Re: Tobacco health tax...

met00 wrote:
Paul M. Cook wrote:
Teachers in this country are generally considered to be losers. "Those
who can do, those who can't, teach." Of all the professions
I can think of, teaching is probably the most reviled and to my
knowledge it is unique to this country. A very sad fact.

Paul, there are more reviled professions... Lawyer... DEA Agent... in
some cases pool hall owners... [damn, I love to pour gasoline on those
fires :-) ]

The sad fact is that we pay teachers piss poor and we end up with
people who are willing to do that level of work because they care
enough to do it in spite of the piss poor wage. Then, when they need
more money because they truly can't survive on that kind of crap
wage, they go into administration, something they have zero
competency at and it shows because they totally screw up.

I make my living serving educators. I get to talk to them on a regular
basis. Many of them truly do care, purchasing things for them to use
in their class from their own pockets because they administration
won't give them the tools that they feel they need to do their jobs.
I get to hear them talk about how they have to fight to get parents
who think they are a babysitting service to be involved with their
own kids education.

You want to change the view of the teaching profession?
1) Train people to be administrators - it's not a career path for
teachers who have burned out
2) Pay teachers a viable wage for the job they do
3) Reward innovation in the teaching process
4) Require parents to be involved for they are the real teachers

And for the record, the key is #4. Parents are the real teachers to
their own kids. School districts that do well are ones where parents
are actively involved with their kids education and make education a
priority. Sorry about the rant, but this is an issue that is close to
my heart. I believe in public education as being a great equalizer,
but I also believe that it has been so screwed up by failures that
have been compounded through massive mismanagement that it will take
someone to start an alternative, that is successful, before it is
clear that the failure is NOT because public education and teachers
are bad, but because, as we just saw in MN, if you ignore
infrastructure and don't maintain and manage it right, it falls down.

I don't think they are necessarily paid that poorly when you consider extra
pay for extra-curricular activities, summer pay, etc.

Generally exceptional benefits ( I know our company can't afford to provide
that level), and a lot of time off.

Everybody likes to think their value is high but it's generally determined
by supply and demand.

bernie

bernie


--
"Official ASC Shaman"


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Darwin, Evolution, the Animal Kingdom, and Man
    ... >> I wonder how our learning systems could be improved. ... >teaching chess, basketball, etc) is easy. ... >effective teaching method, as all teachers know, and most teachers do ... Skinner was aghast at the state of US education. ...
    (sci.cognitive)
  • Re: U.S. science education lags, study finds
    ... America would encourage Math majors and Science majors to go into K-12 ... public education, at least for some period of time in their career. ... the teaching profession. ... and it is REALLY difficult to find Science teachers for the ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: U.S. science education lags, study finds
    ... America would encourage Math majors and Science majors to go into K-12 ... public education, at least for some period of time in their career. ... the teaching profession. ... and it is REALLY difficult to find Science teachers for the ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: U.S. science education lags, study finds
    ... selection of good teachers is damaging. ... I worked as an in-class ESE (Exceptional Student Education (those who ... math classes where their teaching prowess could not overcome their ... Science as an example, but am perfectly happy to include Chemistry, ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: OT? American politics
    ... not education. ... But the rest is all him and his teachers. ... primarily with parents and communities. ... When I was in high school, we heard "horror" stories about how the Soviets ...
    (rec.crafts.metalworking)