| ▲ | koolba 5 days ago | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
> It's easy to blame the teachers unions, but if their goal was to only raise their own salaries and benefits, they are doing a very poor job at it. They do a pretty good job at it when you factor in long term pensions and health care. > Teachers do not get paid well. Teachers get paid too much. They create artificial barriers like requiring multiple years of certifications to purposefully limit the pool of competition. Most teachers unions are closed shops that mandate membership. > They also tend to get paid more at the elite private schools. So if you want to compare, then you would be advocating for public schools to match private school salaries. If I could waive a wand to immediately increase public teacher’s salaries by 25% in exchange for the elimination of all tenure (which does not exist at K-12 private schools), I would do it immediately. > While not always the case, "measuring progress" makes things worse because they tried this and what you get is standardized tests and teachers teaching to the test (Goodhart's law). There’s plenty of objective things to measure in math and science. If little Johnny can’t do basic arithmetic or solve 3x+2=11, you can’t fake that during an exam. At least with teaching to the test, the kids learned the material on the test. If you don’t measure things, you will not improve it. And teachers unions are adamantly against measuring things. Because they know it can and will be used against them. It’s an inherent conflict of interest. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ▲ | teachrdan 5 days ago | parent [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
> They do a pretty good job at it when you factor in long term pensions and health care. They only get good pensions and health care because school districts refuse to give them better salaries instead. And good health care (really, health insurance) is crucial because health care costs can obviously bankrupt you in America. > They create artificial barriers like requiring multiple years of certifications to purposefully limit the pool of competition How is requiring the equivalent of a master's degree an "artificial barrier"? Surely, new teachers should have some experience and theoretical background before standing in front of 30-100+ students and being responsible for their education? Florida passed a law making it possible for veterans to teach without even having a bachelor's degree. Does that sound like a good idea to you? Would requiring even a bachelor's degree be an "artificial barrier" in your opinion? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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