Onery why do you think your house is more expensive?? could a good school system be a reason? Property value and good schools are mutually beneficial. The better the school, the more people who are willing to move there, which results in higher demand for housing, which leads to higher prices for houses, which leads to more money for the schools, which means the schools can hirer better teachers, which translates to an even better school. The harsh reality is the rich school districts get richer while the poor districts get poorer. WHen you say that a city should be enough to finance its school, I don't think how big a city is. MOst of the time you're only seeing the rich areas.
OK Ornery now your finally telling us why you are so fed up with the public ed. system in your locale and I won't say you don't have a right to be upset. But lets look at the numbers you are giving now.
As it is now, the average spent statewide for each student on average is probably about $4,500+ Federal, State and Local combined. $4,500 x 20 students is $90,000 per class! The teacher sucks up half that for 180 days effort. Where the hell is the rest of it going?
So your saying that 20 kids can be taught for $90,000 for 180 days including 1 teacher. OK lets subtract the teachers pay of, you say, $45,000 and we're left with $45,000. OK lets look at where the rest of the money goes.
Lets divide the $45,000 by the 20 kids to get $2250. And then lets divide that $2250 by the 180 days that the kid is in school and we get a whopping $12.50 a day. Now I'm no numbers genius but if you can provide a bus ride, electricity for lighting, AC/heat, and materials needed for teaching, the land for the school, a decent school, and everything else it takes to teach a kid I'd say $12.50 per kid per day is one hellofa feat!
Now I don't know about Ohio but in NC people pay $100+ dollars a week for daycare for a kid that's not even old enough to speak and I don't feel they are getting their moneys worth either but noone is fighting to get them a voucher!
I mean you pay half of what most people pay per kid per day for day care and hopefully your kid gets intelligent and you want to biatch and moan.
Dude I know your frustrated with the current situation that your local school system and your kids are in but when you talk of vouchers and school systems generally sucking then I have to believe those things are coming from your heart and not your head, and that's no way to solve problems.
When you speak like this,
We purchased less of a house than we would like for the sake of living in a decent school district. I could probably buy more house in the rural area, with more property and pay for private school with the difference in what the property tax is here (spread over 30 years). Hmmm, guess that goes for the people that actually did make that choice too, doesn't it? Too bad they can't get credit for sending their kid to the private school... for now anyway.
All you're saying is is that you had two choices and you made what you thought was the best decision for your family at that particular time in your lives. People have to make life decisions every day and the one you made was no different than theirs. Hindsight is 20/20. But I could just as easily say that you are just envious of the people that have the means to send their kids to private school and although there is a public school system that does a good job, you want the Govment to give you the money to send yours there too!
But I won't because I don't believe that is the way you are.
All I can say is, go to the PTAs, PTOs, and all school board meetings you can and try to make a difference there.
But honestly at $12.50 a day per kid to me seems more that fair.
As it is now, the average spent statewide for each student on average is probably about $4,500+ Federal, State and Local combined. $4,500 x 20 students is $90,000 per class! The teacher sucks up half that for 180 days effort. Where the hell is the rest of it going?
So your saying that 20 kids can be taught for $90,000 for 180 days including 1 teacher. OK lets subtract the teachers pay of, you say, $45,000 and we're left with $45,000. OK lets look at where the rest of the money goes.
Lets divide the $45,000 by the 20 kids to get $2250. And then lets divide that $2250 by the 180 days that the kid is in school and we get a whopping $12.50 a day. Now I'm no numbers genius but if you can provide a bus ride, electricity for lighting, AC/heat, and materials needed for teaching, the land for the school, a decent school, and everything else it takes to teach a kid I'd say $12.50 per kid per day is one hellofa feat!
Now I don't know about Ohio but in NC people pay $100+ dollars a week for daycare for a kid that's not even old enough to speak and I don't feel they are getting their moneys worth either but noone is fighting to get them a voucher!
I mean you pay half of what most people pay per kid per day for day care and hopefully your kid gets intelligent and you want to biatch and moan.
