<p>Cant help but notice that after 2+ pages of responses, no one has answered thumper’s question. If it’s such an easy job, well-paid, with great benefits, and long vacations, why aren’t many of you becoming teachers? </p>
<p>W earned her masters and teaching certificate while our kids were toddlers. Many states now have expedited certification programs to help attract quality teachers. You all can take advantage and join this lucrative profession.</p>
<p>^ to reference your ?</p>
<h1>167 why did you not enter teaching was asked</h1>
<h1>171 it was asked did you encourage your children to go into teaching</h1>
<p>That was answered in post #172 by poetgrl,
in post #176 by mimk6,
in post #177, by emeraldkity4, in</p>
<h1>186 by bluebayou,</h1>
<p>#194 by pageturner,
#195 by alwaysamom</p>
<p>Many states now have expedited certification programs to help attract quality teachers
UNfortunately in our state it is more like jumping through hoops.
You could have a PHd, and you could be a prof with tenure , who has been hired by the district as a consultant ( they love their consultants), to advise teachers on curriculum, such as in the science and math area, where AP high school students are ready for much more comprehensive curriculum than was taught in schools of education.</p>
<p>However, even with those credentials, you would have to go back and get an education degree, and many people just don’t want to take the time to be hired through the district when they can impact more children in other ways</p>
<p>I haven’t read all the comments on this thread, so I apologize if mine are repetitious:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I went to public schools, as have my kids. The vast majority of teachers that I’ve encountered as a student and parent have been competent, or more so, professionals. I have no complaint in that regard.</p></li>
<li><p>I work in the same kind of bureaucracy that most public school teachers are in. Poor performers are rarely dealt with, mostly because management is not willing to make the effort and step on the toes needed to do so. Also, the level of performance of most employees is based on their personal work ethic; there are few incentives – either positive or negative – for employees to perform well.</p></li>
<li><p>The only overall negative thing I have to say is this – there is not one teacher teaching today who went into the field not knowing it was not high-paying. Presumably, either love of the work, appreciation for the job security, a need for a pension, the attraction of getting 12 weeks off a year (at least in my area), or some combination of the above is why they took their jobs. So it does bother me when I hear teachers complaining about low pay. I know of no teachers who were conscripted into the job. </p></li>
<li><p>I would like to see us pay better for the teachers in hard-to-fill areas, like mathematics, because I think we won’t be able to find them in the long run if we don’t.</p></li>
</ol>
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<p>You could be a Nobel Laureate in Lit or Econ but not be able to teach HS in California. You could be a Super Bowl winning coach and not be allowed to teach PE in California. But, you could have a 1200 SAT score (on 2400 scale) and teach AP courses in California as long as you have a union card!</p>
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<p>Ahh…benefits…the hidden paycheck!! Yes, union members often have awesome benefits (dare I say…cadillac plans…LOL ), yet that nugget is often left out when discussing salaries. Seriously, income compensation isn’t just the paycheck aspect, it’s the whole nine yards, including the employers contribution to each employee’s FICA.</p>
<p>In southern cal, there was a district that gave its teachers a medical plan in their retirement package that guaranteed medical insurance for the life of the teacher and her spouse and any dependents. This package was soooo expensive that it was draining the budget as they were covering all these retired teachers and spouses.</p>
<p>I’m going to mention this concept again, for those of you still thinking about teachers, training, merit, and all that: </p>
<p>[“Why</a> are more teachers seeking National Board Certification?.” October 08, 2009. NYSUT: A Union of Professionals. <a href=“http://www.nysut.org%5B/url%5D”>www.nysut.org](<a href=“Error 500”>Error 404)</a></p>
<p>Plus, for you California residents: </p>
<p>
[National</a> Board for Professional Teaching Standards: California](<a href=“NBPTS Main Site Home - NBPTS Main Site”>NBPTS Main Site California - NBPTS Main Site)</p>
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<p>uh…because some of us don’t like kids???</p>
<p>jk</p>
<p>Everyone has different interests, that’s why. Why don’t teachers choose other professions? Because teaching is their interest.</p>
<p>The reason I am not going into teaching (to answer the question asked) is that I already have a profession I went to school and trained for. Also, I don’t think I’d be great in a classroom with kids and was pretty sure it was not a job for me while I was raising my own kids.</p>
<p>hate to nitpick, but posts 172,176,177,186,194,195 all answer the 2nd question, “would you encourage your children to go into teaching?”. The last 2 posts are the first to address thumper’s, and my, question. </p>
<p>anyway, the point is with all the benefits listed in these posts, teachers are not getting rich. and there are enough negatives to the job that many of us who could have chosen the field opted to do other things. so why begrudge those who have chosen that profession. </p>
<p>as said several times above, teaching, like every other profession in the world, has good and bad individuals. no one has to convince me that pay-for-performance would keep more good teachers employed and help weed out the bad ones.</p>
<p>Thumper1 - Thank you for your service to our country.</p>
<p>goru-- In post 168, I pointed out that I had been a teacher but chose to pursue a career as an adolescent psychologist since I felt I could do more good there…given the shortage of good adolescent psychologists.</p>
<p>I don’t actually even understand the combative nature of your posts. All anyone is saying is that they wish they could get rid of the nonproductive and abusive teachers more easily but that we have been happy to fight very hard to make teaching a well paid position in our communities. I don’t even know why anyone, especially a teacher, which my mother and grandmother were, which my SIL is, which I was for a while, would not want to get rid of the bad teachers, or why there is so much defensiveness, either. </p>
<p>It’s a career. Many people are currently in the process of pointing out how doctors are greedy and overpaid. I find this ridiculous as well. There you have it.</p>
