The New York Times misses the point. The *biggest* point.

[acroyear]

In Search of Good Teachers - New York Times:

With 50 million children set to return to school, districts all over the country are still scrambling to fill teaching positions and are having an especially difficult time finding qualified applicants to fill shortages in vital areas like math and science. These shortages will persist and the education reform effort will continue to lag until states, localities and the federal government start paying much more attention to how teachers are trained, hired and assigned.

Guess which word is missing there.

It's a big one.

A HUGE one.

"PAID"

Until this nation and these states and localities get off their collective anti-tax, anti-"socialist" arse and actually start PAYING people to be good teachers in those subjects, they will NEVER EVER EVER increase the candidate pool.  When the difference between a math major doing engineering work 3 years out of college and a math major being a public school teacher 3 years out of college is a factor of FOUR, then there is simply no contest.  To live well enough to match your own education and status, you need to be paid what your brain is worth or you will never find job satisfaction.

Giving a person a choice between a $26,000 teaching job and a $100,000 engineering or programming job?

Well, you could do the math if you ever had qualified teachers to teach you...

Teachers are not and have never been paid what they're worth.  Change that, and you change everything.

Comments

[griffinick.livejournal.com]

It is not simply money, for the reasons you stated, but the desire for RESPECT and being treated like a professional. However, to be treated as a professional means they should be paid as a professional also. People are leaving the profession for a combination of reasons, and honestly I don't blame them. Teaching has become a thankless job. When was the last time you thanked your teachers for their hard work, caring and dedication to you as their student (not to pick on you specifically, but rather to make a point)?

With the new "teach to the tests" curriculum that "No Child Left Behind" has demanded, the creativity and freedom teachers once had in developing unique and personal teaching methods and styles have also been diminished. Frankly, I know that many teachers just simply do not find teaching as fulfilling anymore, especially when combined with a salary that often times is pitiful. It simply becomes "not worth it." I think a lot of things need to change before more people are enticed to go into secondary math and science education, but a salary increase that says to the teacher, "we are paying you like the professional you are," would certainly be a starting point.

[faireraven.livejournal.com]

You know, Gabrielle actually told me my mother was one of the reasons why schools sucked up money, and that she didn't deserve to get paid what she did?

I almost had a coronary when I heard that one.

My mother is one of the exceptions, because she got hired off the salary grid, they needed an ESL teacher to start the program, and they needed one NOW. She wasn't interested in the job until they told her they wouldn't cap her like the other teachers were.

My mother earns about as much as my husband does now, but that's after 40 years worth of teaching, developing the entire department curriculum, and putting up with the crap they gave her for the longest time when she was trying to work for the students, and the school slapped her one for it. She still tries to work for the students, and teh school hates her for it, but they can't get rid of her until she chooses to retire. The fact that she's getting paid as well as she is makes up for the other crap she's taking, but she's an exception to the rule in what she gets paid.

If my dad were still working in teaching, he'd be getting paid less than I am.

[blueeowyn.livejournal.com]

Speaking as an N of one, I am still in contact with one of my high school teachers (class of 87) that I am profoundly grateful for the work she did. I did thank the teachers who cared for us as people and did their best. I will admit to not thanking the ones who insisted that the SLRD kids and the TAG kids achieve the same standards.

I don't speak as much to my college teachers but several knew they were appreciated. I still see some every now and again and we greet each other.