24 Feb
Trading in old $100,000 teachers for $40,000 Teachers
Posted in General, Teacher Frustration, Teachers on 24.02.10
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Like most states, in this bad economy, Georgia is struggling to pay for schools and teachers. Teachers were furloughed for three days in the fall, and we will probably have 3 more furlough days this semester. Next year looks just as bad, and some politicians advocate shortening the school year by as many as ten days.
Yesterday as I watched the local television news, a state legislator disclosed his idea for funding the schools. With obvious rancor, he suggested that teachers who are making $100,000 should be forced to retire so systems could replace them with $40,000 teachers.
Such thinking is indicative of what often hinders schools: shortsighted thinking.
Yes, forcing “expensive” teachers into retirement will save school systems money, but what about learning? Will it help students to force our most experienced teachers into retirement and replace them with brand new teachers? While it is indeed true that some outstanding first-year teachers are exemplary and more effective than many teachers with years and years of experience, those situations are rare. While the research is unclear as to when teaching experience levels off, the research is absolutely clear that teachers are more effective each additional year they teach for at least the first five years for elementary teachers, and high school teachers on average continue to improve for several more years. Schools need experienced teachers.
Now, perhaps the economy has reached such dire straits that we need to take bold moves as the senator suggested, but couldn’t he display a little more respect and ASK teachers who have met retirement criteria to retire instead of sneering about expensive teachers?
Yes, I am, indeed, one of the old expensive teachers. With 32 years of teaching and a doctorate, I am at the top of Georgia teachers’ salary schedule.
Where are these $100,000 Georgia teachers?
I don’t know a $100,000 Georgia teacher!
Trading in old $100,000 teachers for $40,000 teachers isn’t going to work if there are no $100,000 Georgia teachers!
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Edie Parrott
2 comments on this topic
24. February - 7:30 pm
Word.
Preach it, sista.
24. February - 7:33 pm
Are you reading all my posts in one night, Harriett? Maybe you can come back out of retirement and add to our list of expensive teachers!
24. February - 9:37 pm
What about trading in some of those 100,000+ legislators Edie? Now there’s a thought!
24. February - 10:46 pm
Can you cite studies showing that teachers become more effective with experience? Although it seems obvious, many people still like to argue that all new teachers all the time is the best way to go.
25. February - 6:59 am
Amen!
25. February - 7:09 am
Wow! I have never heard anyone advocate that new teachers are “the best way to go”! While I think new teachers often boost the energy of a staff, I can’t imagine working on a staff with predominantly new teachers. Can you?
Here are several sources you might like to check:
Rivers, J. C. & Sanders, W. L. (2002) Teacher quality and equity in educational opportunity: Findings and policy implications. In L. T. Izumi & W. M. Evers (Eds.) Teacher quality (pp. 13-23). San Francisco: Hoover Institution Press.
Rice, J. K. (2003). Teacher quality: Understanding the effectiveness of teacher attributes. Washington, D. C.: Economic Policy Institute.
Greenwald, R., Hedges, L. V., & Laine, R. D. (1996). The effect of school resources on student achievement. Review of Educational Research, 66(3), 361-396.
Ferguson, R. F. (1991). Paying for public education: New evidence on how and why money matters. Harvard Journal on Legislation, 28, 465-498.
I’m typing this at 7:00 in the morning. Please excuse me if I messed up the APA citations.
Thanks for reading!
25. February - 8:55 am
Maybe the legistrator was getting his salary confused with that of older teachers.
25. February - 8:56 am
Oops! Give me another cup of coffee and lower my salary. I meant to type legislator.:)So much for redos.
25. February - 9:44 am
This is happening at my school, an alternative school run through a private agency. I am a teacher with 5 years experience, and all around me the most senior teachers were being fired for other, made-up reasons. It made me sick. They didn’t even have the decency to admit what was going on, and instead tarnished the records of some excellent teachers. So I quit. Glad to find another blogger who thinks this behavior is pitiful.
25. February - 1:08 pm
Funny!
25. February - 1:09 pm
How disheartening! I guess I am too optimistic. I always hope that people, in the end, will make decisions based on what is best for KIDS! Thanks for reading, Amy!
26. February - 7:22 am
It is all just too sad – makes me feel like crying. Too many politicians are also buffoons!