3 ms·

Why don't pay them decently to start with, pay them better if they deserve it, and FIRE THEM if they don't?

gruseom 16y ago
Because "deserve?" and "fire" are hard functions to write. It seems easier to allow for a natural process of attrition. Edit: I think society should ask one to earn the privilege of being a teacher (what more important asset could we entrust someone with than children?) and to compensate those who have earned it well enough to make it well worth earning. What's a natural way to earn the right to be a teacher? By assisting those who have already earned it. (This does raise a bootstrapping question, but that's hardly the crux of the matter.)
- forkandwait 16y ago
  Is "earn" any harder to write than "deserve"? "Fire" is really easy...
  - gruseom 16y ago
    If you think "fire" is easy, watch the lemon dance scene in Waiting for Superman. You're missing my point about "earn", which is you don't have to write individual-testing logic if the general requirement is onerous enough. Those who really want to work with children will then have a natural advantage over those who are in it for other reasons. The latter will by definition find something easier to do, and it is greatly in society's interest that they do so. Another advantage of this plan is that the degree of onerousness (how many years you have to put in, what you get paid, and so on) could be tested empirically. ps: I like several of your other comments in this thread. Are you a teacher?
    - forkandwait 16y ago
      > If you think "fire" is easy, watch the lemon dance scene in Waiting for Superman. That is my point. If fire never becomes easy we are just plain screwed. Thanks for the comment about my posts. I would have liked to be a high school math teacher -- probably not forever, but for 5-10 years -- but the credentialing system and the crappiness of the schools in California dissuaded me. (If you have a BA in math, you can get a decent job besides teaching, unlike English.) I have tutored off and on since then, and if someone called me and offered a job at a charter school for my current 72K a year I would probably weep with joy and take it.

Because "deserve?" and "fire" are hard functions to write. It seems easier to allow for a natural process of attrition. Edit: I think society should ask one to earn the privilege of being a teacher (what more important asset could we entrust someone with than children?) and to compensate those who have earned it well enough to make it well worth earning. What's a natural way to earn the right to be a teacher? By assisting those who have already earned it. (This does raise a bootstrapping question, but that's hardly the crux of the matter.)

forkandwait 16y ago
Is "earn" any harder to write than "deserve"? "Fire" is really easy...
- gruseom 16y ago
  If you think "fire" is easy, watch the lemon dance scene in Waiting for Superman. You're missing my point about "earn", which is you don't have to write individual-testing logic if the general requirement is onerous enough. Those who really want to work with children will then have a natural advantage over those who are in it for other reasons. The latter will by definition find something easier to do, and it is greatly in society's interest that they do so. Another advantage of this plan is that the degree of onerousness (how many years you have to put in, what you get paid, and so on) could be tested empirically. ps: I like several of your other comments in this thread. Are you a teacher?
  - forkandwait 16y ago
    > If you think "fire" is easy, watch the lemon dance scene in Waiting for Superman. That is my point. If fire never becomes easy we are just plain screwed. Thanks for the comment about my posts. I would have liked to be a high school math teacher -- probably not forever, but for 5-10 years -- but the credentialing system and the crappiness of the schools in California dissuaded me. (If you have a BA in math, you can get a decent job besides teaching, unlike English.) I have tutored off and on since then, and if someone called me and offered a job at a charter school for my current 72K a year I would probably weep with joy and take it.