For Your Consideration

A few stats from the WEA website to consider:

• Washington is dead last in average compensation among West Coast states.
• Washington’s average classroom teacher salary rank drops from 5th to 20th place.
• The average Washington classroom teacher has lost almost $200,000 in salary over the past 30 years.
• Washington ranks 3rd worst in class size out of 50 states and Washington, D.C.
• Washington ranks 44th in the nation for per-pupil spending.
• Washington lost over 2,600 K-12 public school employees in 2009-10 due to state budget cuts.
• 34 percent of Washington’s teachers are eligible to retire soon

A Profession Lost at Sea?

Previously I had posted about how education may be suffering from the loss of a generation of teachers. With few people retiring and no positions to hire, education could be losing a myriad of teachers to other professions. After all, if teaching isn’t hiring, someone else may be.

Well, I’ve been accused of hyperbole with my coming thoughts, but I firmly believe that if the country does not turnabout and begin to value teachers more, we’re going to doom the public education system.

Graduates see what is happening in Wisconsin, what has happened in Rhode Island, and the continued attacks on teachers and their benefits. Why would anyone want to enter the teaching profession?

They don’t. At least the best are not. Nicholas Kristof noted a McKinsey & Company study revealing that 47% of America’s K-12 teachers come from the bottom 1/3 of their college classes. The top 1/3 are becoming doctors, bankers, and entering other lucrative professions.

And this should surprise no one. Graduates are seeing that, more and more, the job of a teacher is getting more difficult, the profession is being disrespected, and salaries and benefits are under attack. The best and brightest are going elsewhere.

And where does this leave the profession? Here is one example from Kristof’s article:

In 1970, in New York City, a newly minted teacher at a public school earned about $2,000 less in salary than a starting lawyer at a prominent law firm. These days the lawyer takes home, including bonus, $115,000 more than the teacher, the McKinsey study found.

He further noted:

Starting teacher pay, which now averages $39,000, would have to rise to $65,000 to fill most new teaching positions in high-needs schools with graduates from the top third of their classes, the McKinsey study found.

I recently read (and I forget where but will post the link when I find it it) that in Washington State had teacher salaries simply matched the inflation rate for the last 30 years, each teacher would be making on average $12,000 more than they currently do.

If the country is serious about attracting the nation’s best, then salaries and benefits have to part of the whole package. Other countries get it:

Consider three other countries renowned for their educational performance: Singapore, South Korea and Finland. In each country, teachers are drawn from the top third of their cohort, are hugely respected and are paid well (although that’s less true in Finland). In South Korea and Singapore, teachers on average earn more than lawyers and engineers, the McKinsey study found.

If we want to lead the world, we better start valuing education more than the American Idol finalists, Jersey Shore, and pro sports. And, we better start recognizing the debilitating effects of poverty on our students.

Teachers get paid a lot of lip service, but only when this country puts its money where its mouth is will we see a world class system develop.

The Sad But True Story

It’s sad to me that Jon Stewart of The Daily Show has become perhaps the best watchdog in journalism today, but he does get to the heart of the Wisconsin fight for collective bargaining rights and the hypocrisy of this partisan issue.

I only hope your state is not fighting this same battle, but I have a feeling this struggle will be yours soon too.

Check out the video here.

 

Someone Likes Me

The more I watch the evening news or read magazines and newspapers, the less I feel valued. However, Diane Ravitch–who spoke to the NEA-RA last July and received a standing ovation–wrote a response to her original article on CNN this week.

Sometimes I feel like she’s the only public figure who respects my profession. Read her response and the original article. It’s worth your time.

Boiling Over

If you want an accurate analysis of the Wisconsin teacher protests as a microcosm of the nation’s teaching force’s feelings, read Diane Ravitch’s CNN editorial.

Not only does she discuss the growing anger of teachers everywhere, but she points out the hypocritical nature of the “reformers” and those elected officials who claim to be improving the system:

One must wonder how it is possible to talk of improving schools while cutting funding, demoralizing teachers, cutting scholarships to college, and increasing class sizes.

One point I might add to her article, especially about the value of collective bargaining, is this: five states currently do not have collective bargaining rights, and they rank near or at the bottom of the ACT and SAT rankings. Take a look for yourself:

• South Carolina – 50th.
• North Carolina – 49th.
• Georgia – 48th.
• Texas – 47th.
• Virginia – 44th.

What teachers and their bargaining bodies advocate are not simply about pay, benefits, and pensions; they advocate for research-based ways to improve student learning as well, and the results are favorable to both teachers and students.