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Nobody wants to teach anymore

jessicalexicus.medium.com

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Re: Nobody wants to teach anymore

#451
post #399
post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If we paid them more, it’d be easier to hold them to a higher standard

Teacher unions don't want higher standards.

They don’t want higher standards that are essentially arbitrary and capricious and imposed by boards, committees and other groups composed of individuals who have little or no expertise in teaching.

That’s a bit more accurate than your comment.

Re: Nobody wants to teach anymore

#452

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing to compare to is the jobs the teachers could do if they weren't teachers. All of them have college degrees, many have masters degrees. The comparison point should be generic white collar office jobs, which are pretty much all easier (and especially , less annoying), higher paying, and more respected.

Generic office jobs don’t pay that much. At least the kind that require education degrees. And they lack security.

Sure they do. The "that much" here is a low bar.

Re: Nobody wants to teach anymore

#453

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of it was also that she shouldn't expect students to do homework, or she was expected to try and use word problems with narratives.

Those...sound like reasonable things? Many students aren't going to learn by rote memorization of completing homework. It it helpful to support different learning styles. A big problem with math education is that it's too abstract. It's hard to relate mathematical concepts to real life. "When are we going to use this?", people ask. Phrasing your questions in terms of real problems with a narrative can help students l…

Homework usually isn't rote learning (unless we're talking foreign language vocabulary – and there rote learning is important!), but practice.

Students get to practice what the teacher (tried to) showed them with different problems, so both they and the teacher can see if they mastered the topic.

Re: Nobody wants to teach anymore

#454

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is true in almost every country. Education is a money pit.

> Education is a money pit. How exactly do you mean this? The U.S. spent $90.5 billion for "Elementary, Secondary, and Vocational Education" in 2021* (a subset of "Education, Training, Employment, and Social Services"), which is 1.3% of $6.82 trillion in total 2021 government expenditures. Compare to $696.5B for Medicare, $754.8B for National Defense, etc. If anything, this illustrates how relatively unimportant a ba…

The US government spends significantly more on education than the military, ~$800B on K-12 education alone. On a per student basis, the US spends more than almost any other country in the world. If US education is poor, it isn't for lack of government spending.

Per the US Department of Education[0], the US spends 34% more per student than the OECD average. At the post-secondary level, the US spends double the OECD average.

[0] https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cmd/education-exp...

Re: Nobody wants to teach anymore

#455

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. Administrators. We have insane administrative bloat, especially in higher ed. In some institutions there is nearly a 1:1 count of administrators to faculty. Ironically, given the social politics implied by the author, a significant amount of administration bloat is specifically tied to DEI. 2. Well, they are. A teaching certification used to only require two years of higher learning compared to typical 4 for other…

This is true in almost every country. Education is a money pit.

Education is the opposite of a money pit, education is an investment. Even if it is managed poorly,you are better off than the country with a people that can't read.

Re: Nobody wants to teach anymore

#456

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The teachers union has been waging a war against future teachers to benefit current teachers for 30 years this statement is presented as The Truth, do you have some information that backs this up?

The field of study of occupation licensing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupational_licensing It's absurd to think someone needs to take a $1k 'Philosophy of Mathematics' class to teach 10th grade geometry.

> The philosophy of mathematics is the branch of philosophy that studies the assumptions, foundations, and implications of mathematics. It aims to understand the nature and methods of mathematics, and find out the place of mathematics in people's lives. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_mathematics

Considering that the primary complaint 10th grade math students have about math is often "How is this relevant to me and my life?", wouldn't studying the philosophy of mathematics help a teacher in addressing this concern?

Re: Nobody wants to teach anymore

#457
Former HS math teacher here. It was the hardest job I’ve ever had. I still have nightmares about being back in the classroom 18 years later. I was easily working 12+ hours a day doing class planning, grading, etc. not to mention the actual teaching. Returning to programming my pay doubled and my stress level dropped profoundly. Teacher pay should easily be double what it is.

(And about that summers off—with the exception of teachers who had non-teaching spouses or those in the back third of their career, everyone worked summer jobs to make ends meet.)

Re: Nobody wants to teach anymore

#459

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 1. For as much as we spend on education, teachers seem to be grossly underpaid - to be getting robbed of their share of the budget. Where does that money go? Counterpoint: teachers' pay is great, it's just backloaded in pension plans. > 2. It seems that education degrees are seen as easier to achieve than others. Yeah, but cost is the same and cost is what's important. > 4. Many school problems are caused by disrup…

> Counterpoint: teachers' pay is great, it's just backloaded in pension plans. Nonsense. Even the most basic look at the numbers shows you this is absolutely false. Let's take a rich liberal state first. MA. Average teacher salary: $60k. Average pension $43k. Teachers contribute 9.78% of their salary in order to get this pension! The state contributes 18.17% This is not all that different from a 401k. You're confusin…

Pensions are typically not paid based on average teacher salary, but paid based on terminal teacher salary. Defined benefit pensions are quite different from a 401k.

In our district, once you qualify for a pension you get 2% of your terminal salary per year you work. If you work for 40 years, you will be paid 80% of your last year's salary.

Re: Nobody wants to teach anymore

#460
Pay them more. Then while you're at it, pay police more as well. The two pillars that should keep our systems together are disgustingly underpaid...

High School Teachers earned an average salary of $67,340 in 2020. Comparable jobs earned the following average salary in 2020: Elementary School Teachers made $65,420, Middle School Teachers made $64,990, School Counselors made $62,320, and Sports Coaches made $47,100.

Then we haven't even mentioned the massive debt students rake up to be able to pay for their education and sustain their lives while studying. It's one big mess.

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