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Teacher Salaries

Posted by Waski_the_Squirrel on Thursday, December 28, 2006 5:58:05 PM
Let's first please agree that salaries for teachers are different all over the country. Let's also agree that a good salary in one town might not pay even basic expenses in another town.

How, then, do we conclude that teachers are overpayed or underpayed?

One indicator might be whether a particular school can attract the teachers it wants. I don't mean putting a warm body in a classroom. I mean getting the qualified teacher with the desired skills. Another indicator might be how long these teachers stay. A high starting salary attracts teachers, but it doesn't keep them.

A second indicator might be to compare teaching to professions of similar educational level in the area. Some might contend that the teacher only works nine months of the year. I would respond that if you want good teachers, they must be compensated appropriately. Otherwise, they will not be able to afford to work in the profession.

Thirdly, can they pay living expenses on what they make? I live quite comfortably on my salary. If I move to Boulder, Colorado, I will not be able to pay even basic living expenses on my salary. As a matter of fact, I would not be able to pay basic living expenses on the Boulder salary. Boulder is an expensive area and the teachers are underpayed. North Dakota is not an expensive area, so teachers are not nearly so underpayed, even though the salary is quite a bit less.

I get bored with articles that compare teacher salaries from state to state or which discuss national averages. Such studies are superficial and incomplete. They do, however, make great propoganda for the union.

This propoganda is not harmless. It damages the image of teachers. Teachers are perceived sometimes as spoiled and overpaid. After all, if the union can play artificial numbers games, so can everyone else. Teachers are also perceived as dedicated believers who toil on regardless of how they are treated. Finally, teachers can also be perceived as too "dumb" to "get a real job." No matter which of these is the dominant view, the result is to make teaching unattractive to college graduates and to lower its status in the eyes of the public.
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Merry Christmas

Posted by Waski_the_Squirrel on Friday, December 22, 2006 4:12:53 PM
My Friday blogs are supposed to be happy blogs, but I'd just like to suggest reading the discussion I mentioned yesterday. There are a few other teachers like the special ed teacher I described. However, what I found heartening was the number of teachers who were shocked or upset by her policy of giving answers to students. It's easy to forget that there are a lot of good teachers in this country and that the majority of all teachers are at least decent. We always focus on the bad ones (like this woman).

My post is related to the Christmas concert my school put on Monday evening. Yes, even though it's a public school, we do have a Christmas concert and we do call it that. We even sing Christmas songs.

What my school's music director knows is that she is free to perform religious and secular songs. To be safe, it should be a mix (and she was safe). However, too many schools fear any religious association. Not ours!

She is a fairly new music teacher, but doing a great job. She has built up the numbers in band and choir. She has students performing well, and she has kids actually enjoying music. I'm excited for the future of the music program. She's the kind of director who will build it into something great.

The only real incident during the concert was a seventh grader who had an upset stomach and emptied its contents while he was performing. The kids and the director handled it like professionals.

Education writers so often focus on what's negative. I'm guilty of this too. However, teachers like this music teacher show that there is success out there.

I probably won't post again until after Christmas. I'm traveling a bit. I'll be spending the weekend cloistered in my house trying to get papers corrected so that I can actually enjoy the break.

Until then, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!
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Dumbing Down our Kids

Posted by Waski_the_Squirrel on Thursday, December 21, 2006 10:16:56 PM
I borrowed a title from Charles Sykes' book to describe something that discouraged me. I participate in a teacher's discussion board called Teachers.net. Recently a special ed teacher posted with concerns about standards that were a little too high in Biology.

At first I believed that there was an issue of miscommunication. However, the more this teacher wrote, the more I realized that she was undermining the classroom teacher.

I was encouraged to see that I was not the only teacher concerned by her statements. "Kevin" was the first to identify the specific things she was saying. 

This teacher advocated actually giving answers to special ed students. She said that they need to be given answers so that they could pass. She also said that special ed students could not be allowed to fail. It's hard for me to put the things she said into my own words. It really is worth reading to see how she says it.
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A Reply to Tax Shelter Schools

Posted by Waski_the_Squirrel on Monday, December 18, 2006 11:04:42 PM
Some time ago, I wrote a short blog about what I termed "Tax Shelter Schools". My blog was inspired by a news story about a school called Squaw Gap. I made reference to it specifically several times in my blog.

