I never said that educators are never to blame. In some cases they are. But from post here and other places that is the trend well the kid failed because he had a poor teacher. No one ever wants to talk about anything else but that. It may "take a village" but how much time do you spend working with children. If you are going to make the statement you should be prepared to back it up with action on your part. Perhaps you do, I dont know. You say that there are those who teach 30 years and never change their approach, perhaps that is true for a few, but the majority no matter how long they teach may have a basic approach that works for most of their students. They do change when they see it isnt working for some. You only assume they dont because you have not been there to observe. You only know what you hear. Yes people are entitled to their opinion, but I am compelled to speak up in defense of my profession when the general assumptions is that we are just a bunch of whiners in it for the money. Have I criticized a cop? Sure, but only for one individuals behavior, I didnt lump them all together under the same umbrella. Was I entitled to my opinion sure but only as it related to my experience. Also if you read some of the posts a little more closely you might find that some have expressed the same opinion of all teachers. Basing a teachers pay scale on the succcess or failure of a student is just wrong. There are too many factors that influence how well or poorly a student does. Also not once did I say that no one here was right. All I said is that to make the general assumptions some have made about all education professionals is wrong.