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Originally Posted by AGDee
The other thought that comes to mind is... although people are always saying "you can't just throw money at a problem", why is it that the school districts with the highest funding per student are also the school districts that consistently perform better?
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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.
However, I will agree that there are a lot of areas in which the same social conditions that drive revenues are also contributing to school performance, both on the high and low end. But you're, I think, looking at correlation not cause in terms of the funding making the kids successful.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AGDee
Teachers get paid a fraction of what most people with similar degrees make and do one of the most important jobs in our society. This trend of attacking them is making me ill. Teachers are not the problem with our society. Most of the teachers I know are far more dedicated to their jobs and put more heart and soul into their students than anybody in any other profession I've encountered.
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I certainly don't want to see teachers attacked, and I've read some absolutely absurd statements anytime salaries and hours come up. But I also think that teachers should be held in high enough regard that they can be accountable and rewarded for professional performance on some level. And honestly, I think it's only that we work with kids that makes us seem more dedicated or caring. My experience is that most professionals are as dedicated and committed to their practice as most teachers.
I'll also note that the language of "similar degrees" is really tricky. What's a similar degree when you are talking about early childhood education?
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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