Teachers -- You Get What You Pay For

Everyone knows you get what you pay for. A society judges the value or worth of an occupation by the reward or salary it offers in exchange. So the message is very clear.

People who make money are valued very highly. High earnings are equated with prestige and respect. Those responsible for the education and often the well-being of our children are paid poorly and are given little respect and less power. It’s sort of a cosmic joke - those who hold the future of our country in their hands are not considered deserving of recognition, while those that hold a basketball in those hands and better yet can get it into a round hoop - are cheered, celebrated and receive more than their weight in diamonds.

The women’s movement was wonderful for women and tragic for education. When the best and brightest women were frozen out of the medical, legal, and executive professions, education was one one of the few choices open.

Now, of course, that has changed and women and minorities have access to to the prestige and lifestyles of those higher paying professions. Other than those young men and women who truly feel a calling, the greater number of teachers are often those who are not capable of taking advantage of better jobs.

The credential system with its emphasis on pedagogy, is not providing educated teachers. Most of our teachers are graduates of teacher training institutions. They are trained, not educated. Often they have no cultural interests or life expanding experiences.

Their speech and grammar usually reflect the neighborhood they serve, rather than setting an example for the students. Many teachers have a limited knowledge of global events and current affairs. They make little use of the opportunities for enrichment that our city provides.

But who else but those without options or with great dedication would allow themselves to be treated like tall children by their administrative bosses. Who else would suffer scripted reading programs which must be followed faithfully, allowing for no creativity and emphasizing how little faith the system has in the intelligence of its front line.

All children, they are told, in fourth grade, no matter their abilities, should be in the same book, on the same page. Who else would choose to teach to the continuously demanded, time consuming standardized tests that prove nothing. Who else would attempt to accomplish the impossible job of educating children who often have no interest in learning, no self discipline, and little support from berating parents and principals.

We all know what would bring back the role model / ego ideal teacher still prevalent in Europe. Many liberal arts majors from fine universities would be interested in teaching if they were not required to take all those stupid “How to teach arithmetic “ classes necessary for a credential. But without professional salaries, there is no respect, no power, and no nobility.