What if you spoke privately with the current teacher and also the principal? In many schools (I teach as do many of my friends) there are specific procedures for assigning classes. We receive a form asking us to describe our own child and specific info we want them to consider when placing our children. I have done both, filled out the form and also spoken to the principal about my concerns. Be positive and keep the focus on your child, not on the teacher you don't want.

What I said- "My child has a speech difficulty and I would prefer teacher x due to her more formal speech patterns. While my child would have fun and learn much with teacher z, I feel her casual, slang speech may not be as helpful in modeling.

I don't believe there is anything wrong with requesting, but I think it's entirely fair of the school to say they can't accommodate that request. In schools below the college level classes are always more rigidly defined (someone can opt out of your class altogether, but no one can opt out of sixth grade or a junior high math class), and administrators have to work within that. Classes have to be carefully balanced, and all kids have to receive fair treatment, not just those with parents who actively lobby for certain teachers (consider how you feel about the parents who have "an understanding" with the principal, which I also think is unfair). In high school most kids are very limited, since often only one teacher will teach a subject, or will teach it at the desired level. I suffered through bad teachers in between my good ones, and I am doing just fine. It will give you a chance to teach your kids to motivate themselves and work independently, if the teacher is incompetent, or to work with people of different personality types, if they are simply incompatible. Unless it becomes a real problem (bullying or unfairness from the teacher, etc.), try to use this as a beneficial learning experience.

You should have the right to request your child be with a specific teacher or not with a specific teacher but the school also may have a rule that they are not allowed to take parents requests. Check with your childs current teacher and see if they are able to request a specific teacher for your child for the next school year. You also have the option to request that your child be moved to another teacher if you have problems with your childs current teacher. Check with your school administration as the procedures they have in place to this situation.

If you want to request anything in life you can! It is just a request. My younger daughter would like the same teacher her sister had. I know her, love her, and would love for my second daughter to have the same experience. Why not? If you can not grant all requests take them as a first come!

I totally agree with you. I have a co-worker who does nothing, and I mean nothing but stay on his cell phone, and give the students reports to do without checking them. Every class he has had has been destroyed by students, and believe it or not, parents have allowed this to happen. By the time they get to me, I must start from the bottom, because they have learned absolutely nothing. Had he been my child's teacher, I definitely would have removed him/her.

I can see that it would be difficult for schools to allow teacher requests, but I agree that parents should have some say. My oldest daughter had an incompetent kindergarten teacher, and we paid for it for a couple years. I thought kindergarten was not a big deal, but my daughter basically learned nothing in kindergarten. That put her behind in first grade and it took her a long time to catch up. We ended up paying a tutor to help. One of my other kids also had a problem with a teacher, but we fortunately got her changed to a different classroom because she was so miserable. If kids don't learn the building blocks in one grade, that puts them at a big disadvantage as they move forward. I think parents at least should have the chance to change classes if they have evidence that things are not working for their child(ren), though it would be better to prevent the problem in the first place.

THANK YOU FOR THIS REPLY. I consider myself a very good teacher who keeps her students involved with a lot of activities, and the parents still want "to move their children". I was not trying to be smart nor arrogant and I am hoping no one was offended, but teachers endure a lot, especially from parents. Also, it is the parents job to re-enforce what the teacher is teaching at home. Just recently I had a parent to come to my class to see what his child could do to "pass". The students average was a "21". Progress reports were sent home, telephone calls were made. The mother stated her child simply told her about his grades. The dad stated " my schedule does not afford me the time to come". But, he was there when he saw his child was going to fail. I agree that a child should be moved if the teacher is not teaching, and the parents feels the child is not adequately learning at a level they should. Then again, if the child is not at a certain level, have the child tested.

What if a teacher is demeaning to kids, not necessarily your kid but kids in general... looks down upon them as lesser human beings? What if the principal doesn't acknowledge this truth?
I also heard there is a Texas Law that allows parents to be involved in teacher placement-- if anyone has heard of this, please post. Thanks.

