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Originally Posted by UGAalum94
In Georgia, this isn't necessarily true. The highest funding per student will frequently be in urban areas with a high tax base and low scores, and the highest student achievement is frequently in suburban districts, who have nice per pupil funding but don't have more than the Atlanta districts. But another factor is that funding per student is pretty meaningless since districts just take their total spending and divide by the number of kids. There's a really good chance that the money isn't getting to the classroom.
My experience is that most professionals are as dedicated and committed to their practice as most teachers.
I think people have a willingness to want to treat all degrees at a certain level as being equal in considering pay, but they aren't. A BA in engineering typically earns one more than a degree in English or fashion merchandising. Where should an early childhood degree or a middle grades degree be in the hierarchy?
And sure, a teacher may have to go back to graduate school to get the pay raises to make it happen, but I make more money as a teacher than the average person with "similar degrees" in my undergraduate field. And I'll tell you that there was no way that my graduate degrees in education were comparable in rigor to graduate degrees in most other disciplines, the exceptions being other fields in which holding the degree basically equals an automatic pay raise so colleges create cash cow programs to get people through.
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Agreed with points mentioned above.
One of the issues in education is that our country is lagging behind in math and science education. A teacher's salary is not much compared to what an engineer or scientist can make in the private sector. It's hard to attract qualified candidates for those fields.
If we keep butchering what we pay teachers, or cut into the benefits they get, how will we ever be able to attract and keep qualified math and science teachers? Same for engineers and scientists who work for the government in other programs...but that is another topic.