Their job is to do what their bosses tell them to do, just like what anyone else's job is.

Why do you think kids get passed when they don't know anything?

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If the kids don’t know shite, there’s a problem.

Oh, there's a problem all right. I've gone into great detail about what the problem is. It isn't teachers.

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And all of it isn’t on the parents or even most of it.

Like I told the other guy, it is and it isn't. The system is doomed to fail, so essentially, yes, it's a systemic issue.

But the system is doomed to fail in the largest part specifically because it guarantees parents who (apparently) think like you do. "Here's my kid, make sure he knows something. That's what you get paid to do."

"Sir, your child bubbles in the circles on his scantron sheets to make lewd pictures, farts loudly in class 3-4 times a class period, and in four years has never done one homework assignment."

"Not my problem, that's what you get paid for. Hope you get his graduation robe sized correctly, I want those pictures looking good for his Aunt Bebe who can't come to graduation."

"Sir, Jandquadofavious won't be graduating. He has a .04 GPA."

"Well you better fix that. He supposed to be graduating. Y'all were supposed to make sure he was learning, not me. I got a job."

"When we tried to talk to him about it he told us you said he should tell us to !#$@ ourselves, that he not acting white for no one."

"Well, sure I did. That boy don't need to know where Afghanistan is or read about 'effing white people like Shakespeare. Again, teaching that boy is y'all's problem. Look, I'd hate to have to call my lawyer about this."

Exactly what are teachers supposed to do about stuff like that? The government mandates that they pass kids. People constantly threaten to sue the schools.

If you don't think exactly that type of stuff happens constantly, you should talk to some actual teachers.

Now again, I don't think any of that is fixable—it's a natural consequence of the system—and I don't really feel sorry for teachers who chose to go into it because it's pretty common knowledge at this point.

But depending upon the demographics and culture of the school district you find yourself in, you can be a fantastic teacher and your students can still end up knowing next to nothing.

Teachers cannot put a boot up students asses and make them learn. Not anymore. Parents can, but if they won't, then its pretty much game over.