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Perhaps 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 m

Perhaps 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 ago
School-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 ago
  I 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 ago
    I 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 ago
It'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).

legerdemain 5y ago

School-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 ago
I 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 ago
  I 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 ago

It'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).