[Vision2020] Teachers and Teaching

[TIM RIGSBY]

Visionaries:

Currently I am student teaching in an unnamed school in an unnamed school 
district in the state of Idaho.  Throughout my experience so far I can 
honestly say that yeah, SOME teachers are overpaid, SOME teachers make just 
the right amount of money, and FEW teachers are paid enough.  Considering 
most professions that come from four years of college, a college degree, 
advanced training, volunteer work, and other requirements of college 
students these days, most beginning teachers are underpaid.

$27,500 for a first year teacher really is not much money considering what 
beginning teachers must do to be fully prepared for a new job post 
graduation from college.  Pretty much every new teacher heads into their 
first job with virtually nothing for their classroom.  Granted yes, the 
teacher that was in the room before may have left some books, a few posters, 
and a stapler, but most new teachers have diddly for their classrooms.  A 
large part of an effective school and an effective teacher is the 
environment for which students actively participate in learning, ie the 
classroom space.  In order to fully and adequately fill the need of a safe 
and hazard free learning environment, many teachers must invest many hours 
and dollars into resources for their classroom.  In an ideal world, the 
school itself would provide these resources, but since this is Idaho, the 
resources are provided by the teacher.  Think of what books cost for a 
classroom library specific to the content you teach; the cost of videos and 
other forms of media to enhance learning; think of the cost of posters and 
other artwork that help establish a diverse and exciting learning 
environment.  Now who ultimately pays for these things?  It is not the 
school, it is not the parents, it is not the students, it is the teacher, 
the beginning teacher.

Another area of though would be to compare the training of a teacher to the 
training of other professionals, engineers, doctors, lawyers, etc.  Most 
teachers go through a 4 year training period with at least a full semester 
dedicated to unpaid practicum experience.  Now at the same time, most 
students studying engineering, law, and medicine also fulfill a 4 year 
program prior to advanced training which may or may not include an 
internship, most of which are paid internships that eventually lead to a job 
that is paid.  Okay, now consider the time a teacher spends pursuing 
continuing education credits or a masters degree.  Just like their 
professional counterparts, engineers, doctors, and lawyers, advanced 
training is a requirement of the profession.  And just like their 
professional counterparts, an increase in pay is awarded.  However, the rate 
of increase of engineers, doctors, and lawyers, drastically jumps leaps and 
bounds above that of teachers.  This old question comes to mind, who is 
responsible for preparing doctors, lawyers, and engineers?  The answer is 
always teachers yet those professionals almost always are paid more than the 
one who trained them.

The bottom line of this rant is that we as a society obviously do not value 
educators as much as we value professionals in engineering, law, and 
medicine.  We also obviously don't value teachers as much as professional 
athletes who generally are looked upon as role models yet get bailed out of 
jail, abuse drugs and alcohol, and get caught with hookers on a regular 
basis.  Now is the time to value education and ask for more money for MOST 
teachers and demerits for SOME.

What is the process of evaluation for paying these teachers?  I don't feel 
as though I have an answer to that question.  George W. Bush has suggested 
that NCLB and testing be the evaluation.  Is this really an authentic 
evaluation?  The answer to the question about how to evaluate teachers is 
probably not in student performance as not all students will perform on a 
standardized test. A cookie cutter assessment may not work well for our 
teachers either.  It will take a while, with lots of trial and error to 
fully understand the complicated world of teacher and student assessment.

Tim Rigsby

Revolution is not a word but an application; it is not war but peace; it 
does not weaken, but strengthens. Revolution does not cause separation; it 
generates togetherness.
-John Africa, Strategic Revolution

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