Dude I know your frustrated with the current situation that your local school system and your kids are in but when you talk of vouchers and school systems generally sucking then I have to believe those things are coming from your heart and not your head, and that's no way to solve problems.
When you speak like this,
We purchased less of a house than we would like for the sake of living in a decent school district. I could probably buy more house in the rural area, with more property and pay for private school with the difference in what the property tax is here (spread over 30 years). Hmmm, guess that goes for the people that actually did make that choice too, doesn't it? Too bad they can't get credit for sending their kid to the private school... for now anyway.
All you're saying is is that you had two choices and you made what you thought was the best decision for your family at that particular time in your lives. People have to make life decisions every day and the one you made was no different than theirs. Hindsight is 20/20. But I could just as easily say that you are just envious of the people that have the means to send their kids to private school and although there is a public school system that does a good job, you want the Govment to give you the money to send yours there too!
But I won't because I don't believe that is the way you are.
All I can say is, go to the PTAs, PTOs, and all school board meetings you can and try to make a difference there.
But honestly at $12.50 a day per kid to me seems more that fair.
>>The better the school, the more people who are willing to move there, which results in higher demand for housing, which leads to higher prices for houses, which leads to more money for the schools, which means the schools can hirer better teachers, which translates to an even better school.<<
Sounds good, but the reality is just the opposite of that theory.
Families who move into communities because of good schools are families who have children. The typical young familiy with three school age kids will pay $3000 in local real estate taxes, most of which goes to the school system. But those three kids will cost the school system $13,000 to $20,000 per year. Even if the town revaluates its real estate to reflect increasing home values, the best you can hope for is a doubling of tax revenue... and you still have $7000 to 14,000 deficit for educating those kids. This does NOT "lead to more money for schools". It results in, at the very least, larger class sizes.
Sounds good, but the reality is just the opposite of that theory.
Families who move into communities because of good schools are families who have children. The typical young familiy with three school age kids will pay $3000 in local real estate taxes, most of which goes to the school system. But those three kids will cost the school system $13,000 to $20,000 per year. Even if the town revaluates its real estate to reflect increasing home values, the best you can hope for is a doubling of tax revenue... and you still have $7000 to 14,000 deficit for educating those kids. This does NOT "lead to more money for schools". It results in, at the very least, larger class sizes.
>>but it's been years with no improvement and I haven't heard a better idea...<<
Not quite.
These past forty years have shown a marked improvement
in the status of the teachers' union. Today this union
is by far the most powerful union in the world, and the
most uncompromising, and the greediest, and the most
two-faced, and the sleaziest.
Every year we throw more billions of your dollars
at education, and every year the educational standards
of our children sink a little lower.
Does the union give a rip?
Nope. All they care about is "send more money".
I wish Bush had the guts do what really should be done:
abolish the entire Dept. of Education.
Not quite.
These past forty years have shown a marked improvement
in the status of the teachers' union. Today this union
is by far the most powerful union in the world, and the
most uncompromising, and the greediest, and the most
two-faced, and the sleaziest.
Every year we throw more billions of your dollars
at education, and every year the educational standards
of our children sink a little lower.
Does the union give a rip?
Nope. All they care about is "send more money".
I wish Bush had the guts do what really should be done:
abolish the entire Dept. of Education.
>>Let individuals be responsible for educating their children. Allow the free market reward or punish the outcome of their choice of school and effort.
Some Americans have allowed government to become their cradle to grave lord, and the result is not pretty.<<
Well spoken, Mr Palco.
Nice to hear from you again.
Some Americans have allowed government to become their cradle to grave lord, and the result is not pretty.<<
Well spoken, Mr Palco.
Nice to hear from you again.
Well, GW is being more lenient than I would as far as vouchers go. He gives these troubled schools 2 or 3 strikes before vouchers would even kick in. Seems fair since we've already given them years to do something... anything!
