I'm the son of two retired elementary school teachers, so I'm very sensititve about this current "Blame the Teacher" movement that has been sweeping the nation for the past three decades. It reminds me of a scene from the old Nick Nolte film Teachers, when he asks the parents of one of his students if they care about their son's education, the mother replied "Isn't that your job?"
Now I'm not very steeped in education policy, but I am skeptical about the most recent trends in "reform," including vouchers and "teaching to the test." (Full disclosure: I am a product of both private and public education.) However, I do think we should implement the following things in order to improve our education system:
1.) provide money for local school systems to bring retired teachers back to the classroom to serve as assistants for teachers with a large number of students, and give these returning teachers a sizable break on their federal income taxes;
2.) increase Promise Neighborhoodgrants to local nonprofits, and expand them to rural communities;
3.) institute national standards for schools that accept vouchers (i.e. must be accredited, must be in existence for more than a decade);
4.) partner with the National PTA to increase parental involvement in schools.
I think people have been playing too much politics with education over the last decade or so, which is why there has been such a backlash against teachers and teachers' unions. I think the path to reforming and improving our education system lies in a few simple and quite doable methods.