<p>My son brought in Michael Shaara's book into AP English as his selected book and his teacher said "that's a beach book". Other kids were allowed to read Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons etc... but she said this book wasn't of the same caliber. That seemed really stupid as I believe it won Pulitzer Prize. He said " Why does my last semester have to have a teacher like this?"</p>
<p>My son really enjoyed reading The Killer Angels. He enjoyed Gods and Generals By Jeff Shaara too. Get your son to go ahead and read The Killer Angels even if he won't get credit for it. General Schwartzkopf described it as "the best and most realistic historical novel about war I have ever read."</p>
<p>Perhaps the teach heard the title and made an assumption. Surely no sane teacher could deny the chance to read a PP winning account of Gettysburg. Beach reading, pah!</p>
<p>I think you are right. I told him to go show the teacher that it won Pullitzer prize. I told him to be firm convince her...</p>
<p>Crazy teacher. Must have had chocolate on the desk and was distracted. My, my, my. I'll be dying to know what the teacher says when s/he finds out its not a romance novel. Ya gotta keep us posted!</p>
<p>I LOVED that book. maybe she was just saying it was a kinda easy read for AP english</p>
<p>No, because she allowed Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons. They are good books but not at all challenging. I am just waiting to hear how his day went with the teacher.</p>
<p>Its all good! She approved the book after he discussed it with her.</p>
<p>Sounds like the teacher is an idiot to me. Bet she didn't know the book at all.</p>
<p>biggreen,
did you homeschool your cadet?</p>
<p>I have heard criticism about the book in that some look at it as more of a "screenplay" depicting a historical event than original fiction. I personally enjoyed the book and am no literary critic.</p>
<p>I wish we had. We live in a town where teachers make, on average, over 85,000 per year (and don't work summers) and I wouldn't hire 95 percent of them to walk a postal route. My daughter comes home BORED every day. I'd like to think having open intellectual discussions at home and having the right reading material around and setting the right moral tone is something like homeschooling.</p>
<p>I loved Killer Angels because of its focus on Joshua Chamberlain, one of my personal heroes. On his own he understood that Little Round Top HAD to be held - he was right, the North would have lost the Battle if his Maine troops had faltered. He went on to be Governor of Maine and President of Bowdoin College. He represents the best in our military - an officer who can think for himself and make decisions when necessary.</p>
<p>85000 salary for a high school teacher!!! Holy Buckets!!!
The national median salary for a HS teacher is somewhere around 48,000 per year. I think I read somewhere that 75% of HS teachers make less than 59,000 per year. They get summers off, but they aren't paid for those summers unless they choose to take their salary over 12 months instead of just during the school year. Even in the Northeast and in California where cost of living is higher, HS teachers salaries don't vary much from the norm. Our daughter was schooled entirely in California public schools by some extremely dedicated, talented and under-paid teachers. Iam sure they would be very interested in finding out where they can earn 85,000 a year teaching at a public high school!</p>
<p>I agree on Chamberlain---he followed his orders and held the hill. BG Warren recognized the importance of it when he saw it was lightly defended and notified Gen Sykes who dispatched Vincent's Brigade to hold it, to which Chamberlains regiment belonged. My GG Grandfather (USMA 1862) was an artillery officer at Gettysburg and lost several classmates from WP there (Cushing, Hazlett). After the war he forbade his children and grandchildren to even play act with toy guns. His descriptions to the family of the carnage were vividly described in his letters.</p>
<p>biggreen is wrong about teacher salaries. And let me get this straight, you ALLOWED YOUR CHILDREN TO REMAIN IN A SCHOOL SYSTEM IN WHICH YOU BELIEVED THE TEACHERS WERE ONLY QUALIFIED TO DELIVER MAIL? Does this broad stroke also apply to the teachers who wrote letters of recommendation on behalf of your son?
I would imagine that teachers in NYC with a Ph.D or Ed.D and twenty years under their belts would be making around 85K, and that is true in my district. I personally believe that public schools are the cornerstone of democracy in the United States. Like shogun's children, my daughter attended public schools in Southern California. Her high school chemistry teacher was a D.D.S. All of her other science teachers had their Ph.Ds. Her lower division classes at USNA are not as rigorous as her high school classes. As with Homeland Security, No Child Left Behind sounds good, but states aren't fully compensated for implementing these programs.</p>
<p>Did some checking:</p>
<p>"Following are national median salaries for teachers at various primary and secondary school levels, based on 15 years of experience. </p>
<p>Grade Level Median Salary<br>
Teacher's Aide $16,576
Preschool $21,760
Kindergarten $43,612
Elementary School $43,536
High School $43,395 </p>
<p>Source: Salary.com, September 2003
For this month's salaries: Salary Wizard </p>
<p>According to TeacherLinkUSA, New Jersey currently pays its public schoolteachers the highest average salary in the nation, $53,280, with South Dakota coming in last at $30,260. "</p>
<p>The median HS salary in Queens, New York is 55,800 with 75% making less than 65,000. (also salary.com)</p>
<p>fully credentialed teachers in my school district start at 42K (BA/BS+30 units)</p>
<p>I remember my dad retiring in 1984 after 28 years of teaching HS American Government in Southern California and he was making 30k with a Masters Degree.</p>
<p>shogun,
bless your father.</p>
<p>First of all, I now plan to read "Killer Angels". </p>
<p>Secondly, I respect and admire all the dedicated teachers. I live in an excellent high school district where the teachers' average salary is equivalent to BigGreen's district. Some of the teachers are $100k+. We have outstanding teachers who earn the respect of students and parents each and every day. We have some who do the job adequately and will not be remembered by anyone. And we have a very few who probably cannot read their own mail, let alone carry anyone else's. If you graphed it out, it would look like a bell-shaped curve. In looking back at the teachers I had so many years ago, it was just the same. I remember the great ones and thank them for all they did for me.</p>
<p>Third, I echo usna09mom's sentiments. Shogun, thanks to your father. I'll bet that's where you got some of your foundation and passion when we have our political discussions.</p>
<p>Fourth, I think appropriate dress is an indicator of the respect you hold for an individual or an institution. I don't like to see people wear jeans to religious services, I wouldn't wear a tee shirt to the plebe-parent hop which was a formal affair, and I think it was meant to be disrespectful and mischevious (at best) to wear a tee shirt with any kind of commentary to the State of the Union address. Am I just old-fashioned? Perhaps. I'd still like to see a bit more respect in the world - even when, especially when, we disagree with each other.</p>
<p>Some good points momoftwins.</p>