[Vision2020] Teachers and Teaching

[Donovan Arnold]

Tim,

I agree there is no fair salary for teachers. However,
I work in the medical field, and they get paid less
than teachers do. Do not have the needed equipment
that the law requires them to have, or the people. Not
to mention you cannot run to win-co and pick up
supplies you need, you have to go through about 5000
legal hoops and pay $10 for something that costs $1 at
wal-mart. If you think textbook companies rip you off,
you should see what medical suppliers charge medicare
and medicaid for a band aid or box of tissues. 

My job has more legal regulations than a nuclear power
plant, I kid you not.

I think the problem with the education field is the
same problem with the medical field, the top people
are getting paid too much while the people on the
bottom are paid so little the organization cannot find
qualified people. 

In the medical field, I think it is pharmaceutical
companies and medical suppliers that take the biggest
chunk out. In schools, it is suppliers and
administrators.

Take Care,

Donovan J Arnold 

 

--- TIM RIGSBY <tim.rigsby at hotmail.com> wrote:

> 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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