And giving faith-based groups tax dollars to distribute instead of other government bureaucracies seems preferable by over a 2 to 1 margin, since the bureaucracies level of failure and waste is better than double the faith-based programs. Win/win situation on that note.
But we're still in a pickle with Ohio's school funding. Even vouchers won't make the situation change here. Is there a state that does have "fair" means to pay for their schools? Is it a crime for certain cities to throw more money into their schools than their neighbors? It comes out of their pocket, so whose business is it? Our down state neighbors have an eye on that pot of school funding gold. They pulled the same garbage when one city in our area raked in a ton of tax dollars from a nuclear plant in their backyard. The folks down state found a way to pass legislation that sucked half of those nuclear plant dollars into their coffers. Nevermind that they don't have the specter of nuclear cooling towers staring at them everyday. They wanted the money, they had the votes, they took what they could! :|
I get a feeling they're trying to do the same thing with the school funding. We suffer with traffic congestion, smaller residential lots, industrial pollution and smog testing because of it. The benefits of these otherwise negative issues is the extra tax dollars for schools and services. Now I think they'd like to have their cake and eat it too. Nice big lots, quiet streets, lower priced housing and no industrial pollution to worry about. All they gotta do is find a sympathetic judge to give em some tax dollars of those "rich" suburban folks and they'll have it made!
I still think most of their problems would be over if their current combined tax dollars could be spent at private schools instead of the public ones. For some reason the public schools need twice the money of the private schools. Seems like a simple solution to me!
And giving faith-based groups tax dollars to distribute instead of other government bureaucracies seems preferable by over a 2 to 1 margin, since the bureaucracies level of failure and waste is better than double the faith-based programs. Win/win situation on that note.
But we're still in a pickle with Ohio's school funding. Even vouchers won't make the situation change here. Is there a state that does have "fair" means to pay for their schools? Is it a crime for certain cities to throw more money into their schools than their neighbors? It comes out of their pocket, so whose business is it? Our down state neighbors have an eye on that pot of school funding gold. They pulled the same garbage when one city in our area raked in a ton of tax dollars from a nuclear plant in their backyard. The folks down state found a way to pass legislation that sucked half of those nuclear plant dollars into their coffers. Nevermind that they don't have the specter of nuclear cooling towers staring at them everyday. They wanted the money, they had the votes, they took what they could! :|
I get a feeling they're trying to do the same thing with the school funding. We suffer with traffic congestion, smaller residential lots, industrial pollution and smog testing because of it. The benefits of these otherwise negative issues is the extra tax dollars for schools and services. Now I think they'd like to have their cake and eat it too. Nice big lots, quiet streets, lower priced housing and no industrial pollution to worry about. All they gotta do is find a sympathetic judge to give em some tax dollars of those "rich" suburban folks and they'll have it made!
I still think most of their problems would be over if their current combined tax dollars could be spent at private schools instead of the public ones. For some reason the public schools need twice the money of the private schools. Seems like a simple solution to me!
As a student working toward my Masters degree in education, I am currently student teaching in an inner-city high school here in Denver. Actually, the school I am at is currently "ranked" last out of the 12 high schools in the Denver Public School system.
I hate to say it, but the people in this thread bashing the public schools really don't have any idea of all the factors that come into play in public schools.
Right now in CO, the governor has implemented a plan that is basically what many of you are proposing - "perform or die." All students in the public schools in the state are required to take the CSAP test - a standardized test that measures literacy and math ability. The test itself is actually a good test, but the way it is being used is FAR from how the authors intended it. Each school administers the test, and then is given a grade based on the students performance. If a school fails, and continues to fail 3 years in a row, the school essentially is shut down and becomes a charter school.
Right now, all those people criticizing the public schools are cheering, saying what a great way to make the schools, and especially those lazy, greedy teachers accountable, right?
Well, lets look at some of the reasons the school I work at has trouble. (I am sure many other schools face similar problems.)