Today I received a response from the teacher there. Needless to say, she and I disagree slightly. I am pleased to say that I found her polite, so I took the time to respond to her. I am posting her comments here as well as my response (which I E-mailed to her). I removed all identifying information beyond what she chose to post in the comments here.

Her comments:

Squaw Gap Teacher writes: Monday, December, 18, 2006 6:14 PM
Small Rural School
I'm sorry you feel that our school is merely taxpayer-funded tutoring. I moved my 3 children over 100 miles to take this teaching job for the 2005-2006 school year. I had an enrollment of 8 students at the beginning of last year. My own to high school age children attend the nearest high school to us. This school is 30 miles away and is not only out of district, it is out of state. Should our district be dissolved, we would more than likely be merged with the adjacent school district which includes Watford City. This is more than 50 miles away and in another time zone. This means my first grade child would have to get on a bus before 6:00 am to attend school in Watford City. That would be unacceptable in my opinion. Furthermore, we have one of the lowest school mill levies in the state. Were we to merge with Watford City, the landowners in this district would immediately jump to atleast 140 mills. You should also be aware that Squaw Gap receives NO STATE OR FEDERAL FUNDS.

My response:

[...]

I will try to answer your comments.

First of all, you stated that Squaw Gap receives no state or federal funds. I think this is hair-splitting because I noted that schools of this size would receive very little money anyway due to low enrollment. My issue was not with taking state money from other schools as I hope I made clear in the blog. My issue was with property taxes. This has become an equity issue in this state. Districts such as Surrey or Williston suffer because of their small land area. Their expenses do not go down just because they pull from a smaller area, and the state money does not make up for their lack of taxable land.

I do understand your concerns with distance. You may note that I suggested that Squaw Gap would make a good elementary school within a larger district. I feel quite differently about schools that are close to other, larger schools. There is a lot of this around Bismarck. In my own district, there are a number of students who come from a neighboring state because my school is closer than the nearest school in their state. Similarly, some students within my district go out of state for the same reason. Most districts understand this and work with students in this situation.

I know that Watford City plays some "games" with bus ride times by having students ride two different buses to school in the morning. That district has grown perhaps too large.  As you can see, I am in agreement with you on many points.

We will continue to disagree on the tax issue. I realize that property taxes will raise in your school district should you consolidate. I believe that this is equitable. You do not. My fear is that the school finance lawsuit will be resurrected if some equitable solution is not found.  I do not want the courts to solve it because they are not held accountable to the voters. Some steps need to be taken to prevent that happening. I made a suggestion. You and I will continue to disagree on that.

I am honored that you took the time to comment on my blog, even if to disagree. You are a teacher who obviously cares deeply about her school and her students. I wish you a very good Christmas.


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A Teachers' Union Plays NASTY

Posted by Waski_the_Squirrel on Thursday, December 14, 2006 10:28:37 PM
Today was one of those times when I'm thankful to be a teacher in a "right to work" state. Apparently the WEA (Washington Education Association) has been playing nasty games with the money of those who do not belong to the union or do not support its political agenda. My, somewhat scatterbrained, analysis is sprinkled with pertinent links so that those who are interested can get further information.

Apparently, in Washington, a voter initiative was passed to prevent unions using members' dues for political purposes. There was some legal action over this including a lawsuit that has continued to this day.

The major objections to union use of this money are clear. Why should a teacher be forced to fund a political agenda he does not support? If the teacher had a choice about paying this money, there would be no problem. In my state, I don't care what the union spends its money on because I don't have to join and I'm not required to pay agency fees.

Unfortunately, an appeals court viewed this as unconstitutional because of the burden on the WEA. More legal action followed. Eventually, the case made its way to the state supreme court. Recently, the state supreme court agreed with the appeals court.

This case will now be heard in the United States Supreme Court. Although the ruling will probably only apply to Washington state, it will still set a precedent for similar issues in other states. My hope is that the union will lose this case. My hostility to the union is no secret.

In searching for information on this case, I discovered that the WEA has a history of playing nasty. For example, the union filed a suit against two teachers who formed an organization to let others know that union membership had become optional. This was pure harassment. These teachers did not have the resources to fight the union juggernaut. Fortunately, they were defended in court by a larger organization with an interest in the case.

