The median pay for public school teachers in the United States is about $42,000 per year. The median salary for all Americans is about $50,000 per year. The average teacher makes less money than the average American. I have had many friends who have considered becoming teachers; they are often met with remarks such as "you certainly aren't in it for the money" or other similar things. Some truly passionate individuals do not let the statistics deter them, but many do.
One of the best ways to attract high achieving students and professionals to a particular career path is through attractive salary prospects. Some of the smartest high schoolers choose their future career partially because of earning potential. A student who is extremely gifted in chemistry may hope to become a chemist or a chemistry teacher. Chemists earn on average $53,000 per year, much more than average teachers. This more than ten thousand dollar gap may be enough to make the decision for many people.
This type of process can lead to another related problem; when some of the most intelligent people choose careers with which teaching salaries cannot compete, the average teacher is less likely to be from the smartest tier of prospects. This is not to say that there are not exceptional and intelligent teachers, it simply means that because teacher salaries do not compare to many other fields, schools cannot always attract the best talent.
This is a huge issue. If schools cannot pay enough to recruit the smartest teachers, students have less potential to learn. I know that the teachers that I learned the most from were those who were extremely intelligent and "not in it for the money." Low-quality teachers produce low-quality results.
In order to give students the opportunities that they deserve, teachers must be held to higher performance standards. In order to hold teachers to these higher standards, schools must find higher quality teachers. In order for schools to find higher quality teachers, salaries should be higher to attract more qualified individuals.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Large Schools > Small Shcools
One issue that seems to be the topic for lots of debate is whether or not small towns should regionalize their school districts to create larger centralized high schools. In Massachusetts, it seems that more often than not these proposals are defeated by various towns; however, there are huge benefits to creating these unified districts.
Perhaps most simply, combining several small schools into one larger school provides immediate cost-savings. Rather than paying several sets of administrations, maintaining multiple buildings and operating several transportation systems, a single regional school would have only one of each of these units. Public schools seem to be consistently underfunded and the money could be put to a variety of good uses. Personally, I think that the best use of extra money is to increase teachers' salaries, but that is a topic for another time.
Among the more subtle changes is an increased cultural awareness of students. Small towns tend to be relatively homogenous in terms of race, ethnic groups and income levels. Some are more homogenous than others; from over 350 school districts in Massachusetts, my district was in the bottom 15 for diversity with a racial makeup of approximately 98% non-hispanic white. I feel strongly that children who grow up feeling like their way of life is the only way will often find themselves unprepared to live in the world that they are a part of. Mixing students from different towns together can often expose students to a more diverse group of people.
In my experience, the greatest benefit of regionalization is an expanded set of courses for students to choose from. Small schools often only have the staff and budgets to create basic curriculums; students may have little choice in what classes they take in high school. Larger schools can cater to the different tastes of different groups of students. Rather than having to choose between offering French or Chinese, larger schools are more likely to have the ability to offer both. My friends from large city-schools are often shocked when I tell them that my school only offered seven advanced placement courses; many of them were able to choose from twenty or more.
Perhaps most simply, combining several small schools into one larger school provides immediate cost-savings. Rather than paying several sets of administrations, maintaining multiple buildings and operating several transportation systems, a single regional school would have only one of each of these units. Public schools seem to be consistently underfunded and the money could be put to a variety of good uses. Personally, I think that the best use of extra money is to increase teachers' salaries, but that is a topic for another time.
Among the more subtle changes is an increased cultural awareness of students. Small towns tend to be relatively homogenous in terms of race, ethnic groups and income levels. Some are more homogenous than others; from over 350 school districts in Massachusetts, my district was in the bottom 15 for diversity with a racial makeup of approximately 98% non-hispanic white. I feel strongly that children who grow up feeling like their way of life is the only way will often find themselves unprepared to live in the world that they are a part of. Mixing students from different towns together can often expose students to a more diverse group of people.
In my experience, the greatest benefit of regionalization is an expanded set of courses for students to choose from. Small schools often only have the staff and budgets to create basic curriculums; students may have little choice in what classes they take in high school. Larger schools can cater to the different tastes of different groups of students. Rather than having to choose between offering French or Chinese, larger schools are more likely to have the ability to offer both. My friends from large city-schools are often shocked when I tell them that my school only offered seven advanced placement courses; many of them were able to choose from twenty or more.
Monday, May 27, 2013
Why Change Public Schools?
I have had a relatively unique educational experience and it has helped to shape some of my ideas on how public education in the United States can be improved. I am from a small affluent town in Massachusetts and attended the public school in the town from Kindergarten through 8th grade. When I first started at the school in the mid 1990's, it was one of the best performing schools in the state. By the time I had reached the 8th grade, the school had nearly lost it's accreditation.
Because I was worried about going to a school that may not allow me to be accepted into college, I applied to a Catholic preparatory high school. I spent two years at the school before returning to the high school in my town; these two years were the most challenging and rewarding years of my academic life. I immediately noticed the contrast between public school private school educations and between religious and secular. At this school, grades were unweighted and it seemed at times that teachers attempted to make sure that no student received an A for a course. When I left the school, I was ranked second in my class of about 80 students and my GPA was a 3.65.
I arrived back at my town's high school in my junior year with a recalculated GPA of 4.1 out of 4.0. Interestingly enough, the top 20 out of 90 students had at least a 4.0 GPA. I was shocked. The classes were excruciatingly easy after my time at the prep school and my new friends scoffed at my old GPA and thought that I left because the other school had been too challenging.
What really made me begin to think about education reform was actually the process of applying to college. Students from my first high school were significantly more prepared for college; however, the school was not well known and they had seemingly low GPA's. Many students were rejected from their top choice schools. Students from my low grade public high school with high GPA's overall were admitted to more prestigious colleges. Two students from my graduating class got into Ivy League schools while none from my former high school did. I was fortunate enough to graduate as salutatorian and get into the schools to which I applied, but this experience was eye opening for me.
I am about to enter my senior year in college and I want to share my ideas about education reform. I think that it is important that students get a fair change when moving through the school system and I think that a lot can be done to improve the public system.
Because I was worried about going to a school that may not allow me to be accepted into college, I applied to a Catholic preparatory high school. I spent two years at the school before returning to the high school in my town; these two years were the most challenging and rewarding years of my academic life. I immediately noticed the contrast between public school private school educations and between religious and secular. At this school, grades were unweighted and it seemed at times that teachers attempted to make sure that no student received an A for a course. When I left the school, I was ranked second in my class of about 80 students and my GPA was a 3.65.
I arrived back at my town's high school in my junior year with a recalculated GPA of 4.1 out of 4.0. Interestingly enough, the top 20 out of 90 students had at least a 4.0 GPA. I was shocked. The classes were excruciatingly easy after my time at the prep school and my new friends scoffed at my old GPA and thought that I left because the other school had been too challenging.
What really made me begin to think about education reform was actually the process of applying to college. Students from my first high school were significantly more prepared for college; however, the school was not well known and they had seemingly low GPA's. Many students were rejected from their top choice schools. Students from my low grade public high school with high GPA's overall were admitted to more prestigious colleges. Two students from my graduating class got into Ivy League schools while none from my former high school did. I was fortunate enough to graduate as salutatorian and get into the schools to which I applied, but this experience was eye opening for me.
I am about to enter my senior year in college and I want to share my ideas about education reform. I think that it is important that students get a fair change when moving through the school system and I think that a lot can be done to improve the public system.
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