Attendance: On any given day, though the school has almost 1,200 students enrolled, there are between 800 and 900 students in the building. With the attendance policies that are in place, most teachers could fail 1/2 of their students based solely on attendance. There are numerous reasons for this. Kids have to walk or find a ride to school if they are within three miles of the school. So, there are kids who have to walk three miles through heavily industrialized areas (there are FIVE EPA Superfund sites in our attendance area), through areas known for gang violence and racial conflicts, just to get to school, even if they want to come. (Also note that if a kid misses the CSAP test, the school does not get a zero for the test score, but actually LOSES five points from their overall score. Because of this, the school is adopting some logistical procedures for administering the test that will actually be harmful to most students, but they are trying to cover their asses.)
Poverty: Four years ago, the state ended a mandatory bussing order that had been in place in Denver since 1970 or so. When the school board established the new boundaries for schools, it wasn't done in a manner to be fair and equitable, it was done in a political manner. There is a high school down the street from ours that has a better reputation, and as such, the affluent neighborhoods were zoned to attend that school. When you get outside of our attendance area, there is literally a $10,000 increase in mean income immediately outside the borders. The middle-class and more affluent neighborhoods attend the other school, even though ours is closer and they have to be bussed through our attendance area to get to the school.
Migrant population: This is maybe more unique to our school than others, but we have students that travel through the area with their parents, who are migrant workers, for 3 months at a time, often less. These kids show up, come to school, take standardized tests and bring the schools scores down. They often have little or no record that can be used to assess where they are at.
Someone earlier hit the nail right on the head when he said that parents who send their kids to private schools take a more active role in their kids' education. That is one of the major factors effecting how well a kid does. Because of the environment many of our kids come from, the parents don't focus on that. Many of our kdis do really well, but most of them have support from their parents.
Am I making excuses? No. I am simply pointiung out that people who don't have any idea what goes on in the schools are not aware of all the issues that they face.
Those of you who call the teachers greedy, I almost find that laughable. At the beginning of my program, we went around and asked all the students in the teacher ed. program why they want to be a teacher. The MAJORITY of them were coming from careers in business or technology or even medicine. They were not happy with the shallowness they felt in the business world, and wanted to make a positive impact. It sounds like a cliche, but it is true. We could all be making more money somewhere else.
Go spend a day, or a week in an inner city school and see how quick you are to judge. THEN come back to me and tell me how easy it is. There are some truly amazing teachers at the school I work in. If they didn't love the kids and what they did, there is no way they would stay there.
Just trying to keep things in perspective here people.
I hate to say it, but the people in this thread bashing the public schools really don't have any idea of all the factors that come into play in public schools.
Right now in CO, the governor has implemented a plan that is basically what many of you are proposing - "perform or die." All students in the public schools in the state are required to take the CSAP test - a standardized test that measures literacy and math ability. The test itself is actually a good test, but the way it is being used is FAR from how the authors intended it. Each school administers the test, and then is given a grade based on the students performance. If a school fails, and continues to fail 3 years in a row, the school essentially is shut down and becomes a charter school.
Right now, all those people criticizing the public schools are cheering, saying what a great way to make the schools, and especially those lazy, greedy teachers accountable, right?
Well, lets look at some of the reasons the school I work at has trouble. (I am sure many other schools face similar problems.)
Attendance: On any given day, though the school has almost 1,200 students enrolled, there are between 800 and 900 students in the building. With the attendance policies that are in place, most teachers could fail 1/2 of their students based solely on attendance. There are numerous reasons for this. Kids have to walk or find a ride to school if they are within three miles of the school. So, there are kids who have to walk three miles through heavily industrialized areas (there are FIVE EPA Superfund sites in our attendance area), through areas known for gang violence and racial conflicts, just to get to school, even if they want to come. (Also note that if a kid misses the CSAP test, the school does not get a zero for the test score, but actually LOSES five points from their overall score. Because of this, the school is adopting some logistical procedures for administering the test that will actually be harmful to most students, but they are trying to cover their asses.)
