Education breakdown

Nothing speaks to my topic more than the Pink Floyd's well known song - We Don't Need No Education http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwTpZpw

Do I truly feel that children don't need education or self control? Of course I don't. However, I do feel that our educational system has lost control of itself and it needs to seriously be reigned in. The main problem as I see it is that education has become a political issue on both sides of the educational aisle and no longer about the children despite what both sides claim.
In October, 1996 I became a substitute teacher because I struggled holding other jobs and saw it as a way to make some okay money. To me it was going to be no more than a means to a financial end. However, shortly I saw that I was able to make a difference in the classroom whether it was simple things as showing a child how to write his 3's the correct way or just bandaging a wound. This led me to enrolling in a teaching credential program with the goal of beginning a career in education.
Over the next few years I obtained my credential and in September, 1998 I began teaching at Compton Unified. The fact that I was hired at a job fair on the same day I turned in my application should have been a sign, but I was just happy to have a teaching job.
I soon found out that teaching was not just about setting up a classroom and making sure the students were learning. I struggled with my classroom management partly due to my inexperience and also due to the fact I was given a class of students who had almost all been together the year before and were known to have serious behavior issues. Why would a principal give a new teacher such a challenging class? There are a variety of reasons, but most are political including the rewarding of experienced teachers with the better classes.
It sounds like I am completely against the administration doesn't it?? Actually, no! My anger with the educational system is directed at both those that work in the classroom and those at district offices. I remember being in the office with a Long Beach Unified principal and that school's science coordinator while they discussed a new grant they received. They were unsure if there was a need for the money, but that didn't stop them from agreeing to find a place to spend it. Why give that money back? It's not like the money is theirs.
How about making sure that students and their families are here legally? If we did that then that would mean that there would be less students in the state. If there are less students then there are less teachers needed. If we have less teachers then we have less money being paid into the union coffers and then the unions have less power. There isn't any chance that unions would work against laws that help education just to keep themselves in power now would there? Administrators would never follow the Peter Principle by getting to the highest level of their incompetence and then maintaining their job at all cost would they?
After teaching full time for 7 years I decided to leave education to try and work in a career that was about making money, but was truthful about it. This was in the area of real estate, but I have found that not to be my ideal position, but going back to education seems hard for me. I know that on either end I feel that education is not made up for what is best for the kids, but what is best for those that may or may not be their parents.