President Obama delivered a speech yesterday to the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce that was soley based on education. The speech marks his first on education since becoming president.

Obama challenges teacher unions, demanding merit pay for excellent teachers and not making excuses for " bad" ones. Sounds reasonable and fair right? Eh, not so much. One thing that most Americans don't realize about public education is that these laws put 100% of the burden of increasing test scores, solely, on teachers. Students, who only spend 8% of their year in school. Yet, the 92% of other elements that affect or prohibit a student's progress in not taken into account. Furthermore, if students aren't performing, the teacher and the school gets blamed. What's worse is that it goes beyond blame, schools that have been tagged for not meeting their state expectations ( and I use that word loosely and it changes every minute) lose funding.

The system is punitive and not proactive. Schools that need the most funding, lose it because of certain elements that they can't control. I am specifically speaking to a student's home situation. I currently teach middle school students in a special education program specifically for students with emotional and behavioral difficulties. Besides my students, do you know how many students never do an ounce of homework, don't study for tests, are disengaged in the curriculum and whose parents are in no way involved in their education? Far too many.

I am aware that I cannot control those outside elements, and, in turn, work to the best of my ability to foster educational growth in all of my students no matter what their circumstances are. The problem is, no matter how hard I'm working to bring the best out in my students, their test score is the only measurement of my worth as a teacher.

And, speaking of tests, they're ridiculous. Obama praised my own state of Massachusetts for our high-performing science scores. Too bad he doesn't realize that school systems are spending most of their money, time and energy to teach the students to suceed on the test, and the test alone. In addition, special education students are forced to take their grade level tests even if their documents instructional level is years, and years under their current grade level. Is it surprising then that these students don't perform well? No, but we lose funding because of it anyway.

I think all politicians are lacking the insight that a fruitful education can be acquired in your public school but without the home life to support it, it will never grow and develop. No one wants to admit that one of our biggest problems in education is the lack proper modeling in the home. This is an issue across all socioeconmic classes as well. I continue to find it ironic that in an age were schools are being deprived of their funding because they did not meet the expectations that the state holds them accountable for, more and more parents are taking away any sense of accountability in their own children. Who's holding them accountable?

Now, I do believe that tax payers have the right to demand high quality teachers. I also agree that there needs to be a way to measure their effectiveness. Yet, the current measures aren't really working out too well. Also, teachers are required to continuously increase their professional development, on their own time and dime. What other industry requires that of its workers for the duration of their employment? If you want better teacher training, make it free, offered during school hours, and mandatory.

Obama, I had high hopes for your ideas about education. Too bad they're pretty much just more of the same.

Needless to say, I'm very disappointed.