, went to TX Supreme Court, became very public, which led to the state enforcing the five‑year failing rule — even if it means taking over the largest district in Texas.). Districts began warning parents: If this campus doesn’t improve, the state may close it. That was brand new to parents. They, & the public, because the media picked it up, now knew how many yrs each school had been failing, & what was required to show improvement.
As of Aug 2026 at least 150 campuses have closed or been approved for closure in the past three years, and a portion of those closures were directly tied to accountability failures rather than enrollment or financial issues. What the Teacher's Union wants: higher pay for high‑need campuses, more funding for tutoring, smaller class sizes, more counselors and intervention staff, updated materials and technology, competitive teacher pay to reduce turnover, no charter schools which have been approved. In other words: more money & do not take away their control.
don't have time. Today I'm off to see the wizard... oh no I'm not, I'm off to do my day of volunteering, to see the many varieties of wonderful co-volunteers as well as the customers we serve & collect many $$ to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars (you aren't reading that wrong) for the kids in our county. I love it!
Thanks for the info and update. Teachers Unions have never acted in the best interests of either students or parents. Their central focus has always been solely and exclusively, the best financial, lifestyle and job protection of its members. The result? The retention and protection of incompetent, unmotivated, but politically cooperative teachers. The bloating of administrative staff and expense, to perform the functions formerly the responsibility of the teachers themselves. The political support of failed educational changes, as illustrated by “new math”. The politicization of what is or is not taught, the former of which is illustrated best by the DEI emphasis in many different ways, and the latter of which is the near elimination, or intentional perversion of history instruction. The roots of these decades long developments, were enabled by the centralized control of the DOE, which, itself, came under the political control of the Unions. A good start will be the elimination of the DOE, but will also require the elimination of the teachers unions. There will definitely be an outcry over this by union members and others, but the history reveals that the unions consistently and nearly exclusively placed their own selfish interests, both practically and politically, far above those of students, parents, and tax payers. Their own policies and choices will have produced their demise.
I have respect for some teachers, but others should not be allowed anywhere near kids. The education system has become more ideological than educational and I wonder what the world is going to be like in 10 or 20 years when the students get out o to the real world without being able to do basic things like comprehension and the ability to self regulate. I worry for my grandchildren.
“ What the Teacher's Union wants: higher pay for high‑need campuses, more funding for tutoring, smaller class sizes, more counselors and intervention staff, updated materials and technology, competitive teacher pay to reduce turnover, no charter schools which have been approved.”
Sounds reasonable to me. Sadly, we would rather give the wealthy tax breaks, reduce healthcare, spend millions on an unnecessary war, more on frivolous lawsuits and even more on voter suppression efforts than we would to pay teachers a fair wage and give schools the tools they need to educate our future.
You’re doing this apples to oranges comparison I don’t think you need to get into a dialogue with me about teachers, teachers union, charter schools, and pay pay pay for more more more. Years and years and years ago, I was part of an organization that tried to get charter schools into our community and the teachers fought it every year. Finally, when it was approved, then the teachers union fought every charter schools Application and then it took until like 2023 before they were finally approved before the first one was finally approved. Charter schools are a win-win. My boys went to private schools. We spent thousands of dollars; if we could’ve gone to a charter school and that charter school would’ve been located in a lower income area we could’ve driven our children to that area. We could’ve put our money into that charter school and in the lower income area those children would’ve been eligible, but it would’ve been a lottery for any outside kids to be allowed. When busing takes place you know what happens when lower school kids are bus across the city to hire income areas? Those parents are unable to get to those areas so the attendance of those parents are lacking. And the children suffer because of that. You bus higher income kids to the lower income areas and that’s when those parents take the kids out and put them in private schools. Private schools absolutely pay less than any public school. Private school teachers do double duty such as the head of the high school is also teaching classes. The unions would absolutely not allow that. A lot of high income professionals abandon their high stress jobs and go to private schools in order to teach because they don’t need the money and they love teaching those kids. The movie To sir with Love was based on fact. Too bad the public ignored the message - didn’t have anything to do with Thierry kid, their school, not black, blah, blah, blah. Well now that our education system is steadily going down AND the democrats are maybe paying attention AND maybe thinking money isn’t the solution, perhaps watch the movie again.
