If you ever wondered what's wrong with the American school system:

http://www.10news.com/news/15274005/detail.html

"John Corcoran graduated from college and taught high school for 17 years without being able to read, write or spell.

Corcoran's life of secrecy started at a young age. He said his teachers moved him up from grade to grade. Often placed in what he calls the "dumb row," the images of his tribulations in the classroom are still vividly clear.

From fifth through seventh grade he was expelled, suspended and spent most of his days at the principal's office.

The former teacher said he came from a loving family that always supported him.

"My parents came to school and it no longer was a problem for me reading because this boy Johnnie the -- native alien I call him -- he didn't have a reading problem as far as the teachers were concerned. He had an emotional problem. He had a psychological problem. He had a behavioral problem," said Corcoran.
Corcoran later attended Palo Verde High School in Blythe, Calif. He cheated his way through high school, receiving his diploma in June 1956."

"In 1961, Corcoran graduated with a bachelor's degree in education, while still illiterate he contends. He then went on to become a teacher during a teacher shortage.

"When I graduated from the university, the school district in El Paso, where I went to school, gave almost all the college education graduates a job," said Corcoran.

For 17 years Corcoran taught high school for the Oceanside School District. Relying on teacher's assistants for help and oral lesson plans, he said he did a great job at teaching his students."

makes you wonder how many problem pupils only cause a nuisance because they can't following the lessons due to the lack of appropriate reading skills ?

- - -He then went on to become a teacher during a teacher shortage.

"When I graduated from the university, the school district in El Paso, where I went to school, gave almost all the college education graduates a job," So up until then, we have a very high functioning illiterate. Cheating one's way through high school and into - and through - college is not that easy, after all. Most people who try that fail at it.

Why do school systems get so desperate for teachers that they hire anyone with a paper degree ?

And no one has contradicted his statement - and he appears to be a trustworthy source - that he was at least adequate as a teacher. So once hired, if successful, what's wrong with his keeping the job ?

What I find interesting, why he didn't learn it much earlier?? He could have gone into a library and lie and they help you to learn to read. They don't have to know you are a teacher.... :)