[quote]reddog6376 wrote:
Who gives the union the power to do this? YOU DO. Stop giving them you union dues, stop following their so-called leadership.
[/quote]
I waited a year and a half before paying union dues. As a science teacher, I had to be insured in case somebody’s kid decided it was OK to EAT the chemicals. I looked into getting my own personal insurance policy first. Guess what, the union dues are less, for the same level of insurance as a personal insurance policy would be.
[quote]MikeShank wrote:
Also, what about vouchers, if public education is so good, why not offer vouchers to parents who want to send their kids to private schools. If teachers work so hard and so many are so good, then vouchers really shouldn’t be a problem, because why would a parent take their kid out of a public school for a more expensive and inferior product? [/quote]
Because public schools are required by law to meet the needs of all kids-learning disabled, physically disabled, emotionally disabled and those with severly limited mental capacity. Private schools simply have you sign a waiver for these rights.
Also, I went to a private gradeschool and highschool, which did make a difference in my education-somewhat better, somewhat worse, I don’t know, everyone in my classes was in the top 5% on the SATs. My friends who work as administrators at private schools tell me that if vouchers are allowed in this state, they will simply raise their prices by an amount equal to the vouchers, or even more because with all that extra money they can be even more selective. They have exactly who they want to have going there right now.
I for one have never said that public school teachers don’t get paid fairly. I am paid fairly, and if I am not, I can only blame myself. I will own my own house by the age of 42 or 43 and my parents were basically bankrupt when I went to college (although it helps to have a wife who is a 300K cardiologist).
Personally, I think that being a social studies or english teacher would be pretty easy-although it would require a natural talent that most don’t possess. Being a GOOD science teacher requires a lot more than teaching math for example-it requires hours of planning and set-up for labs, and the patience and calmness to have 36 9th graders with bunsen burners and hydrochloric acid.
PE teachers, on the other hand have to take attendance and blow a whistle a couple of times a period. Would I be a PE teacher because its “easier?” No, because I love being a science teacher. I love to go home and spend 4-6 hours every night developing new labs, and activities and new ways to present information.
Aside from my family and a 45 minute workout most days, that is what I like to do. I like to get to school at 6:30 to put the finishing touches on setting up a lab. I like to spend an extra 90 minute period tutoring kids in chem so that they will actually be successful in introductory chemistry in college.
As a parent, I know this. Even in the best public district, my kids will have to learn more from me than from all of their teachers put together. I don’t know if I’ll use private schools or not.
State testing has accomplished two things in my district-1) It has taken resources away from the classroom by requiring expensive programs but not providing additional funding and 2) It has conviced district administration to deviate from a developmentally appropriate curricular plan in math to improve scores on a state test that is dead even with the SAT in level, but is given to kids early in their sophomore year.
Any real solutions out there? Please let me know.
[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
ActionJackson wrote:
…
Being that you don’t know me, as I don’t know you, I think I am done with going back and forth about the state of education and how much I bitch about poor salary (even though I never really felt that, that was assumed by everyone who feels that I am looking for a handout). I also “earn” my money, like your uncle. I have three jobs, work at least 70 hours per week (Teacher, club sport coach, bartender at a pub), and in the end make a fair bit of money. I don’t feel like I am unable to change my future, I just hope for the future of our youth that sweeping changes are made in the education system. It does not help prepare them for the “real” world in any way.
For those of you who continue to play the “stop playing the victim and get out and get a real job” card. I hope you will enjoy my future post where I show you pics of the gym that I will be opening May 1 specializing in training athletes(just picked up the keys to the building yesterday). How’s that for a job you will be jealous of suckers!!!
If you care to check out the website for my gym go to:
www.dynamicstrength.ca
Hope you all have a great weekend,
Jackson
I am glad you don’t just sit back and bitch about being underpaid.
We need more of this.[/quote]
We are losing someone who sounds like a damn fine man and teacher … and Zap is happy.
