My exchange of emails with a charter school teacher triggered two comments:

 

Any of my teachers (and I) could have signed that letter.  Tis' true.  I laugh when I hear of teachers at regular public schools who leave the second their bargaining agreement time is up and refuse to work a minute more without extra pay.  My teachers work scores of hours of overtime every year - 60 hours a week is normal.  Your response is great.

 

Susan Olson

Charter School Director in California

 

And:

 

From my visits to schools in Japan, the kids sweep floors and do basic maintenance such as clean up after lunch in the classroom. This is viewed as citizenship training rather than punishment. The kids don' clean the bathrooms. The custodial workers do that.

 

And it works.