Get Rid of Tenure

Public schools do exceptionally well in wealthy and upper middle class areas. They do poorly in urban, poor and minority areas in most cases. That tells us right there what the problem is. And it isn't teachers or unions.

I for one think teachers are hugely underpaid, overworked and unappreciated. They are expected to be parents, friends, doctors & nurses and teachers. When a gold toothed thug can make over $1M per year (LeBron James $80M for 5 YEARS) playing basketball and teachers in central Kansas make $25,000 per year, something is wrong.

Teachers are easy targets. Poverty and crime are tougher to tackle, thus the teacher bashing continues....

 

Log in or Sign up to hide all adverts.

Yes, lots of people have employment contracts. Even if they want you to leave, they still have to pay you. It is common in jobs where there is alot of competition to get the best people, like in sports. I don't think it is possible to outlaw contractual obligations. Certainly colleges aren't required to offer it.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide all adverts.

Teachers can't be fired. It's almost impossible. But they can be transferred. Where do you think the bad ones end up? At the urban, poor, and minority areas you're so concerned about.

I live in an upper middle class area with one of the best school systems in the state. It's the main reason I moved to this particular neighborhood. A couple years ago one of my kids had a HORRIBLE teacher. My wife, who is also a teacher, complained and complained. Ultimately, the teacher was transferred to another school.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide all adverts.

People with money approach education seriously. That isn't the case in many poor areas, whether in rural or urban settings. If you have parents that need you on the farm fulltime, or parents that never got an education themselves then the problem begins. Not all teachers in poor performing districts are bad. Much more is expected of them with less funding, less parental interest and often times less pay for a truly thankless job. In wealthier suburbs people have the income to support their schools and patrons take a real interest in their kids' education. But instead of tackling the problems of poverty, crime and dead-end neighborhoods we still just seem to LOVE bashing the last frontier of hope for these kids; Their Teachers.

 

I disagree - I think that the idea of teachers being underpaid is a myth. The average salary for a teacher is around 44k, which is close to the average national salary in the US. It's a pretty normal salary for someone who only has a bachelor’s degree. And by the way, the average teacher salary in Kansas is $38k.

People like LeBron James are highly paid because they do a job that very, very few people are able to do. Almost anyone can teach if they want to – it doesn’t require any special intelligence, ability, or education.

University professors are arguably underpaid - a typical professor starts around $40k-$60k, rather than the $80k+ that they could make in industry...but then, only something like 25% of PhD holders go into academia.

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos069.htm
http://www.kssmallbiz.com/articles/article_232.asp

 

I have a friend that teaches in central Kansas. She makes $10,000 less per year than I do as a custodian in a wealthier district. I do believe teachers should make much, much more than they do for the job we expect out of them. They're easy targets for 3rd Reich Radioheads and talking heads on Family Values Fox Network but the usual conservative approach is to ignore the real tough problems in poorer districts and let the problem 'trickle down' to the next generation. Meanwhile it's still hip to open fire on teachers.

 

Apparently teachers in Australia are paid three times as much as teachers in South Africa, so maybe tenure would help here. Science education in particular isn't nearly good enough - but I wonder how much of that is lack of qualified people, and how much lack of attraction to teaching as a career.

 

It's always sad when people are underpaid, but the statistics seem to show that, on average, teachers are well-paid in the US. The average national salary for people with a bachelor's degree is $51k. With an average of 44k, teachers are only only making about 12% less than the average bachelor's salary. This does not seem like a huge discrephancy to me.

 

You won't find salaries for teachers like that except in big cities and their suburbs. Even where I work, in an upscale 3rd ring suburban public school district teachers make no where near $51k in public schools. I think if everyone had to walk in someone else's shoes for a year we'd see alot more respect for non corporate jobs.

 

Salaries are low in general in Kansas. The average annual income in Kansas is just $34k - so once again, since teachers in KS are making an average of $35k/year they are very close to the average income for their area.

http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_ks.htm

 

Interesting link. Cost of living is also low in the KC area. A friend and his wife just sold their $300,000 house here. And in Chicago, their new home, the same size house lists at $800,000+

 

It tells us where the problem is, not what!

 

The problem is trans-generational poverty among US minorities in urban areas.