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I agree with the tenure thing, and I don't know what determines teacher pay, but some great teachers get a lot less than that! I co-worker of mine who was earning over $50,000 a year quit his job and went back to school to become a teacher whn his wife was accepted into medical school at Columbia. He figured she'd be making the big bucks so his income did not matter, and he could do what he loved. He got his Masters degree and then taught in NYC for a few years, doing outward bound programs in the summer. When his wife got an internship is Seattle, he got a job as a science teacher at Issaquah high. After just one year, he was voted Issaquah's teacher of the year. His salary? $27,000, and that is only because he had experience and a Masters degree. He quit after 2 years because he needed to make some more $ to pay down his wife's student loans, so he tutored for a few years. His wife landed a real job at a hospital in Bellingham, so he is again teaching HS up there. This is an article on him, he recently was awarded State Teacher of the Year:
http://www.washingtonea.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1828&catid=179&Itemid=91
He devotes so much of his free time to lesson planning and stuff to make his classes interesting that is has become a major issue in his marriage. When he is home on school holidays and his wife is working, they hire a sitter to watch their 2 boys because he is busy learning and planning new lessons. His wife told me that some years the sitter gets paid more than he makes!
I'm not saying that all teachers should work this hard, but certainly teachers this dedicated should be paid more than a tenured teacher with no passion ofr the job. Those teachers need to go!
Another thing that bugs me is the huge push our district is doing in science and math - we have some of the best scores in the state in our little school district in these subjects. Some kids, however, are not cut out for this, and there needs to be a wider variety of classes available to them, including more vocational training. I guess it is a drawback of living in a district with only one extrememly over-crowded high school. Geographically, we are the largest district in the state. Some of those poor kids have to sit in that schoolbus an awfully long time!
I remember reading John Steinbeck's "East of Eden" 20+ years ago. In it I was struck by a line. I no longer remember the story, but there was a farmer with 2 sons, one built big and strong, the other with hands like a lady, and rather weak and prone to daydreaming. The father lamented that they were going to have to send him to college because he just physically does not have what it takes to work on a farm. It was said in the same tone that people refer to vocational schools now, the fall back plan for kids who can't cut it. That was once how college was viewed. With the extremely high numbers of people attending college now, I think it will once again be viewed that way. Without a graduate degree, college no longer sets you apart from the crowd. Everybody goes! And for the most part, colleges teach no practical hands-on skills. In my opinion, this should give the advantage to the kids who went to vocational schools! There are some jobs that can NEVER be shipped overseas ... you aren't going to send your car to China to be repaired, nor your plumbing to India ..... My job, assay development (molecular biology/genetics) for a local pharmaceutical company is now done in Taiwan. My coworkers scattered all over the country looking for jobs, and some fantastic older scientists with PhD's and impressive credential remain unemployed after more than 2 years since their jobs went overseas. They spent 10 years in colleges earning advanced degrees and holding internships for itty bitty stipends, the next 15 paying off their student loans. The jobs limit you to working in only a few cities in the country, all with very high costs of living. Sure the mechanic may earn a bit less, but he can live ANYWHERE, and no student loans, at least not big ones! College is often highly over-rated.
He sounds like an awesome teacher wish there were more like him!! I spent money on college and paid off the loan, but, my body couldn't hack the punishment any more, it took me going to a oil field job to pay the loan off and I made 2 xs more then I ever did as a vet tech!!! I didn't need a degree for the oil field job, but, it does break my heart I don't or can't work that job any more!!!