LogFAQs > #922066750

skullbone posted...

Leafeon13N posted...

Red sox is currently arguing liberal teachers are getting too much while simultaneously arguing we should pay conservative teachers more.

I think this was his actual message but it's equally stupid as an argument

Yes, that was what I said.

But more seriously, I do think we, as a country, should be incentivizing people who are not teachers right now to teach. Our school system is failing and we should be getting people from outside the system in if we want change.

Our schools are not competitive enough. Students don't compete with each other enough. That's because our schools are structured to reward minimum competence. The top student in the class gets virtually identical grades to the #2. Tests have loads of easy questions, but students are expected to get the vast majority of them right to get a decent grade.

This isn't what the real world is like. And this isn't what school is like in East Asia at least. Test questions are hard enough that the students who actually know the subject matter well will stand out. Students know they are competing with each other. Students don't get credit for turning in mountains of time-wasting homework, or even worse, extra credit.

I think a big reason for this culture is our teachers tend to do well in an environment based on minimum competence rather than outstanding performance themselves. That's because we don't pay teachers well so highly talented people choose other professions. And this is a feedback loop - the worse our teachers are, the less the public believes they deserve to be paid.
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September 1, 2003; November 4, 2007; September 2, 2013
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