Which, if you read my original post, is exactly why I would like the opportunity to teach at a school that is more conservative minded. I get out voted on just about EVERY issue in the public school I teach at. Conservative teachers have NO voice in the system, from the curriculum to the discipline policy. School choice would allow those different voices to be heard. You can be assured that my views on most issues are not welcome in the front office, the district office or the union office - wherever education policy is set. That is what I mean by retaliation. Not even giving our voices a chance to be heard. I hope you do give equal time to alternatives unlike my daughter's government teacher who only belittled her ideas!

Birth control is not the same as abortion. I support the use of birth control. I do not support killing innocent babies when the birth control doesn't work. I also support legal immigration but I do not support people who cross our borders illeagally and break our laws. I do support legalization of drugs but I also support harsh penalties for people who drive impaired. Marriage should be left up to individual churches, not the government, The government should issue domestic partnerships for any couple. Freedom requires RESPONSIBILITY. Statists want niether!

One more thing Michael. I hope you also never speak politically in class. The liberal bias is so entrenched in our school system that I bet you let your liberal bias come through and you don't even realize it!!!!! I make a conscious effort to never discuss politics in class and I always tell my students we should have respect for our president (even though I oppsose the man in the office right now.) Do you similary encourage respect for the issues you disagree with? How open are you to your conservative students' views?

Well, I just have to say more... Maybe the reason you don't see many conservatives in teaching is because so many of us are afraid to speak up. I know another time I spoke up when we were discussing the "Say No To Drugs" campaign and I advocated that kindergartners were too young to be discussing this issue (the middle class Ks I teach don't know anything about drugs and I am NOT going to be the first one to tell them about drugs! And WHY should third graders be talking about marijuana? But, that is another issue) after the staff meeting another teacher approached me and thanked me for speaking up. We became closer friends and I found out she was another closet Republican. We are out there, but don't dare speak out too much!

Seriously?? You really don't think there is not retaliation against conservative teachers? Ha! I don't know where you teach but since you are admittedly liberal you obviously don't notice the bias. Like the time we were discussing how the budget cuts were going to effect our class sizes and the union establishment was advocating we do away with personal comments on report cards to make less work for us. I spoke up that if the comment section was taken out of the reprt card I intended to staple comments to the report because it was important for parents to hear specifics about their children. Boy, was I reprimanded for that! Heaven forbid I should actually go above and beyond to help my students! I could give more but out of space!

One issue often overlooked in the voucher discussion is how more school choice will also empower conservative teachers to have more of a voice. There are actually a lot of us out there but we have to keep our mouths shut around campus for fear of retaliation from our liberal colleagues. I have been teaching for 25 years and I love reaching young minds and inspiring them to learn. But, I HATE my profession and am looking to leave after next year. I would love nothing more than to find a private school that reflects my values but those jobs are few and far between. Vouchers would open up more opportunities and I wouldn't be looking to leave!

Exactly, The only reason Private Schools do so well is because every one of those parents cares enough about their children to pay the money to send them there. If parents in the public schools cared the same way, those schools would be better off as well. I am lucky enough to teach in a wealthy suburb and we have great parents who, for the most part, work with their kids and hold them accountable. We always score in the top 10% of the state, not because we have such wonderful teachers or better curriculum, but because we have parents who care!

I have a student in my second grade class in a wealthy San Diego suburb. Her father told me the story of how he was growing up in inner-city Baltimore in the 80s when his single mom worked her butt off to earn enought money to move out of the ghetto and into a decent neighborhood. He was able to get a better education, joined the military, had a good career and now works in the private sector making more money than his entire family combined back in Balitimore. He once told me "my friends back in Balitmore never believe me when I tell him how nice all you white people really are!"

You are absolutely right. Grade K-2 focus on Learning to Read while grade 3 and beyond Read to Learn. There is a huge cognitive leap at about 7 years old (earlier for some) where the child goes from a concrete view of the world to more abstract thinking. Young children would not learn well in a distance learning type of format. Their attention skills are too immature. Even watching engaging TV younger children usually get easily distracted. That's why cartoons have story lines that only last 8-10 minutes!! That is also why I use so much movement and music in my kindergarten classroom, to keep the children engaged. That is also why the current trend towards worksheets and seat work at the kindergarten level is failing so miserably!!

*are plenty of true problems, not is. It's early in the morning where I am...

I'm a conservative public school teacher and I agree that the public schools are a mess. I live in the trenches trying to change the system from within every day. But, I also feel responsible to point out misconceptions about the public school as well. We absolutely do NOT teach sex education, in any form whatsoever, in kindergarten. Making outrageous claims about topics like that only hurt the conservative movement. There is plenty of true problems in the public school system without making sensationalist claims like we are teaching about anal sex in kindergarten!