You have your opinion based on your experience and I have mine based on my experience raising two boys and a granddaughter.
I will never convince you of anything because you argue based on opinions from your small world. I’ve lived all over in the newspaper business and experienced many school systems. You will never convince me when all I’ve ever seen are teachers having to purchase supplies with their own money while billions are spent on the wrong things. Apples to oranges? How about the wealthy vs the not so fortunate.
This is a waste of time and I should never have said anything. Write your own newsletter and algorithm your own readers.
You just love to argue w/ me. I have 3 boys, entered public schools with a principal who had been transferred from one school to another due to poor relationships w/ parents & teachers but couldn't be fired. School psychologist in 3rd grade told us if we could afford it to get out of public & go private because it wouldn't get any better in middle school. Experience then became working w/ the organization to try to get charter schools approved. That was approx in 1988. Charter schools were approved many yrs later, but as I said, T's union fought every application. My youngest graduated from HS in 2004; the first charter school opened in 2023. Do the math - that's a lot of years! I now have 6 grandchildren, in 3 different states. In 2 of those states, the parents have chosen private because of extremely weak public & no available charter schools. The parents in the other state have their children in a very academically strong charter school. One son's very close friend from HS had a learning disability. The 2 of them 'once upon a time' wanted to open a school; that dream didn't happen, however, his friend went on to get an advanced college degree in education, not teaching, but helping to 'design' the best teaching methods. He is not a fan of T's Unions. So, I'd say I still have an interest in and information about the need for good education. If you would study that Gallop poll, it appears the vast majority of US citizens also do. Money has poured into the school systems across the US for years & years & the results have continuously gone further downhill.
WHERE YOU'RE EXPECTED TO CARE LIKE A PARENT, MANAGE LIKE A CEO, DOCUMENT LIKE A LAWYER, COUNSEL LIKE A THERAPIST, AND STILL HAVE PEOPLE QUESTION HOW HARD THE JOB REALLY IS.
I have changed my LinkedIn profile same as I change my resume, tailor it to .match the job I am looking for. My roles have been many and varied, so why would I not update?
You would think with so many dash cams that people would be driving better, it the skills seem to be getting worse!
speaking of todays read - I am in what I call my 3rd act and coming close to retirement which I will refer to as my 4th act. Lots of opportunities out there but sometimes it is plain old luck and open doors.
I’m not gonna wade thru the years of comments to find out who/who didn’t stick to any of the topics. Bill loves AXIOS which ‘triggered’ my topic. And perhaps, judging by the results of what i posted, it’s a topic of interest to others as well.
Linked in is irrelevant to my needs these days, thank goodness!
As for your 7 other things, the story that broke AGAIN about Netanyahu being told ahead of time about the impending Hamas raid is old. Not sure what it came up again because it was widely reported soon after the October Surprise. I couldn’t swear to it but it’s for this reason that so many have condemned Israel for its egregious attacks on Palestinians which has expanded to Lebanon. The butcher of Israel knew and allowed it to happen so he could use the attack as an excuse to do what we’ve watched him do over the last 3 years next month. He is facing elections again October 27 and thankfully he’s slipping in the polls according to a report in Newsweek.
The next story about a journalist vs. AI probably won’t be the first one and certainly not the last. Now that Anthropocene-Chat GPT(I think)has learned how to best CAPCHA things should get real interesting. Oh and one more thing, there is reporting that AI could end all life within the decade. If so, then why the rush to build all these freaking data centers? Always more questions 😩.
The preview for the Elizabeth Holmes documentary was downright frightening. If I had a link handy, I’d post it but it would create nightmares this close to bedtime.
