For those who think teachers are "over paid"......

[user_name]

I don't think good teachers are overpaid, but I do think there are a lot of people teaching who are a drain and dead weight on the tax payers.
Good teachers don't need public sector union support. However, the ones who have no business in the classroom do.

+1

In my experiences at school, it seems that the majority of the teachers there actually do belong there and need to be paid more for their efforts. Then there are the other teachers, who don't actually teach and are as dumb as a stump. I have no problem with teachers being paid much more if they have to take STRICT testing every year to qualify as a teacher.

 

[happypoet]

I have no problem with teachers being paid much more if they have to take STRICT testing every year to qualify as a teacher.

And what test might that be?
I'm not trying to be harsh, but it is rarely a lack of content-knowledge (or anything else that can be tested for) that makes bad teachers bad.

 

[Lady G]

+1

In my experiences at school, it seems that the majority of the teachers there actually do belong there and need to be paid more for their efforts. Then there are the other teachers, who don't actually teach and are as dumb as a stump. I have no problem with teachers being paid much more if they have to take STRICT testing every year to qualify as a teacher.

Unfortunately...this happens in all lines of employment, there are those who do their job well, and then there are those who do not...but they still get the same pay.

Although, teachers really do not get paid that much for all the schooling they had to go through to get their job, and all the crap they have to deal with.

 

[MisaHasTheEyes]

What if we give teachers raises but, say, cut some of the admins and other staff? My elementary school had 1 principal and 4 vices. This was not a large school. Keep the secretaries, janitors, lunchladies, but do we need so much 'higher up' dead weight?

 

[IceH2O]

Don't know why we need teachers anyway. Just stick the kids in front of a screen and let them watch anything they want and fill it with subliminal lessons of english,math,science etc...They'd gain more education that way.

Or just do online school, that way everyone can do it from home. For the few that don't have computers they can meet at a small building to be taught online instead of these huge schools that cost millions to look modern. When did schools have to be anything more then a brick building?

 

[platytudes]

I have no problem with teachers being paid much more if they have to take STRICT testing every year to qualify as a teacher.

I can't imagine such a test either. The poorest teachers usually are lacking in social skills more than anything...few of them do not understand what they are teaching. I don't know what kind of personality tests teachers are required to take, if any, but I agree that some teachers simply are not a personality fit for a teaching profession. They may or may not know this themselves, some seem to choose a career in teaching in spite of seeming to hate everything about it!

However I have never had a teacher who is truly clueless about what they are teaching, except for maybe a substitute.

 

[fish-n-chips]

Don't know why we need teachers anyway. Just stick the kids in front of a screen and let them watch anything they want and fill it with subliminal lessons of english,math,science etc...They'd gain more education that way.

Or just do online school, that way everyone can do it from home. For the few that don't have computers they can meet at a small building to be taught online instead of these huge schools that cost millions to look modern. When did schools have to be anything more then a brick building?

???????? Yeah that's a good idea, remove children from a scructured environment. Who you gonna pay to sit there and make certain the chiildren are doing their own work or doing it all .
The teachers don't design or approve the schools.
Your whole post makes no sense and only gives credence to the exact reason that schools are needed.

 

[jpappy789]

Personally I agree with the "good" teacher. Every school district tests their students. teachers whose students don't score well consistently should be pretty easy to identify.

If only standardized tests were that simple and straightforward.

 

[Zaffy]

???????? Yeah that's a good idea, remove children from a scructured environment. Who you gonna pay to sit there and make certain the chiildren are doing their own work or doing it all .
The teachers don't design or approve the schools.
Your whole post makes no sense and only gives credence to the exact reason that schools are needed.

The second part of his post is actually an option. I work in an independent study program where all of my students actually do their work online. They come into the physical classroom only when they need help on a subject, or to do exams.

We have 80 full time online students, and then 500 part time online students (they take classes on the main school campus, but augment or make up a class with us after school).

Our main campus teachers didn't design the school, but they had a major say in the content that is provided. It's actually pretty easy to catch cheating, someone still has to grade everything, or in my case I check a lot of work before it's turned in at all.

 

[platytudes]

Most people wish that they could get more money for what they do. Most people agree that most people should get paid more. Then somebody has to sign the check. Too many people don't care as long as it isn't or at least doesn't seem like it's their name on the dotted line.

I don't know if it will ever happen, but I sure hope that in my lifetime people will fully realize the various false economies we've set up over generations, and make changes accordingly. Skimping on education is definitely one of those. Education costs pay for themselves in the long run, there is a clear correlation between education and economy which most everyone is aware of to some degree. The results are quantifiable and qualifiable...the kind of results we expect with any investment. Perhaps the cost-benefit analysis is not as easy to track as a road construction project. However I believe most Americans (if given the chance...we aren't, since our government is not set up as a true democracy) would vote to fund education, instead of flatten hills or widen shoulders. We just don't get a chance to make those decisions or even voice our reactions to them in any meaningful way, for a myriad of reasons.