Accountability

More than a week ago I said to a very dear friend of mine who is a school teacher that, “Accountability is as American as apple pie.” My friend is still not talking to me. Apparently school teachers have a different definition or view of the concept of accountability than I do. If a plumber or car mechanic is incompetent and consistently doesn’t get the desired results they are sacked. The same with an insurance salesman or an accountant, or a nurse. I am having a hard time thinking of many professions where accountability does not operate.

I guess maybe in tenured professors at universities. After a number of years they get tenure, and then pretty much it becomes really hard to sack them.  This is done to promote academic freedom from political influence.   But with "due cause" even tenured professors can be let go.

Another job description where accountability doesn’t always apply is with civil servants, i.e., government employees. Anyone with any experience in life has dealt with government workers who are rude, lazy, and incompetent. But for some reason they still manage to keep their jobs, and their pension still pays off even if the economy tanks.

Of course teachers have always been held accountable. Most of those teachers who regularly have sex with their students are eventually held accountable, and they are sacked. The same applies if they regularly inflict major physical injuries on their students while enforcing discipline.

Almost all teachers really do want their students to learn. Some small fraction of teachers either do not care or simply do not have the skills to adequately teach their students. Accountability is all about rewarding those teachers who are better at teaching, and on the down side sacking those who are grossly incompetent.

I think maybe part of the problem is who decides what the rules are in deciding whether a teacher gets a bonus or loses their job. Is this done on a fair and open basis or are personal or political biases and prejudices allowed to interfere with the decision? And then there is always the possibility of bribes or other corruption in the decision making process.

Certainly the system of accountability that has been used to compensate CEOs and Wall Street bankers has not worked out. In fact the results have been quite the opposite.
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