No offense to teachers, but it often seems as if many are not qualified for the modern demands of public school. On top of that, they're not well supported for these new challenging demands. Metaphorically, it's like teachers train as marathon runners. Modern teachers are showing up to the race they've trained for and horrified to discover it's been modified to a triathlon instead.
When I was a student, I seemed to recall teachers focused on customized learning for a portion of the students in their classes, and the requirements for most students was relatively ubiquitous. Now, it seems like it's expected that teachers are required to provide customized learning for every student and there are significantly more varied requirements than several decades ago.
I have no clue what the solution is. I'm just saying and agreeing with many others that things are on a path that aren't likely to succeed without significant overhaul. Personally, I've always viewed school as being for socializing and a baseline education. If custom education/top up is required, that's my responsibility as a parent, not the teachers. It's great if the teachers offer it though, but it shouldn't be expected IMO. If I and the teachers are not adequate enough, then it is my responsibility to hire a specialist (ie: Kumon, a tutor or otherwise). That's how I understood school growing up. But I know many parents disagree with this premise.
IMO it's not the teachers fault. But I as a parent certainly can help to alleviate the issues that many teachers face.
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