I respect some of your opinions, Zap, but I think some of those chemical fumes have made their way into your brain cells. The man was driven out of teaching, and you are happy. Wow…
[quote]mertdawg wrote:
MikeShank wrote:
Also, what about vouchers, if public education is so good, why not offer vouchers to parents who want to send their kids to private schools. If teachers work so hard and so many are so good, then vouchers really shouldn’t be a problem, because why would a parent take their kid out of a public school for a more expensive and inferior product?
Because public schools are required by law to meet the needs of all kids-learning disabled, physically disabled, emotionally disabled and those with severly limited mental capacity. Private schools simply have you sign a waiver for these rights.
Also, I went to a private gradeschool and highschool, which did make a difference in my education-somewhat better, somewhat worse, I don’t know, everyone in my classes was in the top 5% on the SATs. My friends who work as administrators at private schools tell me that if vouchers are allowed in this state, they will simply raise their prices by an amount equal to the vouchers, or even more because with all that extra money they can be even more selective. They have exactly who they want to have going there right now.
[/quote]
That’s where Charter Schools come in.
[quote]mertdawg wrote:
State testing has accomplished two things in my district-1) It has taken resources away from the classroom by requiring expensive programs but not providing additional funding and 2) It has conviced district administration to deviate from a developmentally appropriate curricular plan in math to improve scores on a state test that is dead even with the SAT in level, but is given to kids early in their sophomore year.
[/quote]
What kind of “expensive programs” has state testing forced on you district? I hear this, but I never understand what that means.
[quote]doogie wrote:
mertdawg wrote:
State testing has accomplished two things in my district-1) It has taken resources away from the classroom by requiring expensive programs but not providing additional funding and 2) It has conviced district administration to deviate from a developmentally appropriate curricular plan in math to improve scores on a state test that is dead even with the SAT in level, but is given to kids early in their sophomore year.
What kind of “expensive programs” has state testing forced on you district? I hear this, but I never understand what that means.
[/quote]
First, we are required to have a hearing and keep a file on all of the kids who are in the lower half of the “partially proficient” category on the state reading test. Let’s say this amounts to 40 kids and that it takes an extra 10 hours to collect the data and manage this previously unidentified student’s file. That’s 400 hours of work that no one was doing before. This happens to be part of no child left behind, but there is no finding at the highshool level for this, so 8 teachers pick up an extra 50 hours of unpaid paperwork.
There are others, for example, state rulings that certain categories of students must have a para-professional with them in every class, rulings that ESL programs can not be centralized in a district but must be present at every school (which is a good thing but) which is costly when a school must create an ESL program for 6 kids. It is a less efficient model. And if 2 of the 6 kids are not proficient on the state test then your school gets rated as “failing”. No child left behind states that every student in a school must be reading proficient by 2011 or the school is considered to be a failing school.
Our state test scores have been in the upper 10% and very stable for 4 years. They went up very slightly for two years and then went down about 1/2% last year, and the state now prints “In decline” on the cover of the report they mail to parents.
[quote]Ahren wrote:
Teachers get paid enough… You don’t need a 200k annual income to teach well. You are either a good teacher or you are terrible. Most teachers are terrible and that would be why the education is so “lousy”.[/quote]
Haven’t followed this thread but this anaylsis = a lack of thinking. People who would be teachers, who are smart and intelligent and good at explaining things, don’t enter the field because the pay sucks. The caliber in the teaching field would be higher if pay was higher.
I was a teacher before making writing about anabolics my full time job.
I taught Engligh as well as Science (the former in New Zealand, and the Latter to Emotionally Handicapped).
I was good at it, but I’m better (and more highly paid) at my new job.
I found most of my colleagues to be very average, when I was a teacher.
[quote]ActionJackson wrote:
For those of you who continue to play the “stop playing the victim and get out and get a real job” card. I hope you will enjoy my future post where I show you pics of the gym that I will be opening May 1 specializing in training athletes(just picked up the keys to the building yesterday). How’s that for a job you will be jealous of suckers!!!
If you care to check out the website for my gym go to:
www.dynamicstrength.ca
Hope you all have a great weekend,
Jackson[/quote]
That looks like a good concept-I mean it got me interested. One thing I noticed is that I’m not sure where someone like me, or a typical T-Nation person might fit into your program. What I thought would be real cool would be to have an introductory strongman program, and perhaps an intro to westside powerlifting program. I’d sign up for either of those.
