Archives
April 2009
March 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
Recent Entries
Stephen
Movie Metaphysics: The Dark Knight
What's Going On Here??
Why I'm Getting Rid of Google Chrome
Twitter and Me
Advent
To the 52, From 1 Of the 48
A Note To Authors (and PR people, too)
Beat Coastal, The Sequel
Obama's Backdrop

September 09, 2007

Out Of The Mouths of Toons ...

FIRST -- go read Frazz. Now contemplate how much Frazz looks like Calvin (from Calvin and Hobbes). Now it's time to discuss:

"If we pay teachers more, would we get better teachers?"

On the one hand, I know of a lot of people who should be teaching, who could teach and do it well. Some of them homeschool their kids, and their kids are pretty intelligent. So I know that they could teach, IF they decided to.

But they don't. They're in private industry making six-figure salaries. They live in upper-middle-class communities, join country clubs, and drive nice cars. They support their local churches. Some teach Sunday School.

If your choice is getting your masters to take a job making $35,000 or taking one making $100,000, it's not a tough choice to make. $65,000 a year isn't worth giving up to get summers "off" (and ask teachers how much of their summers off are taken up by school so they can keep their license). And yes, most states are now requiring teachers to get their masters degrees to keep their licenses (Ohio is one of those states). So teachers have to have an advanced degree to make $35,000 a year. Is it worth it financially? Not for most people.

So who is taking the $35K job? A couple different groups of people -- one is the people who can't do the $100K jobs. The people who aren't qualified. The old adage "Those who can, do. Those who can't do, teach" is often quite true. So we're not getting the best teachers for the money.

On the other hand, there is another group of people who go into teaching. The people who want to make a difference in kids' lives. The people who want to train the next generation. These people would do it no matter how much they get paid -- and they do. They enjoy it. These are the teachers that kids remember years later. And their students go on to great things because of their influence and dedication.

I know teachers who fit both descriptions, and some who fit neither. I've read memos sent out by English teachers that didn't survive my own proofreading (and yes, I used a red pen on them!). I've talked to history teachers who were only in it so they could coach. I've also talked to teachers who could have been doing anything else, but they stay in the classroom year after year, because they care.

We're requiring more and more from our teachers -- more education, more accountability, more time. Shouldn't we be giving them more? Shouldn't we reward the teachers who could be doing something else, but aren't? We spend boatloads of money on just about everything else -- why aren't we willing to invest in our kids' future by paying their teachers enough to make it worth their time? Education is broken, it's true. Why are we expecting people who are making just above minimum wage to fix it?

Posted by Warren Kelly at September 9, 2007 03:04 PM | TrackBack
Email me!
Email Protection by Name Intelligence