What do you think: Should you be able to choose which teacher your child gets?

Vote here!

Absolutely!!!There are good teachers and bad. If you know which ones the good teachers are at your local school, why shouldn't you be able to request them? If its in the best interest of my child I wouldn't hesitate to ask.

I don't think so. I think you should have some say in the type of teacher you want your kid to be with, but there is no guarantee that a certain teacher is going to be a good fit for your child just because you think they will be good fits. Kids behave much differently at school than they do at home, they also tend to clash with certain types of kids and need different types of redirection and motivators. Teacher's take these things into account when they recommend placement for the next year. It would also make it very hard for kids to be placed and it would be impossible for everyone to get their way. If you are in private school paying for your child's education then it may be different because they do tend to bow down to parents more so they can keep enrollment up. Public school officials take the needs of every child into account because that is what they are required to do.

Yes! As a teacher I know that we have different teaching styles and strengths and weakness and some kids mesh better with certain teachers than others. For example, if your child has trouble focusing, he/she should be in my class, I keep 'em moving and active. If they need structure, they shouldn't be in my class; would loose my head if it wasn't attached. That being said, I would not go and request a teacher without discussing with the child's previous teacher.

Of course a parent should be able to choose! After all your child's teacher may have a direct effect on your child's educational experience. As parents we know our kid's learning styles and needs better then anyone else, so we should be able to decide what is right for our individual children!

I pick every year.

Yes, there are teachers who you know are not as good as others, or you just know that your child will have a personality clash with.

Me and my wife been teaching for 6 years and my mother has been in education for 33. Parents should be able to choose their child’s teacher. However I do believe with 100% parent input with a child school work and environment he/she can be successful in any teacher’s classroom.

I think it would be nice too, but as another poster pointed out it wouldn't always end up equal in all classes & then how do they chose?? That, in my opinion, would start a HUGE drama battle within the school, which is definetly not what we want to teach our kids! Say there is 4 2nd grade teachers at one school & 100 kids in 2nd grade...say 45 of the parents all want their kid in the same class...how do they decide who gets into what class???? How upset would you be if your kid was one of the 45 that didn't get into that class???? I understand there are some really good teachers & some really bad teachers, but unfourtuantely theres not too much we can do about that! Plus like FunnyGuy said your child can succeed in any class no matter what teacher he/she gets with your help! You can also think of it as a life lesson that one day your child may not get the boss he or she wants, but you have to teach your child to make it work & not just give up because their personality clashes with somone elses!

i know this year my daughter's teacher was not the right fit. i debated moving her to a different kindergarten but thought better of it. she would get "time outs" for acting up often. it turned out that my daughter was extremely bored because she knew the material already and that the teacher had a lot of "high needs" children in her class that weren't as ahead as my daughter was. i finally encouraged the teacher to have her taken from the classroom during specific times to have her participate in programs that would challenge her and she got into less trouble. it practically disappeared. i don't think choosing the teacher is a wise decision. get involved if there's an issue and figure out a solution you can both work with. my daughter is better because of it. she learned to mesh with this teacher. and, you can't always get what you want. i agree with apemberton.