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Obama again praises S. Korea for ‘paying teachers the way they pay doctors’
The Korea Times ^ | July 17, 2015 | Brian Han

Posted on 07/19/2015 1:16:54 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

During U.S. President Barack Obama’s speech on Wednesday regarding a new government initiative to bring high speed internet access to low-income groups, the topic of South Korea’s education system came up.

“In South Korea they pay their teachers the way they pay their doctors,” he said in front of an audience at Durant High School in Durant, Okla. “They consider education to be at the highest wrung of the professions.”

The reason it came up at all had to do with South Korea’s widespread high speed internet access especially in the city’s capital of Seoul.

Obama voiced a similar statement in April when he said that teachers are ”paid at the level that doctors and engineers are paid.”

In fact, he has frequently lauded South Korea’s education system since taking office in 2009.

But the claim drew criticism because there isn’t hard evidence available that supports the idea that pay is equal among the mentioned professions. In fact, the Korean Federation of Teachers Association (KFTA) pointed out that significant salary disparities exist particularly between doctors and teachers. The KFTA later mentioned that the assertion was most likely a “misunderstanding.”


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet; Education; Government
KEYWORDS: economy; education; internet; korea; obama; teachers; unions
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

America’s education problems have nothing to do with teacher salaries.


21 posted on 07/19/2015 2:31:05 AM PDT by RC one
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Teachers don’t deserve what doctors do. I’m tired of the whining about pay for teachers.


22 posted on 07/19/2015 2:40:11 AM PDT by EEGator
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To: MarMema
And hey dog torture is super there as well.

Please bear in mind, the object of ridicule here is not Korea, but the President of the United States!

And that is as it should be!

23 posted on 07/19/2015 2:45:35 AM PDT by cynwoody
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To: GeronL

And the teachers probably can teach math. From what I have seen both from my college years and as a parent, the educational requirements to be a teacher aren’t too high here. It takes a lot more to pass med school, unless obama are has dumbed down the standards in order to be fair.


24 posted on 07/19/2015 2:50:56 AM PDT by Rusty0604
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

How much do they pay teachers and doctors in South Korea?


25 posted on 07/19/2015 2:52:12 AM PDT by Cowboy Bob (Isn't it funny that Socialists never want to share their own money?)
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To: clearcarbon
Teacher salaries can be re-evaluated and adjusted when they have to start buying malpractice insurance.

Malpractice insurance is a business expense.

When the market values a good, it does not consider business expenses. After all, that would be work. But the market is lazy. It doesn't give a rat's ass about business expenses. You got something to sell? Name a price, and don't whine about business (or any other) expenses!

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesmarshallcrotty/2013/08/11/south-korean-tutor-makes-4-million-a-year-can-you/

26 posted on 07/19/2015 2:58:23 AM PDT by cynwoody
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
How old do you think I am? LOL

I have no idea how old you are! Nor does your FR profile (assuming fellow FReepers puzzled by your posting would bother to look) indicate how old you are.

Many FReepers frequently make comments like "when I was stationed there," "when I was working for the State Dept.," etc. - while omitting the far-more relevant info of when - which would allow us to place your statements into context.

Just imagine an article about, e.g., race relations in the South. When describing a perceived example of discrimination, or criticizing the tenor of a sermon, or recounting an encounter with a hostile Law Enforcement Official, how crazy would it be to neglect mentioning that it happened in the 1940s - or in 2014?

In fact, practically every posting presenting anecdotal evidence ("Well, when I was there...") would be well served by including the time-frame, don't you think?

Regards,

27 posted on 07/19/2015 3:04:07 AM PDT by alexander_busek (Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.)
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To: Cowboy Bob
Obama really thinks engineers and doctors in the USA are overpaid is what he's really saying. If he had his way, he would limit doctors pay.

who needs all that money anyway. Better spent on illegal aliens that vote democratic.