According to the selection of links I found, WEA has quite an ugly history. I hope that this is not typical of state unions. What it does do is emphasize the need for freedom in the workplace. No one should be forced to join the unions. Similarly, unions would need to return to their mission if they were to survive: advocating for their members.
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Adding Days to the School Year

Posted by Waski_the_Squirrel on Wednesday, December 13, 2006 8:44:07 PM
One of North Dakota's state senators has proposed adding a few days to the school year. Certainly this is a good idea. More days of school mean that more instruction can take place. The problem I see is that the time we already have is not used fully. Could the increased instructional time be provided at no additional cost to the schools just by reclaiming the wasted time?

First, consider the senator's reasons for adding days. Students are gone for sports. Teachers have trouble effectively teaching all of the standards in the time provided. Perhaps, most telling, North Dakota has the shortest school year of any state in the nation. Perhaps he wants North Dakota to look better.

Now, consider where the time goes every day. Some teachers do not start their class until after they've done attendance, any paperwork, settled the class down, etc. Then, because the class isn't ready to work, the teacher needs to put out "fires" through class. There is the time lost due to interruptions. Days also occur in which the teacher does not plan adequately and runs out of activities before the end of the period.

Other areas of time loss are due to ineffective teaching methods. Some teachers easily wander off the subject. Other teachers look busy (lots of activities, kids working), but there is nothing meaningful going on. The activities are fluff. They may teach something, but the payoff is not worth the time invested. I am especially offended by teachers who give "free days" either to catch up on their own work or because they just want a day off. The students encourage this behavior: "It's Friday, we can't do anything with the weekend coming," or "How come you never give us a day off?"

I'm all in favor of more days, but I first want to see the time we have used more effectively. I make an effort not to waste time, but I know I'm guilty of it, especially on days in which I finish a subject early. My own biggest time-waster is the end of class time.

Of course, this attitude appears in the workplace. Workers surf the Internet when they should be working. Workers visit when they should be working. Workers work slowly or inefficiently. This is the same as what goes on in the classroom. Do we seriously wonder where it comes from?
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"Debbie Downer"

Posted by Waski_the_Squirrel on Wednesday, December 13, 2006 12:28:20 AM
"Debbie Downer" exists in almost every workplace. She (or he) believes in the phrase, "Always look on the dark side of life." I'm borrowing this name from a skit I saw on TV while traveling.

Debbie Downer is the one who comes to your classroom after you've had a really productive (though a little late) day. She says, "Go home. No one is going to notice all this work anyway." My best response would have been, "You just did," but I never come up with those clever lines on time. Instead, I stammered something about how I like an organized classroom.

"Debbie" couldn't let it go. "Do you think the administrators care? All this junk you threw away, organizing your cabinets? Who's going to notice?"

Luckily, I'm used to "Debbie". These sorts of remarks, though irritating, do not phase me anymore. However, the various "Debbies" in my life have altered the way I handle something I'm proud of. More and more, I find myself keeping my mouth shut. I don't talk about the hard work I do and that way I don't need to worry about "Debbie" cutting me down. Now, "Debbie" usually seeks me out to volunteer his/her bad feelings.

It's not outright criticism. It is offered in the tone of caring or "someday you'll be older and understand" or "of course if you were married, you wouldn't...."  I've even realized that these people aren't even trying to make me feel bad. They are trying to be helpful or they are trying to be defensive or they are simply negative people.

The "Debbies" in our world try to keep up at a level of mediocrity. They don't want us to excel or stick out in some way. We just go with the flow, do our job, but don't over-achieve.  That way we don't make them look (or feel) badly. They may not even be conscious that they do this.

We have seen the results of this in education. Teachers do the job and no more. Students get by and no more. The student who sticks out (excels) is the "nerd" or "geek". He is bullied or ostracized or mistreated until he drops to the level of his peers. The same is true of the excellent teachers. Although their colleagues mouth the platitudes, they unconsiously try to suck this excellent teacher down.

We need to return to a culture of excellence. We need to be proud of and admire excellence. I don't suggest boasting or bragging, but just to notice the excellent (or good) things your colleagues and friends do. Compliment them. Create that positive world that loves and seeks out excellence.
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Apathy

Posted by Waski_the_Squirrel on Tuesday, December 05, 2006 10:56:58 PM
After my rambling, insomnia-induced blog last night, I went back to bed and didn't wake up until 7:00 am. Overslept! I'm so glad for that internal alarm clock that prevented my being late for work.

