Where have you gotten these statistics? From what I have learned, Connecticut teachers have the highest annual wages. ~AJ
I dated a few teachers in the past, females for the most part, so I think I am an expert in saying that I am clueless on this matter. Seriously, education is a big business with the teacher the only area that is looked at to cut costs.
That might be because it's the one area that has the most to cut. Let me see if I can put it another way. The teachers salaries and fringe benefits take up the better part of MOST districts budgets in expences. It's usually the one place that there is an over abundance of personel that are expendable, without effecting the students education. example; three teachers with 15 children in each class. Remove one and the two remaining teachers now have 22 and 23 children in each class. In a lot of places that would be considered a small class size. edited: what were the ones you dated that were NOT female?
My daughter and son were raised in essentially the same environment. My son is now an independent contractor and doing just fine. He didn't do drugs or get caught breaking the Law, always worked and supported himself. He was kicked out of two public high schools and ultimately my house. He cut an amazing 100 days of his senior year of HS. I had no knowledge of the situation, and the school had guaranteed me early in the year that they would contact me if he cut class. The first I knew about the 100 days was went they expelled him at age 18. My daughter went to a Lutheran School, a Catholic all-girl high school, U.C. Davis, and Cornell. She dropped out of competitive soccer before entering the university to focus on her classes. She received an academic scholarship to Cornell University. She never missed a day of high school to illness or otherwise. She saved money in graduate school! Both of my kids are doing well now, but they took opposite paths. A parent can only do so much if they have an exceedingly head-strong child. I had two of them.
"edited: what were the ones you dated that were NOT female?" Old Dan Bleeding heart left wing urban liberals with elements of radical anti-feminism. But they were hot and with a few drinks or more in me I could tolerate them for a few hours at a time. I think the professor would know of what I am speaking about. He most likely has a few of those types around his campus.
Let's see now... I'm gonna interject me two cents into this conversation, which isn't really meant to carry much weight, because I have to assume you all have studied more than I about the pay rates of educators and have dealt with school systems more than I in the sense that you may have or had children in the school systems. I myself am currently a student at a university, and I was just a little over a year ago in high school. My high school was not in a "slum" or some inner-city stereotype of the American schools, as defined by entertainment standards, but it was also not a preppy, holier-than-thou institution. From my experience, the problem has not been wholly on the shoulders of teachers, because I have had some amazing professors, and I currently have a couple who I thoroughly enjoy taking classes from, nor has it been squarely on the federal, state, or local governments, though there are major problems there to be dealt with, like this NCLB Act, which I think is stupid (but that's a debate for another time). I would place blame on a little of all of these factors: 1. On the students themselves: teens who are truant to class show little desire to learn or to better themselves OR they are too easily bored with their classes. 2. On parents or family life: Some students (NOT ALL, mind you, and I'm not being critical of any parents here) come from homes that may be broken or dysfunctional to an extreme. I have a friend currently who comes from a broken home, where her parents are divorced and just kind of shunt her back and forth to whichever of them is the least busy at the time. 3. On teachers: Some teachers just should not be teaching! Many of them are excellent teachers, most do at least an adequate job of preparing students for later grades and their futures, but some of them just CAN'T teach to save their lives. I have one professor right now who explained the concepts of disparate interests to me this way: "they're.... um.... interests.... that are.... um.... disparate." I place some blame on educators such as this. 4. On the school "system": I place some blame on the system itself because it doesn't help to solve the problems of teenage truency or teenage misbehavior in schools. I can't tell you how many times kids in my classes just act stupid for attention or to be "funny" and "cool" amongst their classmates. Schools do nothing except give the student a warning and a slap on the wrist. 5. The state boards: Same problems as above in #4.... they don't do anything to help curb the problem. They simply give people warnings. 6. The federal system: The feds haven't done much to help the situation either. Sure, legislation like the NCLB Act looks good on paper, but it isn't solving anything. An A school one year is an F school the next because funding is diverted to all the F schools and less is given to maintain the A schools. Sooner or later, it's all going to balance out and we'll have a ton of C schools and no way to help them! Anyway, this is just my take on what I saw in school from being there, and I don't really expect it to carry too much weight. I just felt compelled to type a really long post so that could say I did. ~AJ
The City College of New York in Manhatten used to be a college for the poor smart students of New York City. Before they started open admissions they were one of the best Colleges in the World. They still hold the record for the most nobel prize winners by one college or university. More then Harvard, more then Yale, etc. Of course they went down hill when they threw out the entrance exams and grade requirements and started the open admission stuff. It is all about the students and the family attitude that they come from.
There are other factors involved, though I'm not certain what could or should be done about them. The genie has left the bottle to some extent. We still demand things from people in today's society but not the same things we demanded fifty years ago. Popular culture and indeed most influencing cultures have become mirrors of society whereas they used to be more like guideposts. Moral relativism creates an addictive soothing balm of irresponsibilty which allows us to ignore the stubbed toes and bruised elbows of our consciences. But what can be done about it? Perhaps not enough. But what can be done, should. We can at least live our lives to the best of our abilities and continue to hold our own personal motives under scrutiny. Not criticism, but critique. Do a good deed and allow yourself to feel good about it. Be a good example for your kids and explain the value of what you are doing so they can look for those qualities in themselves. The world will never again be what it was for our grandparents or even our parents. And in many ways it shouldn't be. Society has made some strides. We just have to work a little harder on ourselves. I know I need to.
