Actually, that post title is inaccurate. The word system implies a group of elements that work together to form a united whole. Since the "system" in question is public education, let's call this "Reflections on a broken institution." Someday, when it's a little less broken we can call it a system again.
Semantics aside, I'm long overdue for a post and the simple reason is, I've been swamped with work. When I left my previous job as a classroom teacher, my greatest fear about starting out as a private tutor was not having enough work. I had subbing to fall back on in times of great need, but didn't see this as a very lucrative option; after all, if all teachers took the same number of days off a year that I usually did I wasn't sure how I'd end up with more than ten sub jobs for the entire year.*
