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This article blames teachers unions on school closures. I am not pro or against unions. But where I live teachers unions do not have any decision making power.
by etempleton 5y ago
This article blames teachers unions on school closures. I am not pro or against unions. But where I live teachers unions do not have any decision making power. Some leverage? Yes, but only a little and even then only around negotiating basic things like salary. The choice is with the school board and superindent. School districts are staying virtual because they don’t have enough staff. Teachers, yes, but more so support staff—bus drivers, classroom aids, custodians, food services, etc. parents are being told, “sorry there will be no bus today, you will have to drive your kid to school.” Schools are closing because they can’t keep staff and half the students and teachers are sick and virtual anyway. Try teaching 15 8 year olds virtually and 10 more in person at the same time. It doesn’t work. The jobs were not great before and they are awful now. Not a lot of people are excited to become a teacher these days.
Now, if you want to talk about school choice, and, in this model I suppose you are given a tax credit, you will create the exact same situation we have in higher education that everyone complains about being too expensive and a scam, and price gouging, etc, etc. because schools will compete to create the biggest and flashiest school to attract the best and brightest, but more importantly richest students. The other schools will be impovershied and facilities will get worse and worse.
- notch656a 5y agoIf buses aren't running, custodians aren't showing up, and classroom aids aren't there then the system is failing. Time to look into other possibilities.
- etempleton 5y agoPerhaps it is a free market economy issue. These staff members are paid more to work elsewhere under more favorable conditions. The answer then must be to pay more or otherwise make working conditions more tenable. Most bus drivers and support staff are elderly and took these jobs on part time. The calculation might just not be worth it to them anymore.
- legerdemain 5y agoSchool-based professionals are looking at private schools and realizing they can make top dollar there, compared to the chaos and dysfunction of union-governed public schools. There's no upper limit on how much teachers and other professionals can earn at a private school, unlike public schools.
- notch656a 5y agoI almost cry when I think about how Jaime Escalante lost his department chair (allegedly due to jealously) after being one of the most successful public school math teachers in US history. It's sad how incentives are set up for public school teachers.
- etempleton 5y agoI suspect it was because he wasn’t following curriculum or rules. If you assessed how he was teaching it probably didn’t check the boxes. There has been a movement since No Child Left Behind to standardize and make success repeatable and measurable. It doesn’t work. The best teachers find there own way of teaching that works for them. Teaching is half a performance art and half reading the room and adjusting on the fly. The best teachers I had broke every rule in the book and got better results for it.
- notch656a 5y agoIt's an excellent point. I'm open to all alternatives, but clearly no matter which way forward the teachers and support staff ( basically everyone but administrators, in my opinion) need to get their pay boosted to what an educated professional with the demands teaching kids can command on the free market. There are other nations with good ROI on public education, and it would be wise for us to see what made them successful. Sadly administrators, government bloat, poor resource allocation in public schools and just poor use of human resources and capital investment could all be to blame. I'm skeptical a monopoly is the best way forward, but sometimes monopolies _can_ work well if they're beholden enough to their customers (the tax payers).