Not so teachable.

• Author: Bernal, Wayne
• Position: LETTERS - Letter to the editor

A Teachable Moment" [Charles Peters, "Tilting at Wind, mills," January/February 2009] once again blows the same tired old smoke that all we need to do is hire and reward teachers based upon subject knowledge and teaching ability. Trying to get highly qualified, intelligent teachers to ply their trade in schools with high student populations consisting of unruly, uninterested, undisciplined individuals, and expecting to retain them, is a delusion. Peters points out that Teach for America has had great success in bringing bright young teachers into the public schools--well, guess what? These bright young teachers don't stay long. They get burned out and leave.

Recruiting and rewarding good teachers monetarily isn't a silver bullet. Teachers...