I don't equate money=results. I equate paying a fair price for fair value. If people want to farm their kids to the lowest cost worker, then they deserve what they get. If they want to demand quality, then expect to pay a fair price.
Parents aren't the total problem. Neither are teachers. Neither are the kids. But being prior military, I'm sure you're familiar with the 80/20 rule.
Sorry you failed as a teacher -- I think you could have been a good one if you had stuck it out.
I didn’t “fail” as a teacher. I tried it and didn’t like it.
I decided there were better things to do with my life, and spent most of my life in fighter squadrons. You might be surprised at how many public school teachers would find flying fighters more exciting and fulfilling than teaching. Pays better too!
Of course, I got shot at more often than the average public school teacher, but that added to the excitement.
“If they want to demand quality, then expect to pay a fair price.”
Sorry. There is no way to funnel money in public schools to good teachers. ALL teachers get paid roughly the same. Good ones and awful ones - same pay.
If all schools were private, then the free market would allow parents to make choices about their kids education. But the government monopoly prevents that.
The nearest private school to me is 30 miles away with a waiting list. And if I drive my kid there & back, covering 120 miles/day, I STILL pay the government schools nearly $5000/year. In fact, the tuition there is less than what I pay in property taxes...but paying both would be a challenge.
The problem isn’t parents, teachers or kids. It is government, forced monopoly and unions.
Privatize all schools. You won’t find salaries going up, but you will find most teachers will be happier.
Getting paid $45,000/year for 9 months of teaching is NOT a bad salary.
Stop being jealous of mechanics. Become one, if you are able. But you might find it more work, and less pay:
“Median hourly wages of automotive service technicians and mechanics, including commission, were $16.88 in May 2008.” - BLS - that would be $33K+ for 2000 hours of work, and I’d bet the figure has gone DOWN since 2008!
“Median annual wages of kindergarten, elementary, middle, and secondary school teachers ranged from $47,100 to $51,180 in May 2008; the lowest 10 percent earned $30,970 to $34,280; the top 10 percent earned $75,190 to $80,970.
According to the American Federation of Teachers, beginning teachers with a bachelor’s degree earned an average of $33,227 in the 2005-2006 school year.” - BLS
Please note that your wealthy car mechanic makes, on average, what the bottom 10% of teachers make. The average teacher in the USA makes $49,000 for 9 months work. That works out to over $32/hr. My wife is an RN making $27/hr. Tell me again how underpaid teachers are...
My apologies for injecting numbers into a discussion about teachers. Very few teachers understand them.