Teacher Salary Wrap-Up
After some more thought on this issue, and a few conversations and emails, I’ve been put in my place to know better than to question teachers’ work. This confuses me a bit, because we’re often told how teachers desire to have more parental involvement. I’m sure like many things, though, only in moderation. It’s still important to give the teachers room to do their job since they are the ones with all the experience and expertise. But I’m wondering if many times parents err on the side of watching from too far a distance as to not step on an educator’s toes. I fear this many lead to less accountability unto which teachers should be held.
As far as the salary bit goes, I’ve learned from Brewmaster that the $34/hour number was taken from metro areas (St. Louis, K.C., and S'field here in MO) and that Missouri teachers are way down at the 43rd state for pay. That troubles me, but at the same time I don’t know enough about economics and cost-of-living issues to know how all those things factor in together. I do know my first reaction to the $34/hour number was, wow! they get paid that much? I’ve been told several times now that increasing teachers’ salaries is important so we are not losing so many teachers to jobs outside of education. I can definitely see that point. However, I personally know more teachers who have left the system because of the political and administrative bull-crap they have to put up than the low salaries. As I said before, I have no problems increasing teachers’ salaries as long as it comes from the local officials and there is a real need in order to keep teachers in the schools.
Brewmaster hit on something in his comment here about what he thinks are bigger problems in public schools: administrators and dead-beat parents. There are so many factors that play into the troubles our education system is facing these days; it’s hard to narrow it down to just a few. But this one thing I know: thank God we still have the freedom to educate our children at home if we so choose. It’s not like that everywhere. We are learning more and more each day about homeschooling and the joys and successes it can bring to families. We are also learning more and more about the threats that are out there to take away that freedom. This is not just kook-talk: we all need to be aware of the State’s desire to own our children, taking away the parent’s right to be in charge of their child’s education….and I’m not just talking about taking away homeschooling parents’ rights to keep their kids at home.
One more question: would a teacher rather deal with an over-zealous parent like me than a parent who doesn’t give a rip? No doubt the teachers out there will be having the last laugh on me when I get into the thick of homeschooling and discover the joys of lesson-planning!
As far as the salary bit goes, I’ve learned from Brewmaster that the $34/hour number was taken from metro areas (St. Louis, K.C., and S'field here in MO) and that Missouri teachers are way down at the 43rd state for pay. That troubles me, but at the same time I don’t know enough about economics and cost-of-living issues to know how all those things factor in together. I do know my first reaction to the $34/hour number was, wow! they get paid that much? I’ve been told several times now that increasing teachers’ salaries is important so we are not losing so many teachers to jobs outside of education. I can definitely see that point. However, I personally know more teachers who have left the system because of the political and administrative bull-crap they have to put up than the low salaries. As I said before, I have no problems increasing teachers’ salaries as long as it comes from the local officials and there is a real need in order to keep teachers in the schools.
Brewmaster hit on something in his comment here about what he thinks are bigger problems in public schools: administrators and dead-beat parents. There are so many factors that play into the troubles our education system is facing these days; it’s hard to narrow it down to just a few. But this one thing I know: thank God we still have the freedom to educate our children at home if we so choose. It’s not like that everywhere. We are learning more and more each day about homeschooling and the joys and successes it can bring to families. We are also learning more and more about the threats that are out there to take away that freedom. This is not just kook-talk: we all need to be aware of the State’s desire to own our children, taking away the parent’s right to be in charge of their child’s education….and I’m not just talking about taking away homeschooling parents’ rights to keep their kids at home.
One more question: would a teacher rather deal with an over-zealous parent like me than a parent who doesn’t give a rip? No doubt the teachers out there will be having the last laugh on me when I get into the thick of homeschooling and discover the joys of lesson-planning!
posted by Anonymous | 8:33 PM
6 Comments:
Haven't read any of your other posts so don't know much about you. I don't really want parent involvement with my work - which parent is ever going to be satisfied with even my best effort. I try and convince them of my worth by bombarding them with pleasantness and generally by treating their children kindly and fairly.What I do want is their involvement with their children. Many parents I meet find it easier to spend their time earning money to provide a better lifestyle - yes I do that too - rather than spend time with their children. You are obviously not like that at all. What I do wonder is if you give your children enough space to be themselves and to make their own mistakes and to do things you don't know about. That's an important part of becoming a good person too.
Great comment--thanks for stopping by!
You said:
which parent is ever going to be satisfied with even my best effort.
So true! Not having to ever deal with teachers myself, this is something about which I've never given much thought. And I now have a better understanding of the differnce between parental involvement with teachers and parental involvement with their own kids.
What I do wonder is if you give your children enough space to be themselves...
This is an issue we stay-at-home moms and homeschoolers have to deal with all the time....and I'm sure parents who put their children in daycare or preschool are always dealing with the questions of "outsourcing parenting" from the stay-at-home crowd. We all tend to focus on the extremes of both ends, not realizing that, as difficult as it can be, parents generally want to find that happy balance of a truly well-rounded child...if such a child really exists.
I'm beginning to feel that people will find any reason they can to justify the choices they make as parents. I can find scores of sources saying it's better to homeschool, as I'm sure the other side could do the same on why it's better to get our kids out of the home and in schools. My point is, while some people will be very concerned on the emotional and social well-being of kids who stay home, are they really trying to justify their own decision to put their kids in daycare/schools? The same goes for us home-bound folk when we question if parents really know what they're subjecting their children to by sending them to daycare/school...are we just really making excuses for our fear of putting our kids under the state's authority? I just think we all (me included) have a tendency to seem concerned for the "other side" and rush to judgement on where they might be falling short in their parenting.
