Ah yes, there’s nothing wrong with public schools that higher teacher salaries wouldn’t fix.

Feel free to tell us how we can say that we think that you’re paid more than you deliver without being called bitter and angry.

Remember, we’re forced to pay your salaries, so don’t point to folks who you feel are overpaid that are being paid by volunteers. Moreover, since you’re accepting the salaries, they’re clearly adequate.

BTW – If you successfully make the argument that teachers should be paid more to attract higher quality teachers, the current ones won’t be the ones getting more money. See if you can figure out why.

I just talked with a parent who showed me the fundraising kick-off letter for 06 at her child’s school. She’d worked hard on the 05 stuff and raised a lot of money and was looking forward to hearing where it went.

The 06 letter said that the 05 money went for a some of expensive outdoor benches. (She knew the total raised, the letter said how many, so simple arithmetic tells us the price per bench, which we can compare to comparable items at Home Depot.) She looked around the school and didn’t see any new benches, so she asked “where are the expensive new benches that the 06 money bought?”

It’s Feb 07 and they still haven’t been able to show her those benches.

> I wonder why education seems to be the focus of their criticism when there are so many other government programs that suck the coffers dry with even fewer benefits.

This is an education blog, so it’s somewhat unreasonable to expect discussion of other things here. But, I do appreciate being told what I find important and what I should find important.

However, thanks for demonstrating the innumeracy that is so common among public school advocates. About half of CA’s tax revenues go to public education. CA may have a bit higher percentage than other states, but no other area is even close, so there’s no room for one other govt program that wastes as much money as public education, let alone “many”.

Teachers cannot just get another job during the summer, especially if we teach at year-round schools that spread out “vacation” time throughout the year. We also have staff development, planning, and preparation time during these “vacations,” so our time off is strictly limited. Also, I am required to stay after school for meetings, conferences, and other school functions. Since most parents work, I must be available when they get off work. I’ve been at school since 7 a.m., and I’m staying until 8 or 9 p.m. two to three nights a week. Frequently parents do not show, do not call and the meeting has to be rescheduled, requiring me to stay another night. By the time I finish all the conferences, it’s almost time to start them again.

We don’t get normal “vacation time,” sick days, or personal days at my school like my husband does at his job. One school system I worked for actually docked my pay for my substitute when I was sick! I do not get a lunch minute, forget a lunch hour. My class eats in our classroom, and I heat their food in a tiny microwave because we do not have a lunch program or cafeteria. We do not have music or art teachers, so I integrate these specialized subjects into my lessons. These subjects require specialized skills which I do not possess.

I admire first grade teachers; they have an enormous load to bear. These amazing people teach your children how to read, probably the single most important skill they will learn in their life. First grade teachers take tiny 5 and 6 year old children whose knowledge may or may not include their alphabet and basic sounds, and turn them into little happy readers. If you have never witnessed this, you need to go to your nearest first grade class and spend several months observing what goes on. It is utterly amazing. The amount of preparation it takes to do this for 20 or so kids who are all on different levels, requiring separate plans for each child, is just short of phenomenal.

In my fourth grade class I have students who are still learning to read basic sight words, and students who can read anything I put in front of them. I have students who cannot learn math unless they are moving, and students who are ready for high school algebra. I have a student who can create the most well written essay you could hope to read, except she cannot control her fingers well enough to write on a piece of paper.

Not only do children come to school with varying abilities, they come to school with various learning styles that have to be addressed. I have to teach each lesson to reach eight different ways of learning, which is why I spend eight to ten hours every weekend working on planning and preparation. I have to create most of my materials, due to lack of textbooks. I spend about $2500 of my own money each year supplementing my classroom in one way or another.

Another problem we face in schools is students who come to school hungry, exhausted, abused, and neglected. I’ve bought students school supplies, clothing, and food. I’ve provided transportation when a student’s parent couldn’t come because they didn’t have a car seat for an infant sibling. I’ve stayed at school until 7:30 at night when the family of three students “forgot” who was supposed to pick them up, and didn’t answer their phones when I called.

The comment about teachers being afraid of technology is ludicrous. We are required to become competent in using technology as part of our preparation. We were required to use grading software in the schools in my district. The grading software had bugs in it and routinely crashed just before report cards were due. To compensate for that possibility, we had to keep double books, so I’m sure you can imagine what a time saving device that turned out to be.

I agree with Debbie’s observation that the critics of paying teachers a fair salary seem bitter and angry. (Ok, at least irritated and frustrated). I wonder why education seems to be the focus of their criticism when there are so many other government programs that suck the coffers dry with even fewer benefits. Why do there seem to be so many negative comments made about education, when there are so many shining examples of good teaching, like Debbie’s example? There are plenty of schools in our country that use their money wisely, that make sound educational and financial decisions that enhance student learning, and that serve their communities well. Let’s have a more positive focus, maybe we will have more positive outcomes.

Which reminds me … I need to tell our Pre-Engineering elective teacher to encourage his students to reconsider their goals of becoming engineers or architectures. Why do that when they could enter the so much more lucrative field of teaching? I am amazed that more editors, reporters, psychologists and chemists aren’t beating a path to the alternative certification door. Obviously, it’s one of the best-kept secrets in the world.

I don’t understand why “required of private school students” is important. The goal is to pay public school teachers for their performance. The relative performance of someone else doesn’t seem particularly relevant.

We’ve already found out that public school teachers will not accept any performance test from outsiders. So, you’ll have to provide ones that said teachers are willing to accept.

Secondly, tests are given in each grade, as Debbie noted. I’d love to see some sort of ongoing testing process. That is, that a child who tested at level Z last testing session, next takes a test starting at level Z and getting progressively harder. Another child in that class might have tested at level T and would start at that point and continue on into harder material. THEN, we’d know if that teacher had actually moved any specific child ahead — and by how much. A child starting school 2-3 years behind another child who gains 2.5 years of learning in that year of schooling (pretty good, eh?) will still test out as lower — lower than grade level and lower than that other child. That level T child is likely to have progressed at least a year or more too. But, as Debbie pointed out, as tests stand now, if they tested “advanced” to start with — there’s no way to see if they just coasted the next year or if they are more advanced.

IF you could come up with this sort of testing, and made it nationally normed and required it of private school students as well. Well, then, I’d be behind your idea of merit pay for test scores. And I’m not even a teacher yet.

What is Debbie’s objection to that goal? Does she not want educated kids? Does she object to “effective”? Is she objecting to my imputing a goal to society?

The above contains an interesting error.

“Improving public education” isn’t society’s goal.

Society’s goal is to effectively educate kids. The public education system is one way to try to accomplish that goal, but it isn’t the only possible way. And, society doesn’t have any interest in preserving any specific feature of public education, no matter how much its advocates like said feature.

The burden for improving public education must be borne soley by those who want to use public education to accomplish society’s goal of effectively educating kids.

It isn’t our job to make public education work. If public education advocates can’t make it work, too bad for public education.

BTW – Since it’s important to Debbie, I’ll concede that I’m a bad person and that she’s a good person. However, I’ll note that she chose to argue our relative virtue rather than dispute whether I was correct.