28 posted on 07/19/2015 3:07:18 AM PDT by Newbomb Turk (Hey Newbomb, where's your brothers ElCamino ?)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

But the claim drew criticism because there isn’t hard evidence available that supports the idea that pay is equal among the mentioned professions. In fact, the Korean Federation of Teachers Association (KFTA) pointed out that significant salary disparities exist particularly between doctors and teachers. The KFTA later mentioned that the assertion was most likely a “misunderstanding.”

....

I wish people would read the article.

Obama is lying again.


29 posted on 07/19/2015 3:08:41 AM PDT by Moonman62 (The US has become a government with a country, rather than a country with a government.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

when you consider how BAD and CORRUPT our teachers are ...

Especially in the inner cities. No one worse than the California Teachers Union. A big bunch of crooks!!!


30 posted on 07/19/2015 3:10:13 AM PDT by BunnySlippers (I Love Bull Markets!!!)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

South Korean teachers are probably teaching their children about science, math, history, chemistry, and physics. Unlike US teachers who are discussing why little Johnny has two daddies and teaching elementary children how to put on a condom.


31 posted on 07/19/2015 3:19:22 AM PDT by ImNotLying
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

“Total expenditures for public elementary and secondary schools in the United States amounted to $621 billion in 2011–12, or $12,401 per public school student enrolled in the fall (in constant 2013–14 dollars, based on the Consumer Price Index).

This is from the Institute for Educational Sciences. Assuming 28 kids in class, that’s $347,200.00 Teachers make $80K? Where does all the money go?


32 posted on 07/19/2015 3:23:07 AM PDT by Artie (We are surrounded by MORONS)
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To: Jonty30

What makes you so sure about that?

This report makes it sound as if the Korean teaching profession has many of the same problems as ours:

http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1406/South-Korea-TEACHING-PROFESSION.html


33 posted on 07/19/2015 3:29:55 AM PDT by 9YearLurker
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

They must not pay their doctors very much.


34 posted on 07/19/2015 3:37:23 AM PDT by Mr. Blond
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To: GeronL

It is a very different culture.


Exactly. An obvious fact, but Obama will never mention it. To him, there are no differences between Korean kids and inner city kids. If only we paid our teachers like doctors, everything would be okay. [/s] Except for property taxes and municipal bankruptcies.


35 posted on 07/19/2015 4:47:32 AM PDT by rbg81
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To: scrabblehack

And teachers have 7-11 years of post college education? Do tell


36 posted on 07/19/2015 4:50:39 AM PDT by Mom MD
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To: RC one
"America’s education problems have nothing to do with teacher salaries."

That's exactly correct. Many people, including many conservatives, believe the school/teacher alliance is the most important part of a child's learning. That is false.

It is the student/family connection that is far more important. If a child is reasonably bright and motivated with the family behind him or her, that student will learn.

However, the best teachers and the best schools in the world cannot make an unmotivated dullard with disinterested parents learn much of anything.

37 posted on 07/19/2015 4:52:29 AM PDT by driftless2
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

They’re actually more advanced, in many ways, than we are.


Where I live, Korean massage parlors are popping up like mushrooms. From what I’ve read, this is a nationwide trend and is little more than a front for the world’s oldest profession. Exporting this kind of stuff is not what I’d expect from an “advanced” country.


38 posted on 07/19/2015 4:53:47 AM PDT by rbg81
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Perhaps it should be the highest rung of the professions, instead of the highest wrung of the professions.

(A wet cleaning cloth is wrung dry, while the top step on a ladder is the highest rung.)


39 posted on 07/19/2015 5:00:59 AM PDT by Cvengr ( Adversity in life & death is inevitable; Stress is optional through faith in Christ.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
“In South Korea they pay their teachers the way they pay their doctors,”

They have education insurance co-pays and the educators file insurance claims for their pay? /s

40 posted on 07/19/2015 5:04:55 AM PDT by Cvengr ( Adversity in life & death is inevitable; Stress is optional through faith in Christ.)
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