A friend of the family, an ex-engineer, in retirement decided to teach to give back to the community. She was teaching the remedial students at the local high-school. Her students did better on the standard tests than regular students, her first year.
She was called in, and told to stop making the other teachers look bad or be fired. She quit.
This same high-school gave the teacher of the year award to which ever teacher had the most complaints against them...
Unfortunately, when I have told this story to other teachers in different districts, they have not been surprised.
My quick Rosetta Stone for inexplicable school behavior: assume the goal of schools is to employ people and that educating students is an industrial biproduct.
One of the bi-products of unionized teachers. It also makes it impossible for parents to go to another school (the school is funded through taxes no matter, even if they do decide to send their kids to a private school). Crappy teachers also get to stay and are defended by the unions.
People wonder why the schools are so terrible in the US, but refuse to think that it could have anything to do with the stranglehold the unions have on our education system.
A lot of best case solutions to problems like these are known but are blocked by those with interest. It reminds me of the telecoms, and how badly they mucked up the '96 telecom act. The solution was obvious to those who understood the industry and how it was built, run it as a utility.
Once in university ethics class I commented that an ethics structure is broken if you won't give up an advantage in order to follow the ethics system. The class was totally silent, even the prof. A lot of problems are caused by not yielding to what, even by the parties involved, consider right.
She was called in, and told to stop making the other teachers look bad or be fired. She quit.
This same high-school gave the teacher of the year award to which ever teacher had the most complaints against them...
Unfortunately, when I have told this story to other teachers in different districts, they have not been surprised.
This is so broken.