For all of your energy and drive, you should get to know that every hour you put into your buisiness choice is going to come back around to you. I think in my district, a coach gets about $1000 a season, and many teachers who act as assistant coaches get nothing. A season’s worth of work probably ammounts to around 160 to 240 hours if you are doing a minimal job. In other words, less than minimum wage. While I still think that a PE teacher and a science teacher getting paid the same for the 7 hour work day doesn’t make sense, it more than balances out with all of the coaching that its just assumed that these men and women do basically for free.
I don’t care how great of a teacher I could, how much I could help anyone, or how much I’d enjoy it. If I’m not being payed as well as some other, easier job, I’m not doing shit. I don’t think it’s that unreasonable for anyone who would be a great teacher to turn it down because the pay sucks.
Just thought I’d do a little research, and I remember the point was brought up before.
67% of the kids in the regular level 9th grade science class here have divorced parents. Less than 20% of the kids who take advanced science in 9th grade have divorced parents. Less than 20% of the kids who take junior level college prep chemistry have parents who are divorced, and over 85% of the kids who are in a remedial science class in 11th grade have divorced parents. Whatever you want to make of that. It was a little suprise.
[quote]mertdawg wrote:
That looks like a good concept-I mean it got me interested. One thing I noticed is that I’m not sure where someone like me, or a typical T-Nation person might fit into your program. What I thought would be real cool would be to have an introductory strongman program, and perhaps an intro to westside powerlifting program. I’d sign up for either of those.
For all of your energy and drive, you should get to know that every hour you put into your buisiness choice is going to come back around to you. I think in my district, a coach gets about $1000 a season, and many teachers who act as assistant coaches get nothing. A season’s worth of work probably ammounts to around 160 to 240 hours if you are doing a minimal job. In other words, less than minimum wage. While I still think that a PE teacher and a science teacher getting paid the same for the 7 hour work day doesn’t make sense, it more than balances out with all of the coaching that its just assumed that these men and women do basically for free.
[/quote]
Thanks for the input, I think that as I expand (hopefully) in my business, I will be adding programs like the ones you mentioned. I am really trying to cater to youth programs initially, and branch out from there.
Thanks again,
Jackson
[quote]mertdawg wrote:
Just thought I’d do a little research, and I remember the point was brought up before.
67% of the kids in the regular level 9th grade science class here have divorced parents. Less than 20% of the kids who take advanced science in 9th grade have divorced parents. Less than 20% of the kids who take junior level college prep chemistry have parents who are divorced, and over 85% of the kids who are in a remedial science class in 11th grade have divorced parents. Whatever you want to make of that. It was a little suprise.[/quote]
Sad but true. Most of my troublemakers have come from broken homes. My theory is that the kids miss their dads, since its usually the dad who’s now absent. They resent this greatly and take it out on the rest of the world.
If only people knew how absolutely devestating divorce is to children. It truly ruins lives.
Be a teacher, be a fool is not very accurate at all.
Some of the greatest minds had great teachers.
Aristotle was taught by Plato… Alexander the Great was tutored by Aristotle.
Everything I’ve learned and incorporated into my “being”-from books, to teachers, to trainers, to research, etc is a part of who “I” am to a large; if not complete extent.
If “teachers” are fools then we are all fools. (to some extent)
There are teachers that merely teach and do not educate. There is a difference.
The easiest way I determine this is;
If I remember anything significant with relative ease then the educator did quite well.
And if I don’t remember much at all then it was probably a pretty boring class. (I personally don’t find many classes boring unless the teacher makes it so or… miserable)
And we(humans)individually are all teachers with nearly every interaction we make. Be it a conversation, a classroom, or even a world leader…
I guess the only question is… How many teachers had meaningful impacts on those around them and what was learned?(merely because it had an impact does not mean it had much value)IMO
I personally can think of no greater responsibility then to be an educator and we all are.
-Get Lifted