Another aspect of making terminology changes years later… By its very nature, language is always changing. A new resume or online profile won’t be effective using terminology that fell out of use a decade or two ago…
hmmm, it's all over the news, AXIOS reported it... Gallop poll showing satisfaction w/ K-12 has hit an all-time low. This could fit under the latest findings & my long-term knowledge of personality tests. Folks love the results of personality tests, & astrology & all that stuff. They say what you want to hear. You answer how you think you want to be. Even w/ Myers Briggs all the twists & turns that that personality test claims will weed out the 'answer the way you want to be' kind of stuff, it really doesn't. I could dig up the latest findings to back that up, but for now I'll get to the point of this education poll. Folks who cannot get out of the education system will be the most prone to say it's ok. They don't want to say anything like 'My child is suffering & I'll just let him/her suffer'. Or they don't answer the poll. When I had my business, way back in the dark ages, working w/ kids in day care centers, some of those centers I visited were, to be quite frank, atrocious. The parents had no choice. That was before stricter regulations were in place, & those parents, w/ no choice, rated those centers as great.
ok, saying all that, here's the link to the Gallop poll, showing an all time low, which could, based on my ramblings, be even lower. Thank you, Teachers' Unions everywhere, even w/ more & more $$$ poured in:
https://news.gallup.com/poll/714017/satisfaction-education-hits-new-low.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_content=morelink&utm_campaign=syndication
Oh, there are some places, Chicago?/& or other blue areas?, but maybe since they've been 'caught' they quit, where leaders of the TU, School Board & other higher ups sent their kids to private schools instead of public. ie: Stacy Davis Gates is the president of the Chicago Teachers Union, and she sends her kid(s) to a private Catholic School saying "her family believed a private school offered her son opportunities they couldn’t find nearby in Chicago Public Schools." But she doesn't believe in free choice for other parents.
TX has closed several failing schools. These schools were failing for years, but, hey, the Teacher's Union opposed the way schools were rated & tried hard for many years to not provide the information directly. Rankings were buried in lengthy PDF reports, the media didn't cover it at all, parents didn't know schools were rated. Then in 2019 things changed. The A–F system launched. More understandable for the general public. The state strengthened the “five‑years‑failing = closure/takeover” rule. This rule existed earlier, but enforcement tightened around 2017–2023, especially after a Houston ISD case (Wheatly HS had 7 consecutive failing yrs. Court battles, went to TX Supreme Court, became very public, which led to the state enforcing the five‑year failing rule — even if it means taking over the largest district in Texas.). Districts began warning parents: If this campus doesn’t improve, the state may close it. That was brand new to parents. They, & the public, because the media picked it up, now knew how many yrs each school had been failing, & what was required to show improvement.
As of Aug 2026 at least 150 campuses have closed or been approved for closure in the past three years, and a portion of those closures were directly tied to accountability failures rather than enrollment or financial issues. What the Teacher's Union wants: higher pay for high‑need campuses, more funding for tutoring, smaller class sizes, more counselors and intervention staff, updated materials and technology, competitive teacher pay to reduce turnover, no charter schools which have been approved. In other words: more money & do not take away their control.
I appreciate you commenting. I think you should write your own newsletter!
don't have time. Today I'm off to see the wizard... oh no I'm not, I'm off to do my day of volunteering, to see the many varieties of wonderful co-volunteers as well as the customers we serve & collect many $$ to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars (you aren't reading that wrong) for the kids in our county. I love it!
Yet you have time to write all this? I think Bill is right.