<p>I actually looked into it a few years ago. Because my BA was political science and my master’s is an MBA it would have taken me two and a half years and I would have to pick up almost a full additional BA. I have also taught in college as an adjunct but wanted to drop down and teach in high school. No fast track in Michigan and with kids in college not an option to have zero salary for two to three years.</p>
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<p>It has long been my concern that high schools (public and private) have a hard time getting smart people who CAN ALSO teach in the higher level math and higher level science classes. Often, those who are smart in these areas, choose a better higher paying profession that gives them more “status”. It’s hard to find subject education majors who can TEACH and EXCEL in Calculus, Chemistry, Physics, and Biology.</p>
<p>Earlier I told the story of the PhD math teacher at my kids’ school who COULD NOT teach a lick. We still don’t know if she is truly smart, but just can’t teach…or is she dumb and somehow fooled Vanderbilt into giving her a PhD in Math Education. Thankfully, she was fired, but it took many, many, many parents complaints, and also other teachers complaints to get her fired. When this teacher’s students moved on to the next class, the other teachers were horrified to see how little they learned. :(</p>
<p>Our fabulous AP Cal, Cal, Pre-Cal teacher at my kids’ Catholic high school graduated from UChicago. We all know she could get a much better paying job, but she’s childless, has a husband who earns a lot, so she doesn’t feel the “need” to go after $$ elsewhere. (I repeatedly beg her to pick her replacement if and when she retires; I don’t trust the principal after he hired the PhD idiot. LOL)</p>
<p>Okay, here is an answer to why the love is hard to keep sometimes. A few years ago, our district decided to administer the PSAT to all 10th graders. Teachers at my son’s school were resentful that they were being told to administer a private test, but it was a done deal. So today, my 10th grader took the exam and the teacher assigned to proctor his room did an incredibly poor job. She combined sections which probably weren’t supposed to be combined, she TALKED ON HER PHONE IN THE ROOM during testing and as kids finished sections she allowed them to openly talk while others were still testing. </p>
<p>Here’s the thing – the PSAT being administered only benefits one group of people – the kids. It’s not like standardized testing where the school and faculty have a vested interest in the results. This was about the KIDS. This was, in fact, actually about the highest-achieving kids, which is a rare occurrence in public school in these parts. I feel resentful that this teacher felt she could compromise the testing environment on a high-stakes test. Granted it wasn’t 11th grade when there is money attached, but schools will start sending literature, etc. based on this test and I resent someone not proctoring well, especially given how incredibly hard the college counselor worked to pull this off after losing her aide to budget cuts. It’s disrespectful to a colleague and disrespectful to the students and it’s the kind of thing that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. And I’m a parent who works very hard at this school as the President of the parent organization and I support teachers all the time. I like teachers. But I don’t like when they do their job poorly at my kid’s expense. Either she didn’t care or she completely lacks common sense.</p>
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<p>I would report the incident to NMCorporation.</p>
<p>There have been other parents who’ve reported similar incidents, including administrators who didn’t give the NMSF kids their packages until after the submittal deadline. There are some educators who don’t like the PSAT test (probably because they weren’t stellar scorers themselves.)</p>
<p>And…BTW…teachers complain about bad students ALL THE TIME…but they don’t get accused of hating students. </p>
<p>No one says “where’s the love for students,” when teachers pow wow in the teachers lounge besting each other with crazy student stories.</p>
<p>Maybe reading comprehension isn’t what it used to be?
;)</p>
<p>*hate to nitpick, but posts 172,176,177,186,194,195 all answer the 2nd question, “would you encourage your children to go into teaching?”. The last 2 posts are the first to address thumper’s, and my, question. *</p>
<p>From # 177
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<p>Also, as I know I have mentioned on this thread- I have neither a high school diploma or a college degree, which is generally even more of an obstacle.</p>
<p>touche, ek. i misread one of the posts you cited. you misread my post as including the second question. let’s call it a draw and move on. </p>
<p>guess its a good thing neither of us went into teaching. 
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<p>poetgrl, sorry to offend. i think we agree more than you think. in both my previous posts i point out that there are bad teachers and that it’s a shame that the current system not only makes it hard to remove them but rewards them as well. </p>
<p>there are a # of posts on this thread, not yours, that take the position that teachers are overpaid, have extremely good benefits, and lots of time off. i just thought the premise of the original question was interesting. the profession is open to those who want to take the necessary steps (different in each state, obviously). </p>
<p>finally, W is a teacher too. one of the really good ones (tho i’m obviously biased). she easily spends 20+ hours every week at home working on lesson plans, grading papers, etc. she gets tons of positive feedback from parents. there is no doubt that a system that rewards those who make a difference with the kids and not those who are going through the motions would be far better than the one we have today.</p>
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<p>Sigh.
There is one. No one pays attention to my links :(</p>
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Yes. Let’s not forget the very generous benefits. Our family health insurance coverage costs us over $1200/month (it’s not a large group). In most places, public school teachers have very good benefits. And they do have time off that many in the private sector don’t get. I don’t understand why teachers often try to make us think that they do work as many hours in a day/week/month/year as private sector employees. They don’t. </p>
<p>Some areas of the country have overpaid teachers. There are certain areas where teachers get nearly $100 for looking in on a fellow teacher’s class while he/she is out of the room for a few minutes. (A teacher bragged to me about this. It is a high-pay union-strangled state.) And of course it’s been in the news where NYC teachers get paid for doing nothing, instead of being fired. (They are put in a special building where they do nothing all day.)</p>