Schools aren't able to accomodate everyone's requests for or against certain teachers, so as a rule, they generally have a policy against parent requests for teachers to try to be fair to everyone. I agree with the post that schools really do try to balance classes, although we all know that it doesn't always work out that way. That said, I think that you need to realize that your child's educational experience includes more than just ABC's and 123's. They're also learning social subtleties and realizing that there are lots of different kinds of people and that people may do things very differently than you or they do. This is part of life. Most times, we don't get to choose our co-workers and we have to learn to work with them or quit. Just like you can keep quitting jobs if you really don't like your co-workers, you can keep changing schools or sports teams if you don't like your child's teachers or coaches, but I personally would rather use the opportunity to talk with my children about our differences and that we have to learn to work with what we've got, even if we don't agree with it. And, I would recognize that my children could potentially benefit from a differnt teaching style. Truthfully, I've seen boys with really relaxed, creative parents who are great at home, but have difficulty sitting still when necessary in the classroom. I've seen these kids whose behaviors overshadowed their academic abilities really flourish when placed in a classroom with a teacher whose more of an authoritarian. It doesn't diminish their parents' values or styles, it's just real life exposure to something different, in a different setting. And, the skills they'll learn in that class will probably help them some point in their future career. Of course, if your child isn't learning what they should be or is seriously suffering because of a poor relationship with the teacher, that's another story and you should discuss the situation with the principal and request a change for those reasons.

If you feel strongly about your child not having a certain teacher that is probably easier to accommodate than actually choosing a teacher to have. However, when you look at the big picture schools actually separate students very carefully by dividing abilities in academics, behavior, special needs, etc. so that there is not one class made up of all "high" students or one class made up of all students with "special" needs (medical, behavioral, academic). So, when you choose your child's teacher think about the delicate balance that school's do try to create before requesting changes.

Foxybrown, I rate AWESOME as a parent! I am anything but stale and discilpined. And parents want their children to be taught by someone with the same parenting style (since they are in essence acting as parents for 7 hrs a day). Being a parent is not a JOB, like a nurse or a doctor. My husband and I juggled our school/work schedules since our babies were born so that we were raising our children and nobody else, so it is important to us to select what kind of person is honored to grace the presence of our beautiful daughters 7 hours a day. Any teacher who gets my daughters in their classrooms is lucky, and they should be aware of that. I want a teacher who treats children as individuals, not as a mass of sheep, and who nurtures each individual child. Teachers are integral parts to the process of shaping a child, and parents should have the right to intervene if they think that a teacher is not right for that job with our kids, because they are our kids, and the early years are so important.

Absolutely! You as a parent and as a tax payer have every right to ask that your child does not get a specific teacher. I can understand it is not always possible for schools to put your child in certain teacher's class, but to not put your child in certain teacher's class because you do not want your child in that teacher's class is not at all a unreasonable request. To me, I do not see why any school would not consider such a request and make sure your child is not placed in that teacher's class.
If your child's school refuses to do so I would go to the person higher than the principal. There is no reason why such a request should be denied.
As one of the other mom wrote, she is a working mom who is not always there to know what teachers would be not such a good fit for her child. I understand and again, she seems okay with the school choosing teachers for her child. You are okay with the school's choice too. All you are asking is a certain teacher be not given to your child. To me, there is no reason why other mom's should complain about this. They are free to research things about teachers if they wish. It is everyone's freedom to do so. This is how you like schooling for your child and her way of schooling her child is her way. Different ideas from 2 different parents. No two parents are alike and no 2 parents are always wrong either.

As a parent of children and a grandparent of grandchildren in public schools, I do not think that parents should have the option of choosing their childrens teachers. Reasons: 1. Teachers are suppose to teach, they are parents, nurses, doctors and everything else that the paren is not for seven hours, since you have taken the liberty of counting. If the teacher is one that is stale and is a disciplnary, the child should be there as long as she/he is teaching and your child is learning. If you feel the child is not learning, it is your job as the parent, to speak with the principal and stay in touch with what your child is doing and do not wait until the last minute. Start at the beginning of the school year. Make sure your child is doing what he/she is suppose to do as a student. If the teacher is not up to your standards, then there is the Board of education. But, you should try speaking with the teacher to find out what the problem is. Are you a stale and discipled parent? What if teachers had to evaluate parents? How would you rate? Think about it, would you be able to choose a teacher throughout your child educational life?

AGAIN, my post is not about requesting a certain teacher, just the ability to NON-request a certain teacher (1 of 6) who we feel will not be a great fit for our kids. And yes, I do feel that parents who are more involved at least gain the privelege of knowing the teachers-- no kid should have to encounter a bad or mean teacher-- but if they are out there, my involvement in the school and first hand knowledge of that should not be discounted. I also work, but I still show up and do whatever I can. We have no sheets that allow us to outline our child's needs-- neither parents nor teachers have any say in teacher placement, and no, I do not have faith that a principal can know 600 kids well enough to place them all in their best interest. And yes, I do believe that politics do come into play b/c obviously the principal is friendly with certain parents, and those parents never waste a second worrying about these things. If I put in time and effor at school, then yes, maybe I too should get that same privelge of not having to worry.