To me it's about what your goals are as a parent, what your education goals are for your children, and how much effort you are willing to put into those goals. This could be taken by some as a condemnation of those who do not homeschool; that is not my intent. Most parents' goals for educatiing their children involve schools, public or private. It's my desire to get people thinking more deliberately about education, talking openly about their goals with their kids, and then executing a plan of action.
If your parents would of had the
opportunity, would you of rather of been home-schooled?
Jill, nice post...enjoyed the HSLDA article about pluralism--the implications of international law becoming our own are quite frightening, but hopefully many years down the road.
On to Mary's comments...
Mary said:
What I do wonder is if you give your children enough space to be themselves and to make their own mistakes and to do things you don't know about. That's an important part of becoming a good person too.
Homeschooling is all about giving children enough space to be themselves--in fact, by having them at home, we can see their character, their strengths and weaknesses and cater their education accordingly. My children have plenty of time to make their own mistakes and do things that I don't know about (or rather don't find out about right away) like coloring on walls or "playing doctor" or punching a sibling when I'm not looking. However, when these occassions arise, I'm able to address the issues, without delay, in an effort to mold their character. I'm also there to praise them firsthand when I see them (or find out about) the wonderful acts they do, like lifting up a brother so he can reach the sink or grabbing a dropped toy for the baby, etc...
Different means...same goals--teaching children to become "good" people
Tough question, especially considering both sets of our parents read this blog.
I started school in 1980, and let me tell you, a lot has changed in 25 years. After my younger brother started kindegarten in 1985, my mother went back to work for the school district, as an administrative assistant for the junior high. She knew all of my teachers, 3 of the school board members were active members of my small 100+ member Presbyterian church, there were (to my knowledge) no drug problems in the school or community (except alcohol), no kids were bringing guns to school, condoms weren't handed out, school prayer wasn't banned, the pledge of allegiance was recited daily, the teachers' union wasn't actively promoting/supporting extremely liberal social issues (ie. gay marriage, abortion on demand, childrens' rights over parents' rights, etc.), girls didn't wear sexually explicit clothing or brag about their sexual exploitations on myspace, the worst thing on television was "Dallas", neighbors watched out for neighbors, etc.
Do you get what I'm saying? Our society has degraded (or as liberals like to say "progressed") so much that even as an adult I'm shocked and appalled daily by what kids are doing (and parents are allowing) these days.
Let me give a short example, and then I'm done. I was casually chatting with a group of coworkers a few weeks ago when a 30-something mother came in the room carrying a Victoria's Secret bag. When asked about the bag by one of my coworkers, she proceeded to tell us of her recent shopping trip with her 11-year old daughter and her friend to V.S. to buy their first bra. When the friend began choosing which pairs of thong underwear she was going to buy, this lady's 11-year old daughter asked her mother if she could buy some thongs as well. What do you think her answer was? What would your answer be? It nearly blew me away, she said that she didn't mind but that they'd need to call her dad and ask him! Ultimately he said no, thank goodness, but I'm afraid that in this "enlightened" world we live in, this type of occurence is becoming more and more normal.
And if this is normal, if sending your kids to a public school is normal, and homeschooling your kids is abnormal, well you know which one I choose for my kids.
So to answer your question, no I wouldn't change the way I was raised, but that doesn't mean we're comparing apples to apples when we compare 1980 to 2007!
Hey Jen--thanks for the great comment! BM was posting his at the same time...
And thanks for tackling the last part of Mary's comment up there. I opted to "not go there" today in hopes that a fellow homeschooler would.
I'm able to address the issues, without delay, in an effort to mold their character.
This is key for us Christian stay-at-home-schoolers, and probably many of the non-Christian ones as well. In a classroom setting, a teacher also has to address the issue without delay...unfortunately, the rest of the class suffers when his/her time and attention has to be taken away from the subject at hand to discipline the offender. And even then, in public schools, what moral grounds are they able to use these days to build character? The latest guidelines made up by government psychologists that have been proven effective in socialist European countries? No thanks.
Now to answer "anonymous'" question:
If your parents would of had the opportunity, would you of rather of been home-schooled?
The short easy answer: Yes. But I have siblings (and they are soooooo much older than me :) )that occasionally read this blog, print it off for my parents, and have a long history of ratting me out, so I'm not sure I really want to dive into this!
But, being the long-commenter that I am, I will...
Did my parents have the opportunity to homeschool me? Yes, although I'm sure they never knew they did. Had they known they did, they might have; I don't know. I was sick a lot as a kid, always sleepy, slept on the bus to and from school, slept in school, and got bored very easily in school. Later on, I just lost complete interest in all things "school" (except the so-called "socialization"...one thing I bet my folks wish I would've never learned in school!) and didn't apply myself. The simple word for that is "lazy". I'm beginning to see a lot of myself in our oldest, and I'm very thankful that there are no shortage of resources readily available right here at the computer and at the library for me to educate myself on methods and philosophies that will help me tailor a curriculum to each child's learning needs--their strengths and weaknesses. I have no degree, but I do have the commitment and the drive to ensure my children will receive a good education. It might not be the best academic education, but we're not homeschooling our kids for Ivy League here.
I don't like to think about the "coulda, woulda, shoulda" things regarding my parents and the decisions they made when raising me. Any well-intentioned parent does the best they can at the time, but could easily beat themselves up about how they could've done better. I've only been a parent for 4 1/2 years and I already have problems with that! I think most parents just want their kids to do a little better than they did...at least that's the case with us.
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