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Few would deny that the education system in the United States is ripe for a major overhaul. After all, this country has slipped from the top spot for education down to around the tenth – at about the same place as Lithuania. Another concern is that disparities between poor and wealthy students are consistently growing, as the "haves" seem to get more educational opportunities to excel and the "have-nots" get less.

While many theories have been contemplated about how to raise the bar on the standard of education in this country, one factor appears to be untouched – the quality of the teachers in public schools today. Why the lack of accountability for these professionals entrusted with the future of our country? Tenure seems to be the primary answer. Teachers that achieve tenure are difficult to fire, no matter what offenses they may practice in the classroom.

As we describe the process to fire an inept teacher in many school districts across the country, it becomes easy to see why principals would often rather put up with incompetent teachers than go through the red tape and headache to replace them.

Teachers Dismissed for Poor Performance

According to a recent article in , few inept teachers are ever dismissed from their positions. In 2008, New York fired three out of 30,000 tenured teachers for just cause. In Chicago, the number of teachers dismissed for poor performance between 2005 and 2008 was

Social promotion, the act of promoting children to the next grade even when their test scores don't support such a move, is a regular practice in many schools today. Educators that support social promotion point to data that suggests that students who are retained, or held back a grade, are more likely to develop behavioral problems and drop out of school before graduation. But is social promotion a viable alternative? There are many experts on both sides of the issue, making it difficult to ascertain the best way to handle students who are falling behind – or falling through the cracks.

Why Social Promotion?

Social promotion allows students to advance to the next school grade, even when their test scores and overall academic achievement don't prove a student's preparedness for the next academic year. According to a recent report in , social promotion was adopted as the way to deal with struggling students because many education experts believed social promotion favored the child's social and psychological well-being. They argued that holding students back from repeating a grade had a negative impact on their educational experience without providing many benefits.

How Social Promotion Can Hurt Students

On the other side of the coin, research also suggests that social promotion does little to advance a child's academic career. Opponents of the practice claim that social promotion merely hides the failures of

School hasn't been in regular session in Madison this month. Teachers are calling in "sick" in force, leaving some schools no choice but to close their doors for a day. Why the exodus from Wisconsin public schools? Teachers are angry – about proposed cuts to their benefits and, more importantly, proposed reductions to their union rights. This article will explore the explosive situation in Wisconsin and what may be done to ease tensions in the public schools across the state.

Budgets and Benefits and Bargaining, Oh My!

The problems in public schools around Wisconsin have been brewing for some time. Like many others around the country, this state is facing a huge budget shortfall and has been faced with the difficult job of slashing the current budget in hopes of staying afloat financially. While plenty of line items have been the object of discussion during this process, the one that has garnered the most attention in recent weeks has been the reduction of teacher benefits. According to a recent report in the New York Times, Scott Walker, the Republican governor of Wisconsin since the beginning of the year, has proposed cuts to teacher benefits and collective bargaining rights.

Governor Walker has stated that he has no choice since Wisconsin is facing a state budget deficit of $137 million this year alone. At the current rate, Walker predicts that the hole could grow to $3.6 billion in just two years. To alleviate the crunch, Walker is looking

Michelle Rhee has a conflicting legacy that she is leaving to the Washington D.C. public school system. On the one hand, Rhee has been touted for her efforts to revive a failing school system in the documentary film, "Waiting for Superman." On the other, Rhee has been portrayed as an abrasive personality that has set out to transform education without much research or anecdotal evidence to back up her efforts. Since Rhee has no plans to leave education (she is now launching a non-profit organization to transform education across the country) and her ideas appear to be on par with other innovative educators rising to the forefront, it is worth looking at her legacy more closely to see how it could change the face of education in the future.

In this video, FRONTLINE examines the legacy of Michelle Rhee, former Chancellor of Washington, D.C. public schools.

Rhee's Teaching History

Rhee came to Washington D.C. in 2007 to serve as chancellor under Mayor Adrian Fenty. Prior to this post, Rhee had spent time teaching at a school in the Baltimore City Public School District, Harlem Park. According to a report at the , Rhee was in a team-teaching assignment at the school. During her tenure at Harlem Park, Rhee cited test results of her students that demonstrated her superb teaching ability. However, questions have been raised about these

The debate over prayer in public schools has been raging for many years now, both in political arenas and courthouses across the country. The latest battle has been waged in Virginia, where two delegates in the state house introduced a bill to allow prayer on public property, including public schools. This bill has received plenty of attention across the state of Virginia and across the country, as other states have watched to see exactly how Virginia would handle such a controversial piece of legislation.

The Prayer on Campus Bill: HJ 593

The bill, HJ 593, would add the following to the Virginia constitution, according to a report on the Gazette Virginian:

"Amends current free exercise of religion provisions of the Virginia Constitution to permit prayer and the recognition of religious beliefs, heritage and traditions on public property, including public schools in order to secure further the people's right to acknowledge God. The amendment also prohibits (i) the composing of school prayers by the Commonwealth and its political subdivisions, and (ii) requiring persons to join in prayer or other religious activity. The current free exercise of religion provisions of the Virginia Constitution mirror those in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and provide for the free exercise of religion and prohibit compelling persons to participate in religious activity."

The bill was introduced by co-patrons Del. James E. Edmunds II and Del. Charles W. Carrico. Carrico has clearly stated that he intends for this amendment to allow for