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Teachers are sometimes their own worst enemies.

This is a bit of an incoherent mess. The matter of parents' rights is separate from teacher/coaches pay and teacher certification. All are valid, but distinct, concerns.

Just to be clear, no one was suggesting to base teachers pay on a poll of students. To think that would be "Simple-minded" as you previously suggested. It was simply an observation on the fact that they have that ability to discern, yet the administrator responsible and being compensated for their performance can't or won't. Seems like an oxymoron to me as does the fact most school districts somehow manage to figure out among the thousands of teachers and dozens of separate schools who the "Teacher of the Year" is. The criteria used in this selection process could be used to rate teachers on a three-tier system of above average, average and below average with corresponding compensation. One can come up with all kinds of reasons why it won't work, but it really boils down to the union and teachers themselves. With regards to the coaches pay, I recently read another article in the Orlando Sentinel written by sportswriter Chris Hays that this proposal isn't being considered in this years legislative agenda but not until next year. He does accurately point out that one of the biggest obstacles to overcome is the teachers themselves not wanting to have said coaches compensated properly for the extra work. He states that they would revolt. Sad when you think about it as for years I sit in the stands to many athletic events for OHS and rarely see teachers there to support one of their students or even their school at these activities. Seems like at too many schools whatever we are doing today certainly isn't working.