Amusing. That’s all I can say.

Let me respond to your longest online post with one of my shortest.

1. There is no evidence to suggest education improvement is directly proprtional to the amount of money spent per pupil.
2. The largest teacher union is the NEA. NEA stands for National Education Association A union is a union whether you call it one or not.
3. If the only reason you are in education is for the money you are in education for the wrong reasons. Bad teachers are bad teachers no matter how much you pay them.

Brandon, you are trying to make a difference and I am glad you are trying to do so. However, please don’t repeat the tired worn out failed idea that more money and bigger programs are the solution. The evidence is against it.

Ron

Additionally, private schools have less overhead because they pay substantially less money to their faculty and do not provide benefits, especially at parochial schools where many times unpaid volunteers or church officials (nuns/priests/et al.) who do not require a salary. They frequently do not offer sports, clubs, or other activities that create well rounded students.

Also, as someone who is a member and school representative of an association (we don’t have “unions” in NC), we do not discourage people from the private sector entering teaching, in fact we encourage it. Teachers must have certification and have a degree in the area in which they teach… that is a state requirement, not a union one. About 20% of the teachers at my school have come from the private sector. Also, unions are entirely funded by members. They protect the right of employees from unfair treatment, frivolous lawsuits, and other problems in the workplace.

Also, teachers in non-union states have far less freedom in their jobs. We cannot negotiate our salaries unlike almost any other profession. We are forced to accept what the state offers, unlike union states who can negotiate their contracts. We can be forced to take on addtional non-instructional duties without pay or face termination. And since you may be buying in to the tired old argument that teacher’s unions only want to protect bad teachers, this is an outright LIE. As a representative, I can tell you I am the first person to want bad teachers GONE. Having said that, all teachers deserve representation when a disciplinary action is filed, just like all accused persons have the right to an attorney. Everyone gets a fair shake. And why is it that you always hear about bad teachers, but never seem to hear anything about those the hired them? Don’t administrators and Board of Education members bear responsibility for allowing underqualified/incompetent people into the classroom?

But that’s what happens when you cut teachers’ salaries. They leave. Your left with underqualified people who are willing to accept such meager wages. Why do you think people at the drive through counters are rude or inconsiderate or plain stupid? They’re making $6/hr! Pay more and you can be selective about who you hire. Pay people what they’re worth and you’ll get someone worth keeping.

Lastly, in what may be my longest online post ever, I have no control over what kinds of students walk through my door. Poor, hungry, emotionally disturbed, violent, poorly raised, ignorant, criminal, drug addled, etc. etc. etc. Sometimes they’re great, others they are the stuff of nightmares. I cannot turn them away. I am not allowed to. I have to take them all unquestioningly and try to create a ‘perfect’ pupil. And if I don’t… I get blamed. I work with broken students, broken equipment, few books, absentee parents, and superiors who only care about raising test scores at all costs. A winemaker gets bad grapes he throws them out… not me. I have to make wine out of sweet and sour grapes.

I am trying to make a difference. I need a little help here.

Brandon

Further, there has never been a single peer-reviewed study published which purports that higher per-pupil spending results in better schools. In fact, every study ever published shows just the opposite. This is because in the public school system, more than 50% of all money goes to fund the bureaucracy, not the students or classroom instruction. Contrast this with parochial schools which average in the high 80s.

The biggest barrier to the success of the schools is the teachers union with their draconian rules as to who is allowed to become a teacher and their endless drain on the public school finances to fund their monopoly.

There are plenty of stories about dot com millionaires who are experts at math and science wanting to teach those classes in high schools but are prevented by the union. I’d rather have any veteran teach American history, whether or not the vet had a college degree. People motivated by desire and pride…those are precisely the people that you want teaching the kids.

We need to provide funding where it is needed and get more, better teachers to the places of sorest need. Also, holding parents and students responsible for education, not just teachers, would be a big step. It’s tough to teach a child who makes more money than I do by slinging crack on the corner, or a child who is so undernourished he can barely focus. And the list goes on and on and on…

So, in reality, school vouchers only present the ILLUSION of choice, but offer no real change for students who need it most.

Brandon – NC