In our school, we usually fill out a sheet that describes your child's learning patterns, social behavior, and any concerns parents may have regarding the placement of their child in the next grade. You still CANNOT request a specific teacher. My children have been blessed to have really good teachers so far without any particular requests because as a full time working mum, I don't have time to "study" other teachers' philosophy. I put in my faith in the Principal who I believe makes decisions that are best for her students based on their academic and behavior patterns. I know that it is a process where the Principal in conjunction with the teacher goes over many aspects to have a well rounded class. A good teacher is of course most valuable but wouldn't there be an imbalance if everybody wants that one teacher? On the other hand, a teacher also protects and feels responsible for children whose parents are never there to make requests...children from less privileged families! Do those children deserve to go to teachers who yell and shout and create a "stale" and "desciplined" environment as opposed to a "nurturing" and "creative" environment simply because they come to school without breakfast in the morning and whose parents never show up at the parent-teacher conference?
I went to a top notch private school where parents really couldn;t request anything! Did I get teachers I didn;t like, sure...did it scar me for life, absolutely not! My point is that we get too emotional about our children and read too much into things that really don't make a huge difference to our children! There are always exceptions ofcourse! :)

i think without a question you should chose who you want teaching your child because education is a very important factor in your childs growth process.

I agree 100 percent

To the teacher: I am a teacher too. I teach community college. Students can pick me or go elsewhere, so what? I don't want to teach students who don't want to be in my class. And yes, I think teachers should be able to request and non-request students be in their classrooms. For example, my daughter's first grade teacher (whom I have a great rapport with and who was phenomenal) should have the right to ask for her sister to be in his class (if he wanted to). Also, if there is a very bad rapport with a child or a child's family, then putting that student and teacher together would be silly! Why wouldn't you want to create the best and most harmonious environment possible for the students, teachers, parents, and administrators? I am not advocating choosing a teacher, just the right to "non-request" at least 1 teacher per grade (that would be 1 of 6 for us). Nor am I advocating a teacher having the right to hand pick all 18 kids in his/her class-- maybe just a few. All teachers should be given that option-- why the heck not??!!

Also, as a parent, putting our 5, 6, 7 year olds in the hands of another individual for 7 hours a day is a HUGE deal. And heck yes, if we don't agree with a certain teacher's philosophy or the way they run a classroom, then we should have the right as a taxpayer and as a parent to demand a different placement option for our child. I shouldn't have to run for office to inact this right-- it is just common sense.

I do not think that there is anything wrong with a parent requesting a certain teacher. Who knows our children best? WE DO. In the first grade, my son had a teacher who liked to yell at her students. To her, it was that she had a loud voice. To my son, it was that she was always yelling at him. At the time, he was my only child and we never yelled at him. He was a quiet child who spent a lot of time around adults. He was used to being talked to..not at. I was able to go to the principle and request a different teacher for him. Someone I had heard wonderful things about. A teacher who talked with a softer voice and someone who was going to be a better fit for my son. He loved her class and excelled. That year, he was on the A honor roll all year AND tested for GATE. So who is to say that we can't pick the best teacher for our children. My only beef is that if we know that noone wants to be in a certain teacher's class, why do not address that teacher? It is then obvious that they are in the wrong field. As Parents, we are entrusting the most precious things in our lives to the schools and teacher and we expect for them to treated as thus. We expect for the schools to screen their teachers and hire not only the most quailified but the ones who wants to make a difference and who will really care for our children. Just not any one who has graduated , has a degree and wants a job.

As a teacher, I don't think parents should be allowed to request a specific teacher. There would be no way to accommodate every single parent. And when you can't accommodate everyone, words like "unfair" and "discrimination" begin to be used by those that don't get what they want. Also, WE ALL pay taxes and a little of our money goes toward funding public schools. It doesn't give us the right to decide the rules. That is the job of the superintendent and school board. If you want to make rules, get elected/appointed as one of those people. I'd like to start another question. Should a teacher be allowed to request or non-request a student? If I could, my days would go a little better. But little Billy Bob has to be taught by somebody, right?

No, I don't trust the principal to do that for my child. There seems to be some politics, and a lot of people that need to be pleased. I did exactly what some of you said and address the principal not about a certain teacher, but a type of teacher or the type of student my child is-- and low and behold, I got exactly opposite of what I asked for this year. If you send an email to the P or VP, you either get no response or this response: "message received". That is all. We'd like to stay b/c we love our home, neighbors, and the community.

