A Comment on Comments:

Sorry I haven't gotten around to responding to everyone's comments over the past few days. I really, really appreciate whenever anyone takes the time to post something. Without any feedback, this is kind of like howling at the moon, so again - many thanks. I'll try to respond to everyone - until I become the next Atrios and roll around in AdSense cash while ignoring my trolls...

Regarding the "reforms" that Race To The Top is promoting, thinker made a great comment:

The best part is that we keep hearing that these reforms are coming with or without the rttp funds. Christie's education reforms WILL result in higher education costs, thereby resulting in higher taxes. Don't believe me? Let's imagine....

If this governor gets his way on all the tenure/salary/pension reforms, I predict a massive teacher shortage within the next five to ten years, one that will begin and grow twice as quickly (if not even faster) in poor urban areas. Once you begin tying teacher pay to student performance, the turnover will be massive in the urban districts, where students historically do not perform as well on standardized tests. How can anyone not see this coming? Particularly if we start firing "poor performing" teachers when their students don't do well on these tests-how many teachers will we fire in, say, Camden or Newark on a yearly basis? And how many applicants will be lining up for those jobs? A shortage of applicants will result in the state either lowering the standards for teaching applicants, accepting foreign teachers or those without degrees (who thinks that is a great plan?), or in providing more money to entice teachers to want to teach there. And just imagine the money that will be needed to pay the lawyers for all the many lawsuits that Jazzman rightuflly points out are likely to result from the error laden teacher evaluations that are coming. 

And let's not forget that teacher raises are going to be capped at 2%, even after the private sector recovers. Hmmm...what else? Eliminating tenure will result in salary shopping, take a look a what happened when they eliminated tenure for superintendents. Lower pensions and teachers paying more toward their health care costs (which means even lower take home pay for teachers)...no one can foresee that this is hardly going to be a career that young people will consider if they want to, I don't know, pay their bills? What happens when there is a shortage of teachers? See my example above. 

Think it through people....this will cost you as the state and municipalities struggle to put bodies in the classroom. Teachers are not robots that will work for free, no matter how much they love your children and if you think they are, you are fooling yourselves.

I think this is exactly right. We are seeing a wholesale destruction of the teaching corps, and it will take years to build it back. Of course, by then, Christie will be Secretary of Education in the Palin/Rubio administration...