At 10:38 AM 3/9/2003 -0500 Jon Gabriel wrote: >Education is _very_ underfunded. Teachers definitely need to be paid more >and the system needs more money for basics. (My wife's an educator... you >won't see an argument from me on that!) :)
Yes, and almost everyone thinks that they are underpaid.
However, AFAIK, there isn't much of a teacher shortage in the country these days... which implies that teachers are being paid plenty. I'd believe that teachers are underpaid if you could demonstrate a nationwide teacher shortage.....
How about if we restrict it to math and science teachers, particularly at the junior high and high school level?
Someone with a masters degree in math or the sciences can often find a better-paying job than teaching at that level in the public schools, and the better-paying job will probably not require them to go to school for two extra years to get an additional degree in education so they can qualify for a teaching certificate, which is what a person with a masters or even a Ph. D. in math or science would have to do in order to meet the requirements for teaching K-12 in most, if not all, states. With one of those degrees, one could teach at the college level without any additional educational requirements, or get a non-teaching job in various high-tech industries, so essentially the only reason someone with an advanced degree in math or science would teach at the K-12 level is because they wanted to teach at that level, and so are willing to spend the additional time and money to get an education degree and to take the low pay.
(The above is based on what I learned when I checked into the matter during one of those periods when I needed a job and there seemed to be a lot more openings for math and science teachers at the 7-12 level than at the college level. This perhaps explains why I have acquired so much experience in the computer industry along the way . . . :-S )
-- Ronn! :)
Ronn Blankenship Instructor of Astronomy/Planetary Science University of Montevallo Montevallo, AL
Disclaimer: Unless specifically stated otherwise, any opinions contained herein are the personal opinions of the author and do not represent the official position of the University of Montevallo.
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