toldailytopic: Are public school teachers paid well enough?

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Cracked

New member
Why? :idunno:

Maybe I misread TH - I was thinking when I wrote that that he was stating that teachers should have masters degrees. I picked out elementary teachers because it has been my experience that most of these folks are less inclined to pursue extended education.
 

Lon

Well-known member
Considering people should not be forced to pay for somebody else's education, especially a grossly perverted and intentionaly misinformed one, they are over paid.
This is ever the cry of the taxpayer. I was reading where tax collectors ran into farmers with guns before or just after the Revolution. The end of the story is the tax collectors got him. He didn't have to worry about taxes after that.

On a positive note, many (maybe one out of 5 teachers) confess Jesus as Lord here in the Tacoma School District.
 

Lon

Well-known member
I say: raise the pay and with it the standards for admission into a teaching curriculum. We think it's important? Then make it as difficult to get into as a Master's program. And cross compare/track student performance between classes to get an idea of the effectiveness of the teachers. Let that control raises or firings.
I'm not sure about everywhere, but here in WA its tough getting into the MA teaching program (must have a 3.0, have 5 letters of recommendation, must maintain a 3.2 or 3.4, etc.).
 

chrysostom

Well-known member
Hall of Fame
Unions - I'm not sure their agenda was/is to help teachers. I think they have larger more sinister motives. I just don't trust them any more either - I kept hearing rumors that some of their funds went to organizations that promoted things in which I did not agree... after 11 years don't want to quote exactly what the rumors were due to being unsure ... but thinking that the pro-choice agenda was part of it.

There are a number of groups along with the teacher unions that provide platforms of influence for the more liberal people among them to push their agenda upon our public schools... like three other groups, which I won't mention, because they even scare me! I personally watched representatives from all 4 of these groups stand before a state school board to exert their subtle pressure upon the school board members. They were so sly ... each professing to only be giving their opinion without making demands ... but each of them also reminding the board members of the money their organizations have provided for schools in the past, or of the law suits that had been brought against other school systems in similar instances, or of the unrest that a disagreeable decision would bring among their members which would affect education.

While mere parents showed up with only the power of their words. I will say this. Home schooling began to grow in my state after this. I wonder if people seeing how weak the State School board system was ... and even our legislators were in this situation as they faced off against these liberal lobbying groups with clout had some influence on its growth.

The State school board punted the ball to the state legislature ... and a legislative committee then just tried to solve things with vague verbiage... but the intent of all this maneuvering, in my opinion, was not done to help teachers, students, or parents... but rather was done to further the ideology of liberal minority groups within public schools.

Well, this is off the topic ...but was prompted by Chrysostom's comment in post 31.

I say protect our schools in some way from these types of outside pressures... which are more political than helpful. Our school board members are elected and can be voted out ... but not these power groups. I, personally, don't know how to protect our schools from them, but surely there are minds better than mine to ponder it.

thank you for that

did you have to join the union?
and
how much did it cost you?
 

Nydhogg

New member
The pay sorta sucks, and the government doesn't exactly want thinking people.
That's why education quality is abysmal.

The system would be streamlined a whole lot if public schools were turned into worker-owned, democratic cooperatives, and they were subsidized (if at all) according to the quality of the education they offer.
 

Nydhogg

New member
What I propose would be a more sweeping reform. It'd cut costs much more effectively, and it would also improve quality.
Not to mention it'd keep the gubbermint away from the children. The government being prevented from indoctrinating future voters would be cool.
 

chrysostom

Well-known member
Hall of Fame
you are not going to make any changes while the unions are in control of the democratic party
 

The Barbarian

BANNED
Banned
A teacher once told me that she believed she was very well paid for only having to work 9 months out of the year

Where do teachers only work 9 months out of the year? Sounds great. But the school year in Texas runs over 9 months, and we have to stay current in our discipline on our own time in the summer.

Yeah, it's low-paying. Traditionally women did it, and that's still affecting the pay. I always wanted to teach, but couldn't afford it until my kids were grown.

But yesterday, I got an e-mail from the mother of a troubled kid, who was very pleased about the work I was doing to make him successful.

You can't buy a feeling like that.
 

chrysostom

Well-known member
Hall of Fame
Where do teachers only work 9 months out of the year? Sounds great. But the school year in Texas runs over 9 months, and we have to stay current in our discipline on our own time in the summer.

