Teachers get pretty decent compensation for a part-time job. I doubt jobs will go wanting if the tenure initiative passes.
This is the least important issue on the ballot.
And your comments on "underfunded" schools are ridiculous. The facts are that NO AMOUNT OF MONEY will make a difference. Some kids would rather join gangs or do other things. They're not interested in an education.
All this flap on the exit exam makes my point. If kids don't want to take it, then just give every child a diploma at birth. Why make them sit through high school when they're just not interested? They just distract from the kids who want to be there, and take up resources and overhead.
Posted by muckdog at June 15, 2005 01:22 PMIf it's such a good job, muck, why don't you take it? Maybe you'd do better than a 90-pound teacher I know who had to face down a thirteen year-old boy with a nine-inch knife in her classroom.
Still think the job is overpaid?
Posted by pessimist at June 15, 2005 01:28 PMokay.
muckdog, my email address is real. I challenge you to spend a day in any classroom in any public school in this country.
Not in Los Angeles?
relax; I can find a teacher who will allow you to assist.
Too busy?
We've got night school, Saturday school, summer school, etc.
Just a right-wing bigmouth whodoesn't care about kids or the future?
sounds like a personal problem....
Ahh.. so many myths, so little time. First off, do you really think that $24000 a year for a 5 year degree is a good salary? Not so much. And that doesn't even take into account how much of their own money teachers put into their classroom. My wife spends several thousand dollars at least on her classroom.
Secondly, part time job? Do you know how many hours teachers put in during their off hours? They have to make lesson plans, set up their classrooms and grade homework, all of which has to take place on their own, uncontracted time.
Oh, and you think standardized tests are such a great thing? Do you know what is the best indicator of how a kid will do on a standardized test? How much money their parents make. What a great equalizer...
Posted by Jefe Le Gran at June 15, 2005 01:33 PM$24K a year? But that's not bad for a part-time job. Summers off. XMAS vacation. Spring break. Holidays. Minimum days. Etc. Probably a decent hourly rate, especially including sick leave, vacation, etc. Just think if they worked everyday!
Now I know every school has 3 or 4 teachers who work a little harder than everybody else, or buy a box of crayons or two every year for the class. These are the exceptions.
Posted by muckdog at June 15, 2005 01:43 PMSee, now I now you don't actually know any teachers. You only know the caricature that Rush gives you. Most teachers either spend their time teaching summer school or taking the classes that they're forced to take if you live in a wonderful state like mine where they have to get a masters within the first 5 years. Oh, and does the state pay for these classes? Umm... no. The teachers have to pay for those out of their own pocket. So yeah, they get a few more holidays than most other people, but those perks are much less than people assume.
And the "box of crayons or two" is more like 25 boxes of crayons, paint, paper, books, any art supplies and whatever else is needed in the class. That stuff is cheap for one kid, but for 25, not so much.
I'm going to guess muckdog is single(and never been married), white, still lives with parent(s), doesn't have a full-time job, and believes everything that is told to him by Faux "news". Am I wrong muckdog, on any or all of these assumptions? I can't help but picture you as the comic book salesman on Simpsons.
Posted by just curious at June 15, 2005 02:16 PMYo, muck, I got your part-time seasonal job right here.
I hope you don't mind all the splinters.
Posted by idiosynchronic at June 15, 2005 02:19 PMMuck, Teacher's don't get as much vacation as this President does. Congress takes summers off. I guess those are part time jobs too and they pay alot better.
Posted by goose1 at June 15, 2005 04:42 PMMuckdog, you wrote: "The facts are that NO AMOUNT OF MONEY will make a difference." Do you have any sources to back you up on that? Because here in Oakland, the former superintendent of schools Dennes Chaconas put a bunch of money into the inner-city schools and test scores and grades went UP. Unfortunately, it blew the budget so he had to be replaced by a state appointee who's closing down schools left and right. Many parents believe he had to be replaced because he PROVED that money makes a difference in education.
You know, statements like yours sound so childish. It's like, why put cops on the street? People are still murdering other people, so obviously cops don't make any difference. Maybe you're bitter about not getting a good education, but you don't have to consign the rest of us to such a meager existence.
Posted by Theresa at June 15, 2005 07:34 PMCan someone please dig out per pupil spending and test scores by state for our sadly under-informed friend Muckdog? The question is, does he know he's evil? Either way, it's still bad.
Posted by Pacific John at June 16, 2005 10:26 AMas a high school student i am completly confident in saying tenure ruins high school. Bad teachers are protected, students are left out. Being a teacher is a job. Being fired should be a possiblity. why does being a teacher pretty much guarentee the job for life? teacher are not supreme court judges, and tenure needs to go. teachers should be dismissed for failing to imporve student performance. that is their job. if they cannot do it, the should be fired.
Posted by dana at June 3, 2008 11:28 AM