Economist, Feb 14, 2015 (I): Teaching as a Profession

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(1) Letters to the editor.
www.economist.com/news/letters/21643041-letters-editor
(letter 1: Simon Barrow, The Inheritance of Privilege)

Quote:

"There are private schools on America’s east coast that cater to the elite, such as * * * Andover * * * but they leave a pin prick [ie, almost nothing] on American life. None is associated with power in the way that Eton is in Britain. American commentators do not see the need to run stories similar to those in the British media about how many businessmen, judges, army officers, lawyers, journalists and actors come from the 7% who are privately educated.

"Rich Americans send their children to state schools in a way rich Britons do not. Granted, localised funding [through property tax] in America provides wealthy areas with schools that achieve better academically, but these schools are still part of the state system and its culture.


(2)
(a) Teacher recruitment | Those Who Can; How to turn teaching into a job that attracts high-flyers.
www.economist.com/news/leaders/2 ... lyers-those-who-can
("Teach for America, which sends star graduates from elite universities for two-year stints in rough schools, is being copied around the globe (see article [at page 53])")

Note: "Standing in the way, almost everywhere, are the unions. Their willingness to back shirkers over strivers should not be underestimated: in Washington, DC, when the schools boss (a Teach for America alumna) offered teachers much higher pay in return for less job security, their union balked."

Michelle Rhee
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Rhee
(1969- ; signed up with Teach For America, went through their five-week summer training program, then worked for three years as a teacher in Baltimore ['September 1992 – June 1995,' according to her Facebook page])
(b) That article is as follows.

Teacher recruitment | High-Flyers in the Classroom; Programmes that place bright and ambitious graduates in poor schools are spreading around the world--and show what it takes to make a difference.