Thanks for the info and update. Teachers Unions have never acted in the best interests of either students or parents. Their central focus has always been solely and exclusively, the best financial, lifestyle and job protection of its members. The result? The retention and protection of incompetent, unmotivated, but politically cooperative teachers. The bloating of administrative staff and expense, to perform the functions formerly the responsibility of the teachers themselves. The political support of failed educational changes, as illustrated by “new math”. The politicization of what is or is not taught, the former of which is illustrated best by the DEI emphasis in many different ways, and the latter of which is the near elimination, or intentional perversion of history instruction. The roots of these decades long developments, were enabled by the centralized control of the DOE, which, itself, came under the political control of the Unions. A good start will be the elimination of the DOE, but will also require the elimination of the teachers unions. There will definitely be an outcry over this by union members and others, but the history reveals that the unions consistently and nearly exclusively placed their own selfish interests, both practically and politically, far above those of students, parents, and tax payers. Their own policies and choices will have produced their demise.
Just curious. How is any of this related to anything Bill wrote about including the other things?
I had to go back bc I dont see the connection to what Bill wrote about today...LOL!! I am not alone.
The first commenter decided to go there.
I have respect for some teachers, but others should not be allowed anywhere near kids. The education system has become more ideological than educational and I wonder what the world is going to be like in 10 or 20 years when the students get out o to the real world without being able to do basic things like comprehension and the ability to self regulate. I worry for my grandchildren.
“ What the Teacher's Union wants: higher pay for high‑need campuses, more funding for tutoring, smaller class sizes, more counselors and intervention staff, updated materials and technology, competitive teacher pay to reduce turnover, no charter schools which have been approved.”
Sounds reasonable to me. Sadly, we would rather give the wealthy tax breaks, reduce healthcare, spend millions on an unnecessary war, more on frivolous lawsuits and even more on voter suppression efforts than we would to pay teachers a fair wage and give schools the tools they need to educate our future.
You’re doing this apples to oranges comparison I don’t think you need to get into a dialogue with me about teachers, teachers union, charter schools, and pay pay pay for more more more. Years and years and years ago, I was part of an organization that tried to get charter schools into our community and the teachers fought it every year. Finally, when it was approved, then the teachers union fought every charter schools Application and then it took until like 2023 before they were finally approved before the first one was finally approved. Charter schools are a win-win. My boys went to private schools. We spent thousands of dollars; if we could’ve gone to a charter school and that charter school would’ve been located in a lower income area we could’ve driven our children to that area. We could’ve put our money into that charter school and in the lower income area those children would’ve been eligible, but it would’ve been a lottery for any outside kids to be allowed. When busing takes place you know what happens when lower school kids are bus across the city to hire income areas? Those parents are unable to get to those areas so the attendance of those parents are lacking. And the children suffer because of that. You bus higher income kids to the lower income areas and that’s when those parents take the kids out and put them in private schools. Private schools absolutely pay less than any public school. Private school teachers do double duty such as the head of the high school is also teaching classes. The unions would absolutely not allow that. A lot of high income professionals abandon their high stress jobs and go to private schools in order to teach because they don’t need the money and they love teaching those kids. The movie To sir with Love was based on fact. Too bad the public ignored the message - didn’t have anything to do with Thierry kid, their school, not black, blah, blah, blah. Well now that our education system is steadily going down AND the democrats are maybe paying attention AND maybe thinking money isn’t the solution, perhaps watch the movie again.
Oh dear me, here we go!
You have your opinion based on your experience and I have mine based on my experience raising two boys and a granddaughter.
I will never convince you of anything because you argue based on opinions from your small world. I’ve lived all over in the newspaper business and experienced many school systems. You will never convince me when all I’ve ever seen are teachers having to purchase supplies with their own money while billions are spent on the wrong things. Apples to oranges? How about the wealthy vs the not so fortunate.
This is a waste of time and I should never have said anything. Write your own newsletter and algorithm your own readers.
