A=B and B=C then A=C
On July 17th at the National Governors Association executives and legislators from around the United States met. Issues of funding and federal assistance were tossed about; however the central issue was education. In particular, the recruitment of “qualified teachers and its relationship to successful student achievement.” The Teacher Recruitment Strategies headed by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas revealed that teacher recruitment was an issue which must be dealt within a timely manner. The obligatory statistics of teachers leaving the profession framed the debate.
After her remarks, Federal Deputy Education Secretary Raymond Simon entered with a 15 minute display of anecdotal evidence and “heartfelt” rhetoric. He surmised from his extensive “30 year career in education” (he did not reveal how long he actually taught school) that teachers want respect, support and a feeling of making a difference. Notably absent from this list was … money. Any observational survey which excludes money from issues plaguing poor teacher recruitment is false at best and propaganda at worst.
Sec. Simon went on to simplify the NCLB act into a mathematical formula. Where A=B and B=C then A=C. (This is a property of equality and inequalities. One must be cautious, however, when attempting to develop arguments using the transitive property in other settings.) As Sec. Simon reveals, through the magic of math, that high expectations for students will inevitably lead to high teacher recruitment. His conclusion is precise and clear, in fact it seems quite simple. However, the issue of higher teacher recruitment is not paramount to our teaching crisis in America. Paramount is recruitment of the most effective and intelligent teachers. The only way to achieve this outcome is through high pay for teachers. Not a pay increase but a comparable pay rate with other professions in America(lawyers, doctors and politicans).
It is odd that teachers are one of the most venerated professions in America and the most underpaid. This is an old song and dance; most Americans call it a shame and go about their business, however the issue of teacher recruitment is central to (not to sound grandiose) America’s future.
Historically, citizenry education was extremely high, in fact during de Tocqueville’s visit he stated that even the most common man knew his rights and understood the workings of American governmental structure, not to mention basic philosophy and theological works.
The question remains, if everyone agrees that teachers are underpaid then how do we increase pay without increasing the tax burden? One solution would be dramatic tax breaks for teachers. Everything from sales, property and federal taxes should be deduced, in some cases, and eliminated completely in others. It can be dubbed NTLB, No Teacher Left Behind.
Recruitment of teachers would vanish. Moreover, the most qualified and intelligent professionals, from any field would occupy the halls of our primary and secondary schools. With this torrent of persons into the teaching profession states can be particularly fastidious about who becomes and who remains a teacher. Expectations for teachers, not only students, will be elevated. Exceptional and meager teachers will be subjected to rigorous testing of subject matter and teaching methodology. This testing will be an annual event. With highly trained and motivated teachers in the classroom, then student achievement will rise. This is the true mathematical formula, A=B, B=C, then A=C, where A = decrease of tax burden, B = qualified teachers, C = rigorous testing for teachers and students alike.
After her remarks, Federal Deputy Education Secretary Raymond Simon entered with a 15 minute display of anecdotal evidence and “heartfelt” rhetoric. He surmised from his extensive “30 year career in education” (he did not reveal how long he actually taught school) that teachers want respect, support and a feeling of making a difference. Notably absent from this list was … money. Any observational survey which excludes money from issues plaguing poor teacher recruitment is false at best and propaganda at worst.
Sec. Simon went on to simplify the NCLB act into a mathematical formula. Where A=B and B=C then A=C. (This is a property of equality and inequalities. One must be cautious, however, when attempting to develop arguments using the transitive property in other settings.) As Sec. Simon reveals, through the magic of math, that high expectations for students will inevitably lead to high teacher recruitment. His conclusion is precise and clear, in fact it seems quite simple. However, the issue of higher teacher recruitment is not paramount to our teaching crisis in America. Paramount is recruitment of the most effective and intelligent teachers. The only way to achieve this outcome is through high pay for teachers. Not a pay increase but a comparable pay rate with other professions in America(lawyers, doctors and politicans).
It is odd that teachers are one of the most venerated professions in America and the most underpaid. This is an old song and dance; most Americans call it a shame and go about their business, however the issue of teacher recruitment is central to (not to sound grandiose) America’s future.
Historically, citizenry education was extremely high, in fact during de Tocqueville’s visit he stated that even the most common man knew his rights and understood the workings of American governmental structure, not to mention basic philosophy and theological works.
The question remains, if everyone agrees that teachers are underpaid then how do we increase pay without increasing the tax burden? One solution would be dramatic tax breaks for teachers. Everything from sales, property and federal taxes should be deduced, in some cases, and eliminated completely in others. It can be dubbed NTLB, No Teacher Left Behind.
Recruitment of teachers would vanish. Moreover, the most qualified and intelligent professionals, from any field would occupy the halls of our primary and secondary schools. With this torrent of persons into the teaching profession states can be particularly fastidious about who becomes and who remains a teacher. Expectations for teachers, not only students, will be elevated. Exceptional and meager teachers will be subjected to rigorous testing of subject matter and teaching methodology. This testing will be an annual event. With highly trained and motivated teachers in the classroom, then student achievement will rise. This is the true mathematical formula, A=B, B=C, then A=C, where A = decrease of tax burden, B = qualified teachers, C = rigorous testing for teachers and students alike.
posted by JDAvignon at 3:53 PM
1 Comments:
I've been a professional educator since 1969 and have experienced the highs and lows of this profession. I do LOVE teaching!Now that I'm at a level where I'm receiving competative pay with the others in the workforce, it definitely gives me the desire to do more and work the long hours that are required to be an effective educator. I like the idea of giving teachers tax breaks and increasing the salary. If my memory serves me correctly, when we had one-room schools, the community did this very thing. Teachers were provided with housing and support from the community. Since I'm near retirement, I would love to see my profession be honored with the pay that is deserved for the commitment that teachers make daily for the future of their students.
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