Ms. Herzog’s investigation into the myths of public schooling was wrong and misleading. She states that America leads the world in money spent on public schools, but the country’s investments are not returned. It is not the total amount of money that is being spent on the schools that is most relevant. Schools receive much of their funding through taxes from their local economies. Areas that are less affluent do not have the tax base to fund and facilitate schools as well-off areas do. It is not money being spent on our schools that is the problem. It is the lack of equal monetary distribution that is hurting the public schools.
Money is not the only factor in a student’s education. Boston, New York City and Washington, D.C. are highly urbanized areas with their own set of problems that students have to deal with in addition to going to school. Mesa, Arizona, with a population of just over 300,000, is hardly comparable to cities with populations in the millions.
As any teacher will explain to Ms. Herzog, educators spend more than forty hours a week working. The “teacher work day” does not end at 3 in the afternoon. Teaching takes planning, preparation, collaboration, and continuing professional development, all of which take countless hours of work before and after school, as well as throughout the summer.
America does not spend enough money on its schools and the money spent is not evenly distributed. There are more factors than money that contribute to student learning and achievement. Community and safety are two examples. Public school teachers do deserve the money they make, if not more. Forty-hour work weeks and three-month summer vacations are two myths that Ms. Herzog should have spent her time investigating. Public schools do need help, but we should focus on what CAN be done, not on fantasies of less funding for schools and the overpaid teachers they employ.
Travis Brenner is a senior studying education.
Reader Comments
All the teachers I knew (including College Professors) use the same lesson plan every year. At the highschool level, the course work is already prepared for the teacher from the textbook. Outside of creating an exam (which can be used again) and grading the exams, what else does a high school teacher do?
Most teachers I know of played golf or found hobbies to keep their summers occupied. Hell, some even got part-time jobs.
I guess as an education major and future teacher you have a reason to defend your line of work. I on the other hand find that teachers are the worst people in the world to get advice and mentoring from. They're people who only left high school for a four year party and then returned large and incharge.
Any public high school teacher getting paid 80k a year is well overpaid for the quality of education we receive in America.
AgelessStranger, obviously you've never taught.
While some teachers do what you're accusing them of (and thereby give the rest of us a bad name), for every teacher who does this, there are two or three of us who give our bodies, minds and souls to education. Travis is completely correct. When we leave the building in the afternoon, we don't leave our jobs. Those come home with us. Our students are always on our minds. We care about them, we want them to succeed, we are personally invested in their achievements and futures.
Go talk to some of those inner city teachers who get $25,000 a year, and ask them if teachers deserve more money for what they do. If a public school teacher makes $80,000 a year doing nothing, then there's something wrong with that community, not the entire profession of teaching.
High school teachers, or should I say educators, prepare students for college or the world of work. That is, they should. Some, I will admit, do not, but paying teachers less is hardly a fix for that. You know, in some other countries, teachers are held at the same esteem as doctors? They're important. They're necessary. Some autodidacts might say otherwise, but they are few and far between.
And, "teachers are the worst people in the world to get advice and mentoring from"? Honestly? I've taught middle school. I've taught high school. I've even taught college seniors, like Travis. The one constant, immutable fact is this: teachers are some of the most important, necessary and irreplaceable mentors and role-models we have, and just about everyone I have ever met will list a teacher in the top three most important people who have contributed to the quality and path of their lives.
The problem with the "quality of education we receive in America" is not the teachers. It's not the students. It's not even, though it's a harder one to argue, the parents. It's the system which wants schools to (re)produce commodities which will drive the economy, not critically thinking people who want to improve the world.
People like you are part of the problem, not the solution. Shame on you.
Look, all this complaining about teachers not getting paid enough is a non-starter.
First, there are an abundance of teachers willing to work for the current wage.
Second, if you don't think it is enough, leave. Go work somewhere else where you can command a higher salary.
I am sick of all the complaining.
Welcome to Athens, jpmo13!!!
jpmo13--
If you're sick of all the complaining, then what's keeping you from leaving? Clearly, an education was wasted on you.
"First, there are an abundance of teachers willing to work for the current wage.
Second, if you don't think it is enough, leave. Go work somewhere else where you can command a higher salary."
Actually, some schools are bringing in teachers from other countries because they can't find enough qualified people to fill the position.
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