On 8/11/2011 3:39 PM, Han wrote:
Leonlcb11211@swbelldotnet wrote in
:

On 8/11/2011 11:54 AM, Han wrote:


The counterargument is whether you'd want your kids to be educated by
high school teachers who make 40K/year.

I was educated by teachers that made far less and were far superior to
most today. Our educational system throws more money at the problem
than ever and yet the results are far worse. A higher salary is not
going to get a better teacher. I guarantee you that if all teachers
were given a 50% raise today that in 5 years the same teachers would
still be teaching and the kids would not be learning any more than
they are right now. If you want the kids to learn more the teachers
will have to be held to a higher standard, be re-certified
periodically, and paid for their performance.

Agree. Teachers should be more motivated (especially the ones doing it
already for a long time) and kids should be more willing to learn. Ask
the Brits were the parents were ...

The work rules now stink. Get tenure, and you're practically set for
life. OTOH, capricious or malicious firing is very difficult now. It
goes both ways, but I agree, it should be easier to "grade" teachers and
remunerate accordingly. Of course, if you get dealt a bunch of really
unruly and stupid kids one year, life sucks.

I often think and believe that we are in this lousy situation because
95% of us live beyond our means. Yes I can afford that house if I get a
40 year mortgage with interest only/no principal on the front 10 years
but should I? If only the schools would teach and require students to
learn the true cost of borrowing money, how to make good financial
decisions, and learn that borrowing money should be done as a last
resort. This is absolutely as important as any subject being taught in
school. With few exceptions if you have to borrow money to buy
something you probably need to reevaluate you life style. If the wife
works to help make ends meet you need to reevaluate your life style.
IMHO one parent needs to stay home, plain and simple. When both parents
are working, WHO is watching the kids????? The teachers would have a lot
more success in teaching if a parent was at home when the kids got home.