From a reader:

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Your description of education and liberalism is spot on. My daughter is a teacher in the very liberal Memphis City Schools. They get every bit of money that is offered. They got the Bill Gates money, the Race to the Top money and more. All it means in real life is lots of “initiatives” that mean nothing to the actual “teaching” of the student and everything to the administrators that spend the money making their job relevant. These kids come to school not even knowing their last name. They cannot be prodded by rewards because, as they tell their teacher every day, “I don’t care”. They don’t care because they see that you can get taken care of for life by the government. They see it in their mother’s (no fathers), their friends and their neighborhood. Why should they try??? They are going get the goodies anyway.
Anyway, a very frustrating environment to teach in. Money cannot solve the problem. The problem is the culture that is liberalism. We see no way out, so she will probably quit the profession. A shame, really. In an atmosphere like this, the good teachers will get frustrated because they don’t have time to actually teach. The bad ones don’t give a damn.