Posted on 05/03/2018 3:25:54 AM PDT by ImaGraftedBranch
That's weird ... I was pointing out how this author was parsing "facts".
There is a lot of ranting on both sides (Market Ticker is driven by the blog host, who vents his spleen).
But I have seen, even on this thread, comments on how much overtime a teacher works.
My wife is a teacher. She works less hours and less out of “normal” hours than I do. She also has to deal with people saying math is to white, and not good to POC, complaints from parents that their little angel needs an excused absence for the fifth day that month for another vacation, and sports teams who will pull students out of the last two periods of the day for practice (funny, grades don’t matter).
I can fire people at times. She can not.
But he (the blog author) did have some rather stark facts. The stats on the reading and math level of graduating high school students is true. Or rather, at best true. The pressure on the school districts to “fake” the numbers is so high that I don’t believe anything from my area anymore. Public education is a spectacular failure by any measure. Kids are getting a diploma that they can’t read and entering into a workplace that will either just use illegal immigrants (because there are many remedial ESL classes paid for by the state to teach them basic skills) or train them on the company dime.
Most companies would rather hire the illegal.
Teachers hate those stats, and will (like my wife) say that standardized test don’t measure everything. But if the tests say that Johnny and Jane can’t read or do basic math, I would bet a bagel they can’t! I have to deal with that now in the workforce.
Right now, most of public education is daycare with sports. Learning actual basic skills is not on the radar for most schools. Oh, they will try to help those students who WANT to learn, as long as they don’t pull to far ahead in the class. But that isn’t the goal anymore. Many teachers just want to get through the year with a functional liver, not be physically assaulted, and no lawsuits.
The system is broken. We need a radical change.
And it won't be easy, talk about institutional corruption.
Can’t argue with that.
Teacher work days.....yes, some have learned how to skip these expensive (to taxpayer) educational sleepers.
I was getting a pedicure one day and two teachers were also....one remarked that they didn’t need to be back to report for two hours....they signed in and then left for a pedicure all the while bragging on this while I sat there red faced!!! At $7K/year school taxes this is what they were doing with MY money....learning to beat the system!!!
Yes, parents are taxed heavily and maybe public school is the "only option." Yea, I know...we can't go back to the 1950s and have only one parent working, times have changed, blah blah blah. And yes, I've seen my fair share of bad teachers and the NEA is a weaponized arm of the DNC.
But as the late, great, Evil Irv Homer, talk show host extraordinaire out of Philadelphia said, it is hard to raise a thoroughbred when the parents are asses. Indeed, a plurality of voters went for Hillary.
Read some arricles from NEA mags a few yrs ago. Told my kids if the chose to be public school teachers I wouldn’t pay for their college and would disown them.....luckily they have honest jobs now
I use to be hard on teachers, but now that my wife is one I sympathize a little bit more. Of course this is Canada, so things might be different.
What educational qualifications do teachers have to meet in the US? Four year degree?
Let's get right down to the raw truth, shall we? The reason scores are low is not teachers or students, it's the parents.
But don't mind me. I'm just an old guy who's so thankful for parents who forced me to do what I should and didn't hesitate to whomp my rear end if I screwed up. God rest their souls.
So is it very different state by state? Can you tell me the minimum requirements as for education in the US. As I said my wife is a teacher now in CAnada, working as a sub. Things are not as golden as I use to think. In our province starting wage for UNION GOVERNMENT positions is $48,000. But getting a government teacher position is a long shot as she lacks the seniority. She is looking at the catholic schools who start at a meager $38,000. To put that in perspective if she got full time work at the grocery store she works nights at she would make $52,000 a year. (albeit, she has seniority and it is a union outfit). The private protestant school she also wants to apply at even starts at LESS than $38,000!!!. Convert all that into US dollars and it really is not that great.
Exactly. So doing sub work at the catholic school my wife gets $205. Sounds good until you realize the $205 compensates for not getting paid at summer and spring holidays. So it is not 205 at 240 working days. It is 205 time 189 working days.
And to be clear I am not arguing now that we should cry rivers of tears for teachers either. I think the Hollywood portrayal of teachers is also incorrect. But I agree with you, that maybe they are fairly paid. My wife just started, so it might get better as time goes on, but she gets to work at 830, school is over 300, but she stays until 500 to get ready for the next day. She also had to sheepishly decline chaperoning the school dance - which is something expected of teachers to do - no extra pay.
Where I am there is 10 months of work, 2 off for summer. You get to choose. If you want (and are nuts) you can get paid only for 10 months, or as you said, choose to spread it.
The public school system was made into what it has become by the parents.
90% of the applicants failed one or both and more than half failed screamingly, either being completely unable to compose a business letter that could be read and understood as reasonably correct English or failing to get even half of the math correct. More than a few applicants literally walked out leaving behind two blank pieces of paper for "answers", unable to do any of it. A couple actually wrote things like "**** you" on the test before walking out, clearly unable to do any of it.
I would dearly love to see this instituted nationwide.
B.S. The schools are in the state they’re in by too much government meddling.
“This doesn’t take into account the teacher work days (required) during many of the days through the year when students don’t go to school, evenings and weekends spent grading papers, summer workshops, after school tutoring (required), etc. “
True of most professionals. The difference is most professionals are also required to perform.
Teachers fail, often. Not their fault, IMHO. The system doesn’t allow for any discipline. That was why, after doing my student teaching many years ago, I switched career fields. Didn’t want to be a babysitter.
Considered trying it again after I retired from the military, but quickly concluded things were worse now, not better. Teaching in public schools is all about babysitting. If you are extraordinary, you can also get some teaching done. But that is optional.
As someone pointed out very early in the thread, teachers are salaried employees and are FSLA exempt from overtime. As long as they comply with their school districts reporting requirements that is just the way it is. Hourly employees wouldn't be able to do that..
They should direct their energies against the legislators who dictate what the teachers have to teach and how. Lawyers who have no idea what a classroom is like, yet pass laws that basically turn the school experience into a series of tests that kill any love of learning the students may have.
The kids can’t read or do math.
Basic addition. Basic literacy. Social promotion of kids that can’t do either leads to adults who are barely employable.
Those “tests” at lest force SOME learning. Yeah, they suck, but by the time my wife sees the kids (sophomore and above) they are so far behind they are not going to get caught up.
Some sort of standards need to be in place. Right now, the nations education system is a dumpster fire.
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