The good teachers in America are just as unhappy about the lazy, unmotivated teachers as you and I are.
That comes through very clear in Caroline Lewis' new book, "Just Back Off and Let Us Teach.
" Lewis, a teacher and administrator, has taken all the lessons learned from her career and from other teachers and condensed them into her first book.
What results is a primer for educational reform and well-thought out suggestions for those who want to champion improving education in America.
Lewis believes that the ineffective teachers in our schools know who they are and would really like to be freed from their plight.
An effective response to is to identify teaches who should pursue other jobs, offer them career counselling and help them find a job that is better suited for them.
A key position Lewis takes is that we need to recruit more and retain effective teachers and weed out bad teachers.
As a model of success the author points to Finland that values teachers and pays them top salaries, attracting the brightest and the best to the profession.
She suggests a good step for the nation to take is to stop wasting money on federal education reform projects and reinvest those funds in teachers' salaries.
And real reform in education cannot be realized until the nation makes advances in the war on poverty.
Children raised in poverty must be given a chance to succeed in our schools, she stresses.
I was intrigued by this book and feel confident the approach suggested by Lewis can work, if we have the courage and inspiration to give it an honest try.
All teachers and citizens who believe in education will want to read "Just Back Off and Let Us Teach.
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