Truancy? Really?

[oceanchild]

This country needs to get serious about funding public school education. Paul Newman created a multi-million (billion?) dollar company to fund charities. Why can't we figure out something like this? Why can't we have a lottery/lotto that funds public school ed.? I know there are legal issues but c'mon -- this is just too important to screw up. Casinos? I'm open to anything. Why can our society fund sports venues in abundance and screw education? With more money, teachers can be paid a living wage in some states and competition would be increased. Forgive student loans (or a %) for teachers who teach a minimimun of 3 years in a school that is in the inner city or has fallen on tough times.

Nevada taxes casinos for almost all of their school funding, and they're about to go broke. The governor has proposed 6% pay cuts for all teachers in the state. And don't even get me started on lotteries, which I think are basically pure evil.

I think we need to fund education, too, but to me that means we need to actually pay for it instead of looking for sneaky ways to get other people to pay. If that means higher taxes, so be it (although I'd happily go about shredding other parts of state budgets to get the money instead).

I'm reading this with interest as someone who has been applying to education school. I agree 100% about the lack of respect for teaching as a profession - when I told my mother that I was thinking of becoming a teacher, her response was, "but you can do so much better than that!" Keep in mind here that SHE IS A TEACHER.

Also, for what it's worth, all Colorado licensing programs require a year post-undergraduate degree. There are alternative certification programs, but you have to be working for a while. So I actually think it's getting harder to just jump into teaching without any training. At least in public schools.

[Sheherezade]

I told my mother that I was thinking of becoming a teacher, her response was, "but you can do so much better than that!" Keep in mind here that SHE IS A TEACHER.

I got the same response from my mother. She had been a teacher before returning to school and becoming a psychologist. She finished off her career as the dean of her psychology school. Her advice to me was to teach ONLY as a professor - if I felt I HAD to do it. It is a sad statement on the profession, isn't it?

I've also read many articles about trying to change the k-12 teaching stereotype in college lab environments. Apparently, any PhD student that suggests they are interested in teaching is considered a waste of effort. I can see that. How does training a future teacher help a lab build its legacy? Strange that the desire to teach needs to be a secret! Also, it is interesting because leaving a post doc position for teaching would be a step UP in salary and require less hours at work. How is that a sucker move?

I think I would have been a decent teacher, too. Now, 20 years later PhD in hand and college teaching/research career done, I'm contemplating going back to that path. Of course, now I think employers would say I am "too old" to just get started. They seem to like young "energetic" teaching staff. I would think they'd be happy to have an employ that would draw down the state's pension plan for fewer years - what with retiring at 65 instead of 52.

[Flynn]

I think we need to fund education, too, but to me that means we need to actually pay for it instead of looking for sneaky ways to get other people to pay. If that means higher taxes, so be it (although I'd happily go about shredding other parts of state budgets to get the money instead).

I 100% agree with this but have NO FAITH that the average citizen will ever sign on to this -- ever.

[Flynn]

It's been really interesting watching the SAISD growing pains under our new Superintendent. He's been a teacher, he's been a principal. Now he's in charge.

J

I can't imagine the FRUSTRATION he's going through right now.

I don't think any admin. in education should have a job if they haven't spent time in the classroom (as an aide or teacher or librarian...etc.).

Don't quote me on this but I'm fairly certain Starbucks makes the majority (if not all) of their white collar jobs unavailable to anyone unwilling to work in one of their stores and actually SERVE coffee for a certain amount of time.