[thechat] Jan 18 peace march

aardvark roselli at earthlink.net
Tue Jan 21 08:24:01 CST 2003


> From: Martin Burns <martin at easyweb.co.uk>
>
> > > Public-school teachers should be the highest-paid people on the
> > > planet.
> >
> > i would agree with that if they were required to have a minimum of
> > skills as well, but until they stop letting anyone teach our youth,
> > i'm not buying it...
> >
> > now, if they *do* raise wages to that level, i would only support if
> > there were all-around tests to make sure dolts don't get in...
>
> Or alternatively, let market forces sort it out as it does for other
> high-paying professions.

but that would mean privatizing it, which seems to scare the pants
off people... even though looking at other private education
institutions, you generally see a higher level of teacher... and even
though it would help eliminate redundancy and potentially create
competition among schools that would further drive the quality up...
even though it could eliminate costly and ineffective government
administration... etc...

instead, people freak out when coca cola buys exclusive rights to
sell to a school cafeteria audience, even though it puts much needed
money in the public school coffers...

as if we can afford to be picky with the quality of education as it
is...

has anyone noticed how the US is lagging behind the rest of the world
in education?  two sets of people to blame here -- schools
(adminstrators, teachers, etc.) and parents (who too quickly blame
teachers for when their kids are allowed to slack on homework and the
like)...

but the parent problem is a distinct issue, owing to the fact that
nobody in the US wants to take responsibility for their own fate, and
always finds a way to blame it on someone else...

etc...

--
my latest book project:
  Web Graphics for Non-Designers
  http://amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1904151159/evoltorg02-20
  ISBN: 1904151159






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