Posted on 12/20/2007 6:58:59 AM PST by wintertime
The intellectual requirements for the job are not challenging, the curriculum required for teacher training is not intellectually challenging (e.g., blackboard use 101), other college majors. e.g., biology, physics, are too demanding and the education major has traditionally (at least since I was in college in the 1960's) has attracted those who cannot handle anything else.
public school ping
Exactly the missing component, according to conversations with my son.
The education system is deficient because we the voter allow it to be so. It is like a child, it will live up to our expectations or grow more corrupt from our neglect. I agree with what was posted earlier that it is much easier to get on these chat boards and complain then to actually do something about it.
People complain about the NEA being so powerful. Well, if parents and the concerned public would actually get together and fight the NEA the power would shift.
Our education system is so broken it will take a major shift in public opinion and a very strong coalition of a truly concerned public to right this sinking ship.
I went to college to become a teacher, putting myself through all the way - working 8 hours a day on top of it.
What I saw horrified me then - teaching future teachers how to cut out paper figures to paste on boards instead of filling their minds with the knowledge to impart to their students. After watching higher level student teachers get shocked in their internships, I changed my major to business and never looked back.
I thought it interesting that as an Air Force brat, everytime I went out of country and attended Catholic schools, I came home 1-2 grade levels ahead of my new public school. And when I went back overseas, my grades always went down as I caught back up. They made me learn, and taught me right.
In the late 80’s, I worked part time as a file clerk in the education department at my college. I looked at a lot of high school and college transcripts of education majors. A majority of these transcripts were filled with C’s and D’s. Dr Williams column is spot on.
If I could live on it I would love to go into teaching but I would be taking a 50% pay cut. Not to say that teachers are not aquatically paid but until the concept of paying by merit really catches up I don’t the starting salary for a teacher will be high enough for me any time soon.
I think they should also pay by pupil (see then if they complain about class size). If you can teach a class of 30 kids (and do it well) you should get more than someone who can only teach a class of 20 at the same grade level.
Well, the point remains, though. Either it is an attractive job, or it isn’t. If it is, then why aren’t smarter people doing it? If it isn’t, then I’m sure glad that somebody is willing to do it.
It’s funny that you say that. My wife, mom, and sister are all teachers. They are all very strong, competent women. But I see exactly what you are talking about, Rudder.
I do think pay has a lot to do with it. My wife is a 4th grade teacher, in her 12th year with a Master’s in Educational Technology, and make over $80k per year. She’s in one of the top paying districts in Southern California, and it attracts the better teacher because of the pay. They are able to pick and choose who they hire, and there are rarely openings other than retirement.
That being said, the district is in a low-rent area. A good chunk of the kids are from families whose parents don’t speak English. Many of the kids come to school having not showered in a week, or they haven’t eaten properly in a great while. Many come to school sleepy because they stay up until 11 or 12 o’clock playing video games, but don’t do their homework. And the test scores aren’t where the state would like. Is it the school’s fault? I don’t think so. But someone has to take the blame. And the politicians are afraid to place blame where it really belongs.
That’s exactly what my wife’s district does. She receives a stipend for every trimester per student over 27. Last year she had 32 kids all year, and got a $3000+ bonus. This year, she has 26 kids, and is in a much better mood. Haha.
I share your grief, comrade. I, too, am a publik screwl teacher and notice the same phenomenon you are describing on a yearly basis.
“But the one thing I never understand is: if the life of a public school teacher were as easy as people say it is, why don’t smarter people become teachers? Is it the money? Yet, I don’t hear more calls for increased pay.”
I think the per money student being spent is more than adequate. What needs to happen is the school systems themselves have to do better with the dollars they are given.
For instance. Why not go to classes of 30 (in middle and high school)? Why not hand teachers more power in discipline. In a school of 3000 kids going from 20 to 30 would save you *50* teachers. Take that money and split it up among the 100 or so teachers who you keep around. Take the rest and give it back to property tax holder or use it for boos / supplies.
But instead we have this
“The Morgan-Hart Class Size Reduction Act provides funds to school districts for participating schools that reduce class size in Grade 9 English and one other Grade 9 course required for graduation, either Mathematics, Science, or Social Studies. The majority of pupils in participating classes must be identified as Grade 9 students. (Districts which implemented the program prior to June 30, 1998 may also be serving Grades 10, 11, or 12.)
Average class size for the school year at each participating school can be no more than 20:1 per certificated teacher and no more than 22 pupils enrolled in any participating class.” — http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/cs/mh/
BTW,
My plan was/is to ‘retire’ to teaching when I’m 50 but Ill be you dollars to dough nuts that an Engineering Degree, an MBA, and 30 years of experience in engineering wont be enough for me to be a Math teacher...
When I was a kid, a lot of the brightest women were teaching school. Now the brightest girls are told that they are “too smart to be a teacher.”
Another feather in the hat of the feminazis.
Economic analysis (thank you Dr. Sowell):
You can increase pay, ie, pay more for a product, when that product is superior. Superior products (teachers) will be attracted to the higher pay/price.
The way to improve any product is to introduce competition so that those products that are superior are in more demand and thus can have their prices set higher and attract more of the same superior product.
Unfortunately, the teachers’ unions fight competition with all their power, so we end up with what we have.
In Buffalo every few years, the city teachers are required to take a proficiency test that high school students are supposed to(or required to, I don’t remember) pass to receive a diploma. Many of the teachers fail this test. They can’t even pass a test to graduate from high school.
Of course, the poor performance of the teachers is immediately met with cries of racism.
Re-read my post about "the best and brightest". Kids don't get into that category of competition with un-involved parents. In fact, most of them probably have "type-A" driver parents.
But then, you're so focussed on blaming absentee parents and making excuses for lousy teachers and school administrators, you can't "see the forest for the trees". The "ed biz" in the USA is grossly deficient by world standards. The tests prove it. It is NOT "media hype".
There is a tremendous disparity among the children who come into our public schools. The average child comes into kindergarten with a working vocabulary of approximately 2500 words. The average inner-city child arrives at school with a working vocabulary of 400 to 500 words.
And the teachers are supposed to remedy that problem? Impossible.
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