Ok, this weeks question from the Camera is are teachers paid enough.
And here's my bias. The really good teachers are grossly underpaid. Most of the teachers are paid adequately - on average. But with how pay is set by years, not skill, almost every teacher individually is somewhat under or overpaid. And the really bad teachers are horrendously overpaid.
Let's speak to that average pay for the average teacher. Yes the job pays less than an average job in the private sector requiring equivalent education. But teachers only work ¾ of the year, have a great pension plan, and after 3 years have job security not found anywhere else in the world now the the Soviet Union is no more.
And for those that claim that teachers do not have absolute job security, not a single tenured teacher in BVSD has been fired in the last 15+ years. Not even one (Russ Karsten) who made anonymous death threats to another teacher. Anyone want to claim that every teacher we have had in the system for the last 15 years is competent?
So a good answer is not a yes or no. It's paying each teacher according to their skills. And it's letting go those teachers that are not doing an acceptable job. Because removing the lousy teachers and paying teachers according to their ability will cause the voters to approve the taxes to increase pay.
And so, on to the grades:
John Satter C- : A reasonable statement. Also pretty generic and he doesn't really say a whole lot.
Ken Roberge D : Ken is upset at what we spend on education as a percentage of our budget. He must love healthcare where the percentage grows significantly each year. Ken, the question is not how much we are spending, it's how effectively we are spending it.
Rosabelle Rice C- : Another reasonable general statement that does not speak to any of the core issues.
Helayne Jones C+ : Really spot-on comment about how key it is to have highly qualified teachers. But then no comment about how to achieve that or the possibility of tying pay to the skill level of the teacher.
Jim Reed D+ : Jim apparently thinks money grows on trees, or is available somewhere to shower on raises, medical benefits, and daily foot massages for all we know. Not a word about using it effectively, tying it to skill, etc. The BVEA loves you Jim.
Ed Gazvoda A+ : Yes! What he said. With a blunt honest accurate answer like that he has just become BVEA enemy number 1.
Laurie Albright C+ : Good point on improving working conditions. Like every BVEA endorsed candidate, not a word about tying pay to performance.
As Helayne said, "We all know that the most significant factor in student achievement is a highly qualified teacher in the classroom." Unfortunately none of the candidates aside from Ed appear willing to actually act on that inconvenient fact.
I get accused of this each time I write about this so let me once again state, I am not anti-public education because I am anti-teacher's unions. I am anti-teacher's unions because I am pro quality public schools.