Yeah, it's low-paying. Traditionally women did it, and that's still affecting the pay. I always wanted to teach, but couldn't afford it until my kids were grown.

But yesterday, I got an e-mail from the mother of a troubled kid, who was very pleased about the work I was doing to make him successful.

You can't buy a feeling like that.

do you have to belong to the union?
and
what portion of your pay goes to the union?
 

Cracked

New member
The pay sorta sucks, and the government doesn't exactly want thinking people.
That's why education quality is abysmal.

The system would be streamlined a whole lot if public schools were turned into worker-owned, democratic cooperatives, and they were subsidized (if at all) according to the quality of the education they offer.

People tend to think that education is all the educators doing. It is not. We have a great deal of opportunity for education in this country, but it isn't a given. That is what we need to protect - the opportunity. If you make it so that good schools are expensive, only rich people's children will attend. It is that simple. This will turn "poor" schools into holding pens specializing in damage control. The opportunity is gone - and children will have even greater difficulty doing better than their parents did.
 

rocketman

Resident Rocket Surgeon
Hall of Fame
People tend to think that education is all the educators doing. It is not. We have a great deal of opportunity for education in this country, but it isn't a given. That is what we need to protect - the opportunity. If you make it so that good schools are expensive, only rich people's children will attend. It is that simple. This will turn "poor" schools into holding pens specializing in damage control. The opportunity is gone - and children will have even greater difficulty doing better than their parents did.

California has started many charter schools and it has been a good thing. It puts standards on the teachers and the students. The dismal state of public education can be directly linked to the lack of standards on teachers & students. Good students should not be held hostage in these "holding pens" just to be fair to the children that are poor students, disengaged, uninterested, et al. Nor should I as a taxpayer be forced to educate my children in a substandard school with substandard teachers and curriculum. Vouchers allow competition,and competition breeds excellence.
 

Cracked

New member
California has started many charter schools and it has been a good thing. It puts standards on the teachers and the students. The dismal state of public education can be directly linked to the lack of standards on teachers & students. Good students should not be held hostage in these "holding pens" just to be fair to the children that are poor students, disengaged, uninterested, et al. Nor should I as a taxpayer be forced to educate my children in a substandard school with substandard teachers and curriculum. Vouchers allow competition,and competition breeds excellence.

There is probably a way to balance it, and I am all for that. However, I am not for saying - "tell hell with those kids, I got mine Jack." And, though few people would use those words, that is in fact what they work to accomplish. Many people will never stand for that - myself included.
 

Ps82

Well-known member
thank you for that

did you have to join the union?
and
how much did it cost you?

I can remember when local teacher organizations were started ... I really didn't care about them one way or the other. Membership was not mandatory ... but they were introduced as a good thing for teachers... so most trustingly joined - me included. Most teachers had so much work to do at school and home that they paid very little attention to the organization ... except when asked to go to a meeting and report back to the faculty about the meeting.

I have usually had little respect for the 'big industrial unions', and did not like it when I began to hear the term union being used regarding the local and national teacher groups, but I did continue to join until I retired ... because being a member afforded me to liability insurance.

Even back then teachers and school systems were developing a great fear of law suits. Only after I retired did I have time to reflect upon what these organizations had become due to our empowering them with cash through our dues. I did not like what I heard.

I think that it is the fear that school boards and principals have of costly law suits, which are often encouraged by powerful liberal groups and their supporters that has broken the will of school boards and principals to fight for what is right.

Regarding my opinion - I am concerned that these groups are often run by evil people, who look for like-minded supporters ... and who then do not hesitate to use extortion tactics through the courts to get their way.

The teacher's union does not necessarily bring law suits ... but when evil people get high positions in any of these groups, then they put a lot of real pressure upon school officials... saying that they represent the views of the majority of teachers, students, and parents ... which may or may not be the truth - but who investigates???

The most shocking speaker for me at that particular controversial school board meeting I attended was a representative from the PTSA (Parent Teacher Student Association). I'm almost sure that the views she presented were not the views of most parents and teachers down here in the southern Bible belt ... but she claimed to be sharing their majority views... but up until recently no one ever checked to see if people are lying.

I think it has taken the Tea Party movement and people like GB, etc., etc., that have created a healthier culture for citizens to question everything!

So sorry this is off-topic.
 

Servo

Formerly Shimei!
LIFETIME MEMBER
Teachers should be paid according to what the market will bear. Meaning, there should be no public schools, only private.

And if you are worried about the quality of your kid's education then home school.
 
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