In my entire years as a student I had one teacher who I remember as being attractive enough to be distracting, Miss Perrin.  And I'm pretty sure she would have been dead sexy in a pair of greasy mechanics coveralls.  In facy I'm sure of it, with her long chestnut brown hair tied back loosely in pony tail and a little smudge of dirt on one cheek and the zipper pulled down to the middle of her chest, revealing a thin white t-shirt covering her perfectly shaped breasts......  Is it just me or is it hot in here.

What code?

They should have some on.

That's enough for me.

Teachers, especially women, must dress modestly as a mean to avoid any unnecessary distraction and as a good example for the students.

When you say that dressing-up commands respect, you are talking about hiding behind your dress. Many teachers at all levels hide behind meaningless titles like Mr. & Dr. As a teacher, I chose to let my leadership, the respect I give, and the classroom I am a part of (there are 30 students and 1 me, it is NOT MY classroom), dictate the level of the respect in the classroom. What you are speaking of is neither progressive nor critical pedagogy. It is, instead, an adherence to the same perpetual segregation of teacher and student.

(2=still a relatively minor issue) Well, honestly, I didn't think this was much of an issue when I put it up here, but apparently, it's been getting a little attention to the point where there's a Netscape news article on it (for the sake of brevity, I'll link it on the sidebar instead of posting with my comment). Well, I'd have to say, I guess I WOULD be offended if my old high school teachers wore see-through tops . . . not that they'd show their cleavage, but it'd just be scary!

There should be a certain standard that teachers should adhere to. I've seen teachers come to school wearing sweats and looking like slobs-where is the professionalism. I agree that student would treat teachers with a little more respect if they looked like they deserved it. It won't solve all the problems of course but it will help the students to see how they should look and behave when they enter the working world.

I pretty much agree with Eschew. At the schools I substitute in, teachers dress fairly casually (but this is a pretty rural and predominantly agricultural community), but nevertheless still manage to dress weel and don't go totally student in what they wear. It is important to maintain a certain amount of distance, formally, from the students, and attire is one visible reflection of the difference. Basically, terachers should dress their age, if nothing else.

Somewhere in this vast confused country, someone is considerig a dress code for teachers? I don't think this issue will solve anything but it would certainly distract us from more important work. Every person who taught me in high school wore business formal clothes. Female teachers in suits and respectable outfits, men wore ties. If you don't think it commands respect, you've never tried it or you're blind. Teachers dressing down, like their students, might make them feel liberated and free from authority but I suspect it contributes to the lack of respect shown teachers today. Sidenote, teachers I met at Parent Open Houses, over the last twenty two years wore similar attire to what they wore when I was a student. What they wear every day, I have no idea, but what you wear to your work conveys a message. Make no mistake about it.