Parents want to tell teachers how to teach. Kids have no respect for teachers. Teachers are not paid nearly enough.
Of course its going in the wrong direction.
Of course its going in the wrong direction.
Sure the school system should have a say in the decision as well. But a full top-down approach of a mandated curriculum is a setup for disengaged students and demoralized teachers.
Even theoretically, what would paying them more accomplish? Would they be displaced by experts in the field who decide to retire? Would they work harder because they're over double the median per capita income in the US? Are we going to pay them the same amount but just hire more teachers?
[1]https://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/Info... [2]https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1005657.pdf
I'll name one obvious one: Homeschool parents are, at minimum, present in their child's education. Compare their numbers to public school parents who are also present in theirs.
Here's another obvious one: Most parents who are wildly deluded about those subjects don't homeschool, they just complain (and regionally, vote in representatives who will apply those delusions to the curriculum).
Good teachers DO try to morph their style and presentation to suit the students' needs, but there's only so much they can do given their resources and other required tasks assigned by administrators. The kids still need to pass the state mandated tests on the state mandated topics in order for the teacher to get a good performance review from the administration.