At least someone respects the work that teachers do

Really? Rich people who are paying LESS in taxes proportionally than the middle class aren't sucking money out of the treasury?

By the way, having a well-educated populous puts money in the treasury. But you don't care about that.

 

Yep, retiring at 47 with a tax payer funded pension is a real drag.

 

If only we had a quality education system, you would have a point, but unfortunately, explaining the importance of education does not defend our current education system.

 

I'm sorry, but do we have a well educated populace? Is that what the public school system is supposed to do?

Is that why we see so many high school graduates who can't read and write?

Is that why colleges have to have remedial courses for their freshmen?

 

When it comes to government "education,"that statist assumption appears to be that it's always holy and always good. Without question. It doesn't matter what the teachers are teaching, what the results are, whether there is a better alternative, whether there is a less expensive alternative, or even what "education" means. By golly, the "Department of Education" is called the "Department of Education" so it must be about education, right?? And therefore the more money it gets, the more education we get, right??

Any substantive outside-the-box questions regarding the goals of education should be and how to best obtain them is verboten. Questions like: do government-funded schools teach students to think critically and independently? Are they intended to? Isn't there are inherent danger and conflict of interest giving the state control over the minds of the young? Is the sit-at-desk-listen-to-teacher method of "education" the best method? Is it healthy? Is formal schooling even necessary to inculcate most of the skills of knowledge young people need? Or is true education a matter of being out in the real world and experiencing it?

 

I wonder if Matt Damon has chosen to supplement the income of the teachers about which he has such affinity.

Or has Dave1mo, for that matter?

Or is this rhetoric of having the backs of teachers...hollow?

 

This is left talking point that doesn't bear out. Another poster refuted it using IRS code. Go find it.

Populace. Supreme irony enjoyably noted.

 

Literacy rates are the highest they've ever been in this country, actually.

 

The irony of mixing up homonyms late in the evening on a message board being...? Surely you don't consider yourself to be perfect. Or do you?

 

My, I did not realize that only teachers where unappreciated and earning less than they want or think they deserve.

Teachers, police fire and all other public workers are just workers like anyone else. Private sector workers work just as hard or harder without recognition.

From what I can tell, most of them know this. It is the liberal hacks that use them as examples in their ideological war on freedom.

 

I wonder if Subdermal has chosen to supplement the income of the military for which he has such an affinity. Or is this rhetoric...hollow?

(By the way, Matt Damon has given a significant amount of money towards educational foundations. Maybe you should do your research).

 

Provide some evidence for this statement, please.

 

Was your school district willing to pay the market wage for someone who understands math and can also teach it? People who can handle math have a lot of career opportunities that are a lot easier and a lot more lucrative than teaching.

 

They are the only bit of 'education' in this country that is picking my pocket.

Any organization that holds the educators responsible for their job does a better job than our unionized school system.

 

Less taxes and regulation do not lead to crappy schools, unions do.

 

Anyone who fails to do their job, yet gets paid anyway needs to be demoralized. California has the highest paid teachers in the nation, yet ranks 47th out of 50 in education. The very definition of failure.

 

Exactly.... I think sometimes on the left they have overly romantic notions of who certain groups of people are. Just because you are a teacher does not mean you are incappable of doing wrong. They are just people like everyone else.... there are good ones.... and really crappy ones too....

 

I'm with you on this. I was the pres of the 1 Class at a Time program for two years and worked with a lot of educators. The work they do is harder than people realize, they have to get an upper grad education, student loans, bs from parents who blame them for poor grades while using tv or video games and the internet as baby-sitters, having to pay out of their own pockets for photocopies (they inevitebly exceed their quotas) and worst of all, trying to be creative and inspiring is impossible under No Child Left Behind.
I never realized what they went through until then. So although I am generally "anti-union", direct experience has given me an appreciation for teachers that makes me hope they earn much more than they do now.

 

I don't give a crap about what this overpaid actor says. The teachers union ruined Long Island, NY. Property taxes doubles and for some tripled over the past 10 years making Long Island unlivable for it's youth.

What teaching methods have changed over the past decade or more to push many people's property taxes to 5 digits? I'll answer that for you: NONE. They get paid better than the national average in salary and their benefits and retirement are second to none since they don't have to pay into anything.

In some school districts here they are cutting services to save money!! Can you believe that crap!? Every year school districts threaten cuts and every year property taxes go up yet schools cry poverty. What the hell have they been doing with all the money?! Oh that's right, spending it on overrated teachers.

 

For the Bold, you can the Bush and NCLB. What pieces of crap.

 

Matt was writing to his mother. I'm sorry so many people confuse teachers with the teachers unions. I am sorry that so many people confuse the pitiful results or our system with the performance and dedication of individual teachers.

 

Except they did choose those employees, and they can fire/not renew those employees. Seriously, when's the last time you held a position of significane in the educational system?

 

Then why is Norway's educational system (which is significantly more heavily unionized than our system) the best in the world?

 

Why would teachers get paid LESS than the national average in salary when 100% of them have to have Bachelor's degrees, and a significant portion of THOSE have to have even more advanced degrees? Would you expect people with MBA's to make less than the national average?

Fact is, people who make this argument have no clue about the strict rules governing who can and cannot teach. 100% of teachers have Bachelor's degrees, and only 25-30% of the general population have one.

 

mediocrity is , by definition, average.

the fact is that most students are average and many fall below average.

Years ago those that were below average quit scholl at 14 or 16 and got a job in the coal mine, steel factory or soda shop.

now, eveyone is required to finish high school and go on to college.

Somehow expectations are not meeting reality.

that is not the fault of the unions or teachers. Teachers and unions can not make the changes that are needed to put 2/3 of our school students into a vocational track instead of an academic track.