Why NJ public schools are a mess (Opinion)

That's not my opinion. That is what veteran and even some young, not yet dejected, beaten down and somewhat idealistic teachers are saying.

The reasons for why it is a total mess lie mostly with the state of New Jersey, some with spineless clueless administrators and some with parents and their precious offspring.

The state is far too involved and has complicated the process to inhibit real teaching and actual learning. Teachers are frustrated and hamstrung by cookie-cutter rules and regulations that are more concerned about social issues and procedures than being able to impart too much really useful knowledge.

If you know a teacher, buy them dinner, mow their lawn, give them hugs, open doors for them, or buy them theater tickets. The point is that their job has become so much more difficult in the last decade and a half. For many, it doesn't resemble the job they took on their first year of teaching, at all.

They have to deal with the state, parents that aren't always reasonable or even aware, and worst of all ... administration. School administrations are loaded with people who spent far too much time in the "education" industrial complex and very little time in the real world.

Their minds and their thought processes are ossified and stuck in the quagmire of modern social constructs, new age ideas, and a tunnel vision that dismisses any traditional ideas or ones that come from outside their highly "educated" circle of other education "experts."

Here is why you should be as nice as possible to any teacher who teaches in a public school in New Jersey at any level and for any field of study. If I had to watch half of the drivel on this list of REQUIRED viewing for teachers, I would be on suicide watch or on the floor of the nearest dive bar.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Dennis Malloy only.

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