Today I was reading a post on Teachers.net in which some new teachers were expressing frustration with student apathy. It struck a chord with me because I faced it several times today. One was the comment, "Why don't you ever give us a day off?" Another was the comment, "Why do you feel like you have to use the whole period."

My response to this is to laugh it off. To a new teacher it is quite shocking. When I was new, I came into school expecting that students would do the work, ask questions when they were confused, and generally do what they could to the limits of their ability. I expected a natural bell curve to fall out from this.

Needless to say, my illusions were quickly dashed. I then went through a period (much like these new teachers) in which I wondered why I bothered. I started wondering what the future of the country was with these attitudes.

Finally revelation struck. There are a few days when I'm excited to go to school. There are days when I hate going to school and put off work because I just don't care. Most days, I work hard. My attitude is satisfaction or ambivalence. Students are the same way. They lack the life experience to realize that most of life is not excitement or joy but rather satisfaction at a job well done.

I am no longer shocked or angry at these comments from students. They are expressions of immaturity and of a half-hearted desire to get out of work. They aren't sincere questions or complaints. Rather, they are a faint hope that I might give in this once, and more generally and expression that they'd rather do something else.

The funny thing is, the less seriously I take such whining, the less of it that occurs.

What is more disturbing to me is the student who passively absorbs the class. These students don't try practice problems, turn in enough homework to get by, and do just well enough to pass the class. They don't complain. They don't try difficult problems, don't ask for help when confused, and sit by in the vague hope that somehow the class will make sense eventually. This is an issue of work ethic and definitely deserves a day of its own.
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Sleep

Posted by Waski_the_Squirrel on Tuesday, December 05, 2006 2:36:00 AM
It is 12:15 (am) my time. Generally I am asleep by this time, but after laying WIDE awake in bed for far too long, I decided that, at the least, I would accomplish something.

When I have a sleepless night like this it is because my mind is racing with all kinds of ideas and thoughts. It just won't "shut up." One suggestion I've tried with some success is to count backwards by 3 or 7 or some other number. This focuses the mind on one topic and bores it into sleep.

Tonight, that's not working. Ironically, one of the thoughts that keeps wandering through is about the need for sleep. I'm doing the nervous system right now in my Anatomy class, and one topic I always hit is sleep.

Sleep is very important to me as a teacher. When I lack sleep, I am short-tempered (or else really goofy). I also get behind on schoolwork. This, in turn, makes me lose sleep and an ugly cycle is created. Lack of sleep causes my classroom discipline to suffer and causes me to make mistakes.

Beyond this, there are the health benefits of sleep. Sleep is essential in keeping weight a a healthy level. Toward the end of a good sleep period (8 hours), your body releases a hormone that enables the body to sense that it is full. Sleep also helps the body regulate blood-sugar level and various hormones in the brain.

When a person lacks sufficient sleep, his reaction time suffers and his mental function suffers. He becomes like one with an elevated blood alcohol level. I hate to think that I will go to school tomorrow "drunk" without the benefit of the alcohol.

Sleep is also important for students. Elsewhere on my blog I discussed the idea that students have a different circadian rhythm than adults. What I see in the classroom is a lot of sleep-starved teens. These are the ones who fall asleep in class, snap for no reason, are too lethargic to bother with assignments, and who can't follow logical reasoning because their minds can't focus.

There are many temptations. I'm suffering from one temptation right now (though, in my defense, I did try sleep first). The Internet is a big one. When I first got it, I know I spent a few nights up much later than I needed to be. Another is TV. I don't have this temptation, but I do have a DVD player. When a movie I'm excited about arrives from Netflix, it's hard to force myself into bed.

Schoolwork, coupled with poor time management, can be another temptation. I didn't get to bed at 10:00 tonight because I was working on a problem session for Physics. I had a whole evening to do it, but chose to do other things instead. I can boast that my second storage room in the lab at school is finally organized my way, but that was a project I could have continued to do piecemeal. It did not need to be finished tonight.

I sense that my raging thoughts are slowing down. Sometimes just forcing them into the written form tames them and forces them to behave. Off to bed for another attempt at sleep!
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