Poverty: Four years ago, the state ended a mandatory bussing order that had been in place in Denver since 1970 or so. When the school board established the new boundaries for schools, it wasn't done in a manner to be fair and equitable, it was done in a political manner. There is a high school down the street from ours that has a better reputation, and as such, the affluent neighborhoods were zoned to attend that school. When you get outside of our attendance area, there is literally a $10,000 increase in mean income immediately outside the borders. The middle-class and more affluent neighborhoods attend the other school, even though ours is closer and they have to be bussed through our attendance area to get to the school.
Migrant population: This is maybe more unique to our school than others, but we have students that travel through the area with their parents, who are migrant workers, for 3 months at a time, often less. These kids show up, come to school, take standardized tests and bring the schools scores down. They often have little or no record that can be used to assess where they are at.
Someone earlier hit the nail right on the head when he said that parents who send their kids to private schools take a more active role in their kids' education. That is one of the major factors effecting how well a kid does. Because of the environment many of our kids come from, the parents don't focus on that. Many of our kdis do really well, but most of them have support from their parents.
Am I making excuses? No. I am simply pointiung out that people who don't have any idea what goes on in the schools are not aware of all the issues that they face.
Those of you who call the teachers greedy, I almost find that laughable. At the beginning of my program, we went around and asked all the students in the teacher ed. program why they want to be a teacher. The MAJORITY of them were coming from careers in business or technology or even medicine. They were not happy with the shallowness they felt in the business world, and wanted to make a positive impact. It sounds like a cliche, but it is true. We could all be making more money somewhere else.
Go spend a day, or a week in an inner city school and see how quick you are to judge. THEN come back to me and tell me how easy it is. There are some truly amazing teachers at the school I work in. If they didn't love the kids and what they did, there is no way they would stay there.
Just trying to keep things in perspective here people.
>>Those of you who call the teachers greedy, I almost find that laughable.<<
I said the teacher's UNION is greedy.
There is no doubt that we have some truly
dedicated, wonderful teachers in this country.
But there is no incentive for good teachers
to do a good job... everybody gets the same
pay raise just for showing up in September.
And many of the people currently running
our schools, who are in their 60's, went
into teaching back in the 50's when "teachers'
college" was the place to go when you couldn't
get in to any other college.
I said the teacher's UNION is greedy.
There is no doubt that we have some truly
dedicated, wonderful teachers in this country.
But there is no incentive for good teachers
to do a good job... everybody gets the same
pay raise just for showing up in September.
And many of the people currently running
our schools, who are in their 60's, went
into teaching back in the 50's when "teachers'
college" was the place to go when you couldn't
get in to any other college.
jobert, the teachers unions neogotiate raises in the range of 3-5% each year. Is that too excessive? The biggest irony is that all the bashers of public education are too cowardly to give up their jobs/careers to be a teacher.
I think that KaBudokan is trying to say
that the poor state of our educational system
is a symptom of a larger problem:
the general decay in certain aspects of our society...
such as the family.
And he is dead right.
But that doesn't change the fact that our
money-motivated fixes of the past forty
years have been total failures,
and it just might be prudent to try
something different.
that the poor state of our educational system
is a symptom of a larger problem:
the general decay in certain aspects of our society...
such as the family.
And he is dead right.
But that doesn't change the fact that our
money-motivated fixes of the past forty
years have been total failures,
and it just might be prudent to try
something different.
Here's something really radical that I'd propose. Send them to boarding schools, away from the violence, the drug war zones, and the dirty slums that they live in right now. But who the hell is going to pay for that? Sometimes I wonder if a child growing up in an orphage would be better than one that goes through 10 foster parents during their child hood. I remember the US had orphages during the great depression era. I haven't heard any stories of systematically tramatized orphans.
>>the teachers unions neogotiate raises in the range of 3-5% each year. Is that too excessive?<<
A teacher who started at 25,000 in 1990 will be making
$83,000 in 2015 if he gets automatic 5% raises.
For a good teacher, that's OK.
For a bad teacher, that's a crime.
In addition to the automatic across the board
"step" raises, most contracts also include
pay increases for additional degrees, courses
for which are also paid for by the school system.
