Feedback Loop: Classroom Warfare
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Questioning teacher pay may be the third rail of education policy.
Few things get teachers talking quite like their paycheck, so we knew a recent post about a teacher salary study would get some reaction.
And did it ever.
Most people criticized the study, conducted by two conservative-leaning think tanks, with some picking apart the methodology. A few said the criticism of teacher pay is the opposite of class warfare critiques of the wealthy.
A few people argued teachers do have it as good as the report concluded.
When was the last time anyone negotiated a salary based on the SAT or GRE score? In 25 years as a licensed engineer, it has NEVER come up. I would question also what the authors consider “equivalent”. Frankly speaking, if teaching paid as well as the engineering profession, in general, I think there would be a lot more talented people interested in teaching as a career, including me! We have a similar situation in the financial sector, which drains off talent from the sciences and engineering fields because the potential rewards in terms of direct compensation are much greater.
Reading through this barrage of comments on teachers’ pay and benefits, I have yet to see any that address the fundamental value of teachers’ work.
I venture to suggest that no one who has posted here was born able to write or otherwise communicate without someone’s have taught him or her. Going farther, I would further suggest that no one making huge amounts of money – as CEOs, as Wall Street speculators (who, by the way, produce absolutely nothing as they push money around), as physicians, as computer geniuses, as . . . you name it – could have done so without teachers to start them on their way and guide them toward the realization of their potentials.
Overpaid? We should not expect to entrust our children’s education to teachers paid bargain-basement compensation any more than we should expect to find Tiffany-value diamonds at Wal-Mart. Teachers are the foundation of the future, on which our children will build their lives; anyone who believes they are overpaid would build his house on sand. If anything, they should be valued considerably closer to those who benefit most from their work.
c.treat said teachers have options if they feel underpaid:
If a person feels that teaching is hard and doesn’t feel compensated enough for the job they should seek another profession. There’s no use pleasing and arguing – make a decision – stay and be dedicated or just leave.
Second Amendment Democrat dives into the methodology:
“Data-driven” studies base their conclusions on metrics which, as with all statistical measures, are totally tailorable . Using the appropriately inappropriate data, I can turn almost any question into a referendum that favors either side, depending on who is paying me. And these are the Kochs’ minions.
It’s very simple, you just look for the measures that fit your decision, and use these as the input stream.
“Emotional” reactions (of course, so many teachers are women, after all) definitely play no part in conservative thought processes, these are, as always, geared toward transferring ownership and control of all available resources – cash, land, women, buildings, utilities, mineral rights – into the hands of the same minority that has destroyed America for the sake of an additional profit they will never need – except to brag about at the AFP conferences.and Skull-and-Bomes klaverns.
Reader reaction is an important part of building StateImpact Florida’s education coverage. Feedback Loop will be a regular feature highlighting your questions, criticisms and comments.