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And it is great to live in a country where we recognize that we are bestowed the inalienable right at the time of our creation to choose our priorities.
We have a public school funding issue.
Pro athletes are irrelevant to the discussion.
For a moment, going along with what you say, I guess we have chosen our priorities and public school funding didn't make the cut. Ergo, a non-issue.
Everyone left to their own devices results in skewed collective priorities. Pro athletes aren't the issue... the attention society pays to pro athletes versus more important issues is a problem. It appears a greater number of people are willing to talk about the misfortunes of an athlete than a teacher. More excited about the outcome of a game than the results of scientific endeavor. This is a mindset and values issue, not a relatively simple matter of raising property taxes.
I have always held the position that teachers are underpaid (even before becoming a parent) and it's ridiculous. Other than parents and sometimes grandparents, other family; teachers are the single biggest influence in our children's lives. For this reason, not only should they earn a competitive wage with benefits, we, as a society, should insist on it.
Despite the politicians fighting amongst themselves and voting for their own pay raises, we, as parents send the message that children simply are "not important" when we are okay with "celebrities" and pro-athletes and others making millions, if not billions, of dollars and they have no direct impact on our children's day-to-day lives or futures. Yes, entertainment is important but is it more important that our children's education?
The reality is nobody has more time with your child/ren than their teachers. They deserve to be compensated for that or we will continue to see the good and great ones bolt for other careers because they also need to have food and shelter.
For a moment, going along with what you say, I guess we have chosen our priorities and public school funding didn't make the cut. Ergo, a non-issue.
Everyone left to their own devices results in skewed collective priorities. Pro athletes aren't the issue... the attention society pays to pro athletes versus more important issues is a problem. It appears a greater number of people are willing to talk about the misfortunes of an athlete than a teacher. More excited about the outcome of a game than the results of scientific endeavor. This is a mindset and values issue, not a relatively simple matter of raising property taxes.
I completely accept the right of you or me to have that mindset. I accept the democratic component of our socio-political heritage and environment in our Republic, even though the "will of the people" can be irksome and problematic.
I also think it wise to "Never count the other guys' money."
I would rather look at school funding, which is the relevant and cogent dire need. Maybe that puts me in a minority?
Whining about someone else's fortune looks petty and covetous and is a rhetorical crutch of pop culture that distracts from the needed focus on the school funding issue. A better sales pitch, and that is what is needed, is to focus on schools, teachers, kids, and educational benefits.
I don't see pro sports as competition for teacher's career choices. I suspect the Laurel Park teacher didn't jump to pro golf to pay the bills. If she did and gets stinkin rich with Tiger-level endorsements? More power to her. The only skin off my nose is that an experienced teacher was lost.
I would also contend that few school teachers are leaving public schools for $50 million 5 year basketball contracts. I don't have stats to back that up, but I'm open-minded to view stats either way if someone else can provide them.
I'm 100% for giving teachers large raises. If people want $$ in their pocket now but no pension do it. But unilaterally increasing pay most likely won't have an effect on anything other than the budget.
I think it would increase teacher morale, which is currently abysmal, and help stop the exodus of good, experienced teachers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carlos_Danger
So the teacher who is resigning is in such dire financial straits that she will resign to look for another job? Really? If her letter said she already had a better paying job lined up I would have much more sympathy. Very odd.
I believe it said that she had another, better paying job lined up before she gave her 30 days notice to her boss.
The sad thing is, and you don't know unless you are involved is:
THE DPI fielded POWERSCHOOL across the state and it has been a miserable failure. At least another year of working out the kinks were needed, but DPI knew better.
EVAAS: DPI has used this prediction device to measure "growth." It was built and not peer reviewed by a potato statistician, but because it was SOLD to DPI by SAS, it got a pass. I am curious, how they were so smart to work into their algorithm how the effect of 8 snow days on my county will impact the prediction. Here is a news tip: It dont
NC Teacher EVal. Back when I cared enough to count, the eval was 28 pages, with a PDF file of 50+ pages to help us "understand" the system. The US Navy has gotten by for 200 years on a 2 pager. My fortune 100 company eval was one PAGE, but NCDPI had a 28 or page eval for teachers. If it was not such an inconvenience it would by hysterical, in a pitiful sort of way.
Sample questions on the NC Site: This is the biggest hoot of all. These "COMMON CORE" questions have in many cases, one case, by the way, is too many, HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH CURRICULUM. Some snake oil salesman put "common core" on a POS, and the rubes at DPI bit, hook, line, and sinker.
This mess never makes it into the papers. The pay thing gets headlines, the tenure issue is a red herring, the real damage is not done by the legislature, but by people who could not teach and moved to administration.
As a fellow educator, I appreciate this brave teacher's willingness to speak out. These problems have been growing for years, particularly in the areas of testing and teacher pay, but this past year the General Assembly has added insult to injury. Their actions make it clear that they have no respect for teachers and no understanding of what students need. They need to get their hands out of education.
I am a transplant and, admittedly, don't know enough about the school system here. Do you think the lottery system is helping or would it be that much worse without that income?
I am a transplant and, admittedly, don't know enough about the school system here. Do you think the lottery system is helping or would it be that much worse without that income?
It hurts.
It is a misdirection play, if I may introduce a sports reference...
To do a budget, you assess the need in a responsible manner and then match the funds to the need.
"Education Lottery" is irresponsible budgeting, and folks use it as a crutch to avoid raising taxes.
"What are they doing with all that lottery money?" is not uncommon.
Thanks for answering. My kids have only been in one elementary school here and there is a quite a bit of chatter among unhappy teachers and parents about ineffective administration. It sounds like a nightmare with all the changes up above.
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