You just love to argue w/ me. I have 3 boys, entered public schools with a principal who had been transferred from one school to another due to poor relationships w/ parents & teachers but couldn't be fired. School psychologist in 3rd grade told us if we could afford it to get out of public & go private because it wouldn't get any better in middle school. Experience then became working w/ the organization to try to get charter schools approved. That was approx in 1988. Charter schools were approved many yrs later, but as I said, T's union fought every application. My youngest graduated from HS in 2004; the first charter school opened in 2023. Do the math - that's a lot of years! I now have 6 grandchildren, in 3 different states. In 2 of those states, the parents have chosen private because of extremely weak public & no available charter schools. The parents in the other state have their children in a very academically strong charter school. One son's very close friend from HS had a learning disability. The 2 of them 'once upon a time' wanted to open a school; that dream didn't happen, however, his friend went on to get an advanced college degree in education, not teaching, but helping to 'design' the best teaching methods. He is not a fan of T's Unions. So, I'd say I still have an interest in and information about the need for good education. If you would study that Gallop poll, it appears the vast majority of US citizens also do. Money has poured into the school systems across the US for years & years & the results have continuously gone further downhill.
I am not arguing with you; that would be insanity. You have your opinion and I have mine, and never the twain shall meet.
Just because your limited experience was problematic makes you believe that is true across the board.
You think you know better than me, another difference of opinion we will never resolve. Btw and your words: you love to argue with me.
Now, go write your own newsletter and garner your own acolytes.
so, ignore the results of the Gallop poll
You are still trying to argue with me. Grow up.
TEACHING IS THE ONLY PROFESSION
WHERE YOU'RE EXPECTED TO CARE LIKE A PARENT, MANAGE LIKE A CEO, DOCUMENT LIKE A LAWYER, COUNSEL LIKE A THERAPIST, AND STILL HAVE PEOPLE QUESTION HOW HARD THE JOB REALLY IS.
SHOUT OUT TO ALL THE TEACHERS
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
EVERY SINGLE DAY!
Hey Bill. In case you're still wondering, you joined LinkedIn in January 2025. 😊
When did i join?
The date is under Managing Data Permissions. The last entry shows the date you joined. Mine was June 9, 2005.
I have changed my LinkedIn profile same as I change my resume, tailor it to .match the job I am looking for. My roles have been many and varied, so why would I not update?
You would think with so many dash cams that people would be driving better, it the skills seem to be getting worse!
speaking of todays read - I am in what I call my 3rd act and coming close to retirement which I will refer to as my 4th act. Lots of opportunities out there but sometimes it is plain old luck and open doors.
I’m not gonna wade thru the years of comments to find out who/who didn’t stick to any of the topics. Bill loves AXIOS which ‘triggered’ my topic. And perhaps, judging by the results of what i posted, it’s a topic of interest to others as well.
I like how you think. LinkedIn is supposed to be a go to for professionals . And you always update your resume right?
Linked in is irrelevant to my needs these days, thank goodness!
As for your 7 other things, the story that broke AGAIN about Netanyahu being told ahead of time about the impending Hamas raid is old. Not sure what it came up again because it was widely reported soon after the October Surprise. I couldn’t swear to it but it’s for this reason that so many have condemned Israel for its egregious attacks on Palestinians which has expanded to Lebanon. The butcher of Israel knew and allowed it to happen so he could use the attack as an excuse to do what we’ve watched him do over the last 3 years next month. He is facing elections again October 27 and thankfully he’s slipping in the polls according to a report in Newsweek.
https://www.newsweek.com/netanyahu-faces-israel-election-defeat-amid-claims-he-ignored-oct-7-warning-12419775
The next story about a journalist vs. AI probably won’t be the first one and certainly not the last. Now that Anthropocene-Chat GPT(I think)has learned how to best CAPCHA things should get real interesting. Oh and one more thing, there is reporting that AI could end all life within the decade. If so, then why the rush to build all these freaking data centers? Always more questions 😩.
The preview for the Elizabeth Holmes documentary was downright frightening. If I had a link handy, I’d post it but it would create nightmares this close to bedtime.
That’s it from here.
Another aspect of making terminology changes years later… By its very nature, language is always changing. A new resume or online profile won’t be effective using terminology that fell out of use a decade or two ago…