In addition to the automatic across the board
"step" raises, most contracts also include
very generous, and very expensive, fringe benefits.
In addition to the automatic across the board
"step" raises, most teachers also have paying
jobs during the summer, and all have a lot of
holidays/vacations.
A teacher who started at 25,000 in 1990 will be making
$83,000 in 2015 if he gets automatic 5% raises.
For a good teacher, that's OK.
For a bad teacher, that's a crime.
In addition to the automatic across the board
"step" raises, most contracts also include
pay increases for additional degrees, courses
for which are also paid for by the school system.
In addition to the automatic across the board
"step" raises, most contracts also include
very generous, and very expensive, fringe benefits.
In addition to the automatic across the board
"step" raises, most teachers also have paying
jobs during the summer, and all have a lot of
holidays/vacations.
85K might seems a lot now. But in 2015, it'll probably a starting salary most many college grads. Jobert do you realize that we have a CRITICAL SHORTAGE OF TEACHERS????????????????????? All you conservative / self-proclaimed economic experts should understand this supply/demand problem. Go ahead, bash teachers some more, and see if that would encourge more college student to be teachers. WTF is the common sense?
>>Sometimes I wonder if a child growing up in an orphage would be better than one that goes through 10 foster parents during their child hood.<<
About the only worthwhile accomplishment of the Clinton
administration is a radical change in our treatment of
foster children. The law now sets a time limit of two years
for foster children to be given permanency. No more bouncing
around from home to home. No more second, third, and fourth
chances for the birth parents to shape up. The child's
life comes first.
About the only worthwhile accomplishment of the Clinton
administration is a radical change in our treatment of
foster children. The law now sets a time limit of two years
for foster children to be given permanency. No more bouncing
around from home to home. No more second, third, and fourth
chances for the birth parents to shape up. The child's
life comes first.
>>Go ahead, bash teachers some more, and see if that would encourge more college student to be teachers. WTF is the common sense?<<
Some schools have trouble finding teachers.
Some don't.
If you're not sure you want to be a teacher,
you probably ought not to do it.
We have enough uninspired teachers.
Some schools have trouble finding teachers.
Some don't.
If you're not sure you want to be a teacher,
you probably ought not to do it.
We have enough uninspired teachers.
Vouchers Suck.
Plus it will never happen in our lifetime . . . We are, as a nation, a bit too smart to allow the conservative Republicans to go that far.
Lieberman in '04 . . . remember, you heard it here first.
Plus it will never happen in our lifetime . . . We are, as a nation, a bit too smart to allow the conservative Republicans to go that far.
Lieberman in '04 . . . remember, you heard it here first.
Some schools have trouble finding teachers.
Some don't.
Why is that??? IT's $$$$$$$$$$$$ and the standard of living of the area. The HS that I went to had no problem "stealing" teachers from other less well-off districts. They offered more $ and the area is a nicer area. I remember a few years ago, 2 physics teachers decided to take jobs at Penn State. They made this decision in July or Aug. WE, our district had no problem hiring replacements. Too bad some other school dictricts were left without a physics teacher when fall came. THe reasons that the 2 physics teachers gave for leaving was the lack of respect from students, and the lack of respect for the profession. They also said taking a 8-hour a day job at Penn State for 12 months/ year was a lot easier thatn teaching high school. So much for Ornery's idea of teaching 180 days a year was easy.
Some don't.
Why is that??? IT's $$$$$$$$$$$$ and the standard of living of the area. The HS that I went to had no problem "stealing" teachers from other less well-off districts. They offered more $ and the area is a nicer area. I remember a few years ago, 2 physics teachers decided to take jobs at Penn State. They made this decision in July or Aug. WE, our district had no problem hiring replacements. Too bad some other school dictricts were left without a physics teacher when fall came. THe reasons that the 2 physics teachers gave for leaving was the lack of respect from students, and the lack of respect for the profession. They also said taking a 8-hour a day job at Penn State for 12 months/ year was a lot easier thatn teaching high school. So much for Ornery's idea of teaching 180 days a year was easy.