While I totally understand the perspective of wanting to request a particular teacher, I never did. Instead, I always spent my time letting the principal know about my daughter's needs, my trust in the principals knowledge of the faculty and willingness to meet my daughter's needs.

This attitude got me much further. Yes, there are poor teachers. But everybody has good years and bad years -- a classroom is the interaction between students and teachers and sometimes the chemistry is very good and sometimes it isn't.

Principals must look to both issues: teachers plus students and as a parent, I wanted to support that process.

For me, I would have a greater problem with a principal who communicates poorly because I believe that poor leadership leads to low-quality teaching. When this happened to me, I found a way to move my daughter to another school -- one where I could trust the principal to make good decisions.

I think we should have a say so and I think we should be able to transfer out of a teacher. The problem is nobody wants that same teacher. I do think it is unfair when the school lets the teachers and others who work at the school request but not parents outside the school. We all know when the school does this. My child has gotten stuck with a teacher noone else wanted and could not switch because the rule is you may switch but it has to be with the teacher with the least students. How did she get to have less students? Because some people were allowed to choose but not others. This is a real problem for the school.

Yes, parents should be able to have the choice of the teacher they have their children with.
For this simple reasons:
We all know, not all teachers are dedicated to their jobs and some can not wait for the weekend to arrived or Friday. This is just a fact of life. Teachers are also humans, and some of them should not be a teachers. But some time I feel the reward of having an long time off in Summer, holidays vacations outweigh the insentive to leave their job or the job they are not passionate about. This hurt not only the chilldrens education but also give a bad impression or image to the teachers that are dedicated to their students. So if you are an informed parent you have the right to work with a teacher that it is passionate about and support this teacher that truly cares for what they do.

WOW. That's the principal? I would be saddened by that. If there is a genuine need to have your child not be with a teacher, I do not see why they would not be willing to work with you. The current school that my two oldest girls are in sent home a note asking for parents to put in writing any special requests that parents had for the upcoming 2008 school year in regard to teacher selection. They want to know your students gifts / challenges / learning styles so that your child is matched with the teacher that they believe will best help them succeed. At this point, I would think about taking my concerns to someone higher than the principal, perhaps start with a call to the district office? I hope everything works out for you...the last thing you need is more stress! Good luck!

A little addition-- the note she sent said, "do not even bother wasting your time sending me non-requests because they will not be honored". As you can see, the tone is very disheartening.

We are not allowed to request teachers anymore. We played devils advocate with our principal and told her that my neice and my son are starting 5K this year. They have different last names. We suggested to her in a very polite way that they should be careful not to put them in the same classroom. She perked her ears up and took notes. We will see. Out of 1200 students, I hope she remembers- for her sake! :)

I agree with you 100%. It is very important to be involved in your children's schooling. A teacher can certainly make or break the year. I would not think twice about meeting with the principal and, without being mean or degrading, explaining why I do not want my children to have a certain teacher. Good luck!

While the policy at our school is that you can not request teachers. I have written a very polite letter each year to the principal requesting a certain teacher with the explanation that my child would benefit because of her LD. And every year it has worked! I don't demand but respectfuly ask and give a little information as to the reason. Maybe its worth a try.

The excuse given here for not being able to request or non-request teachers is that it isn't "fair" to the teachers. They claim that unless there is a serious reason for a request, it won't be honored. Here, they stand behind all teachers saying that every one one of them has unique and positive points that outweigh any negative ones.

If you feel strongly about a certain teacher, by all means, bring it to their attention, not in a critizing way, but in a way describing what will best fit your childs needs. Just don't expect that since you made a request, it will be granted, but never hurts to try.

ClaiReeceMom,

The biggest problem when parents are allowed to request or non-request a particular teacher comes to scheduling. If a school has 80 students in four classrooms, and every parent gets to choose or not choose, it ties the hands of the administrators to balance the classes from every conceivable direction (sheer numbers: the "nice" teacher is requested by 50 parents, the "mean" one by no one; age: older vs. younger students; boys to girls; active to inactive students; and any other special needs). In the case of the sheer numbers, by promising a say in the scheduling, there are clearly going to be at least 30 upset parents because of what they were promised.

If you feel strongly about a particular teacher pro or con, then by all means talk to your administrator and outline what you've discussed here. Principals are not in the business of making their "constituents" angry. If a reasonable accommodation can be made, they surely will do their best to honor it.