I am to congratulate the Hon Dame Jennifer Smith, DBE, JP, DHumL, MP, Minister of Education, and the Ministry of Education on the move to downsize the number of teachers and para-educators in the school system! I'm no education expert but I'm a teacher's child, one of the best of the old school variety, and I have observed that some of the para-educators are nothing more than babysitters. I've had personal experience with them para-educating my child. I remember well one of them would refuse to do certain types of work because ‘the union said we don't have to do this and that'. This is the kind of mentality and work ethic that will make you the first to be let go when it is time to downsize and I'm delighted that the Civil Service is sending a message that this work attitude is not acceptable.Also, some of the teachers are either not good enough, not getting it done, not motivated, in the wrong job, just collecting a cheque, don't have the proper qualifications, etc. The proof for the teachers and educators is in the pudding; which is the results they are putting out, in the form of the level of education and competency in the students who have been graduating over the past 15 to 20 years, many of whom cannot read or write in a legible manner. The only problem is that we may have just added to the unemployment problem. More on this after the Top 20.Holding at #1 is Rihanna's current hit, S&M. Climbing to #2 is a former essential new tune, Born This Way by Lady Gaga. Improving to #3 is Look At Me Now by Chris Brown featuring L'il Wayne and Busta Rhymes.Falling to #4 is Higher, by Taio Cruz featuring Kylie Minogue and Travie McCoy. Walking by Mary Mary jumps to #5. Appropriately climbing into the #6 position is 6 Foot 7 Foot by L'il Wayne featuring Cory Gunz, still my favourite rap track. Slipping to #7 is ET by Katy Perry featuring Kanye West.Soaring to #8 is a former essential hew dance hit, Judas by Lady Gaga, which kicks. Up to # 9 is Just Can't Get Enough by the Black Eyed Peas. Tumbling to #10 is Moment For Life by Nicki Minaj. Falling to 11 is Who's that Chick? by David Guetta featuring Rihanna.On the way up at #12 is Till The World Ends by Brittney Spears. Improving to #13 is Beautiful People by Chris Brown featuring Benny Benassi.And now, the hottest song on the planet! Advancing to #14 is the hottest track of the spring/summer, Give Me Everything by Pitbull, Neo, AfroJack & Nayer, a monster dance track and a banger, which is already at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and similarly positioned in other international dance charts. This is DJLT's favourite track of the moment. Improving to #15 is Taio Cruz's current hit I'm Loving You Tonight. Tumbling to #16 is Memories, by David Guetta featuring Kid Cudi.Improving to #17 it's Motivation by Kelly Rowland featuring L'il Wayne, which has raced up the industry's pop and hip hop music charts. She's talented and cute. Check out the picture inset with this literary work. Falling to # 18 is Hold It Against Me by Brittney Spears.And now, this week's essential new jam. Even though it's hot and the summer is almost here (well it's only in the low 80s in Bermuda) how about a slow jam? In at #19 is Far Away by Marsha Ambrosious, a sweet love song, rare in this day and age of foul language embedded into pop music. Tumbling to #20 is On The Floor by Jennifer Lopez featuring Pitbull.Now back to this week's topic what to do with all these unemployed teachers and paraprofessionals! Well Dame Jennifer clearly is the right person for this job! She is simply getting it done, and education is very dear to her heart. I've been unemployed so I know how that feels. So my heart goes out to all of those persons who've been told that their contracts are not to be renewed.However, they now have two-and-a-half months to find alternative employment, go back to school this summer and get those extra credits, or decide what to do. But don't let me hear that some of these persons went ahead with their family vacations trips to Disney World or shopping in New Jersey or wherever the heck these people go, without any job prospects or serious job searching done only to be asking for help or sympathy on September 1, 2011!To the guest workers in the group to not be retained, I'm really sorry this had to happen. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the service you gave our children and wish you well in your future endeavours, but surely you understand that any country has to put its people first and we cannot put Bermudians with the same abilities and qualifications out of work to retain guest workers.That said, there is a case to be said for degrees and qualifications not being everything. I'm told that in some cases, persons without all the letters and degrees may in fact be more effective teachers!However, you wouldn't want a surgeon who isn't quite qualified operating on you so by the same token we cannot have teachers without the required teaching certificate. They've been requiring that since I was in university in the 1980s so it's really ridiculous that teachers don't have it. They have only themselves to blame.I hope all of these displaced persons find work. From the reports, it seems that many of these teachers have been victims of the same malaise and complacency that we call poor work ethic in other circles/professions. Meaning, they knew they were several credits short of a teaching certificate yet may not have taken any meaningful steps toward obtaining them over the past three to ten years! Oh well!I have to say that the system has enabled this malaise by not forcing their hands and giving them deadlines by which courses must have been completed, including time to do it. However, the summer holidays are a great time to catch up on training and courses. Teachers deserve their vacation but they do get eight weeks off in the summer; way more than most people get. Whether they deserve it or not is not the issue. That is the time to take a course or two.As I think this through, there is no excuse for this because courses are available online these days; presenting another option to do it at any point during the calendar year.Although this can be said of any profession these days, they don't make teachers like they used to make them. Sorry, but Bermuda doesn't have as many good, old-school, committed teachers like we did when I was growing up. Nowadays you can find a teacher at Café Cairo on the same night that his or her students are present! This did not happen when I was in high school. I could go on, there are many similar examples of such ridiculous occurrences these days, but I think readers will get the point. This is completely unacceptable you simply cannot have teachers partying with their students, or in the same place as their students.This is going to sound harsh, but this was the right move. Classroom sizes are smaller; there are fewer kids in the public school system because so many Bermudians are putting their kids in private schools and there are more spaces available with the exodus of so many expats! Did anyone stop to ask why? Because there is little, to no confidence in the public school system! Don't get me wrong, there are success stories in both public and private schools and there are also sad stories in both, but it is widely felt that a child's chances of succeeding and getting a better education are higher in the private system. The facts are the facts.Lastly, Bermuda spends more per child on its education system than probably any place in the world. This is a staggering statistic that is most troublesome, but it seems that the PLP Government, the Ministry of Education and certainly the Hon Dame Jennifer Smith, DBE, JP, DHumL, MP, have this as a priority to fix. Well done! Peace.…..DJLT!