Because I talk and write about teacher quality, sometimes people that I think TPS, OSPI and the Washington State Legislature should get a free pass, are doing a great job, or that I am teacher-blaming (that one fires me up the most). I have much to quibble with “the proverbial system”: testing, funding McCleary, our COLAs, ad infinitum. However, I focus on teacher quality because it's something I think "we" (me and the mouse in my pocket) can actually impact. In fact, in my opinion it’s very doable:

• we can screen, train and hire better candidates;

• we can conduct better PD and mentoring for teachers (especially early career ones) and 

• we can better identify & retain our most effective teachers, even within the confines of our silly, (profoundly) messed up system.