What we have to much of is inspired Greedy Corrupt Politicians on both sides . We also have to many idiots who buy's into their line of Bullsh!t as if it were the gospel truth.
exactly, that's why we need Nader in '04.
exactly, that's why we need Nader in '04.
exactly, that's why we need Nader in '04.
No, we need F'ing McCain to run as an independent in '04
None of this primary bullsh!t. Look what the primaries produced this past year. Two incompetant fools. One can't think, and the other can't act normal if his life deoended on it.
No, we need F'ing McCain to run as an independent in '04
None of this primary bullsh!t. Look what the primaries produced this past year. Two incompetant fools. One can't think, and the other can't act normal if his life deoended on it.
<< We also have to many idiots who buy's into their line of Bullsh!t as if it were the gospel truth. >>
Is the Gospel the Truth?
Yeah, also as a comment on those that think teaching is easy... Well, being a bad teacher may be easy and not require "a lot" of work.
Being a good teacher is a big challenge and really takes a lot of time. It isn't all about vacations and holidays. I read an article about a student teacher who had decided that after he graduated with his MA in Ed. that he would not go into teaching anyway, because it was too much work.
Other thoughts:
I think schools SHOULD provide continuing education to the teachers. That is the only way teachers STAY good at what they do, by continuing to learn, both academically and professionally.
Overall, there is a shortage of teachers. DPS this year was still short over 100 teachers with only a few weeks until the start of the school year. They had to fill the slots by creating incentives for the teachers to join.
And yes, like someone else said, some schools have no problems getting teachers. The teachers who stick it out in tough situations are pretty amazing, and I have nothing but respect for them. I requested this school for my student teaching, because I have worked with some inner-city middle school students, and really enjoyed it.
My own background is coming from a small upper-class high school in PA (Pennstate, I wonder if we both went to the same school. lol). My high school had 2 black kids and no Latinos. I've found my experiences here to be incredible so far, and it is probably the best thing I've ever done. A wealthier school may be easier, maybe not. Every school has its challenges.
Being a good teacher is a big challenge and really takes a lot of time. It isn't all about vacations and holidays. I read an article about a student teacher who had decided that after he graduated with his MA in Ed. that he would not go into teaching anyway, because it was too much work.
Other thoughts:
I think schools SHOULD provide continuing education to the teachers. That is the only way teachers STAY good at what they do, by continuing to learn, both academically and professionally.
Overall, there is a shortage of teachers. DPS this year was still short over 100 teachers with only a few weeks until the start of the school year. They had to fill the slots by creating incentives for the teachers to join.
And yes, like someone else said, some schools have no problems getting teachers. The teachers who stick it out in tough situations are pretty amazing, and I have nothing but respect for them. I requested this school for my student teaching, because I have worked with some inner-city middle school students, and really enjoyed it.
My own background is coming from a small upper-class high school in PA (Pennstate, I wonder if we both went to the same school. lol). My high school had 2 black kids and no Latinos. I've found my experiences here to be incredible so far, and it is probably the best thing I've ever done. A wealthier school may be easier, maybe not. Every school has its challenges.
I also think that school vouchers are a good idea. But not at the expense of closing down public schools. The biggest problem with our schools is that we pay our teachers jack-diddly. Plus, if a teacher wants to do something special, he/she has to pay out-of-pocket. Why is that lawyers, politicians, & programers get paid bank, while the person spending all of their time and resources to prepare the student gets zip?!? I also believe that teachers need periodic testing to make sure they are compitent (?) to teach my children. Again, I support the voucher idea, but let's give our college graduates an incentive to become teachers.
That's my opinion. What's your's?
That's my opinion. What's your's?
Ah,,,, guys...
I grew up in Pennsylvania too.
Do you remember when it was called
Kutztown State Teachers College?
I grew up in Pennsylvania too.
Do you remember when it was called
Kutztown State Teachers College?
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