Ben Stein, in the 1986 film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, plays the character of the archetypical bad teacher. He lectures his class in a dull monotone, its effect rivaling that of any tranquillizer on the market. Rambling on about Voodoo Economics, it is as though he has cast a spell on his students. Students appear comatose. They fend off sleep. One guy has actually passed out. He drools on his desk until startled awake by the screech of Stein’s chalk scratching the board.
Though this hilarious film is over 20 years old, it still resonates with many adults and children alike. The reason is because it is comedy that conveys a reality. And the reality it conveys still very much exists today. What is funny in the film is not so funny in our schools, but the fact is that many of our schools are in large degree still populated by bad teachers like that played by Stein. Of course there are many wonderful teachers, but often they don’t stick around. Why is this so?
On Tuesday evening, at Saint Louis University, Erik A. Hanushek, a senior fellow from Stanford University, gave a lecture. Though he is an economist, with a PhD from MIT, he did not give his lecture on Voodoo Economics. Nor did he lull his audience to sleep. He did, however, as a leading expert on educational policy, speak very clearly about the quality of teachers in our schools.
“Good teachers are the one thing that can change the level of student learning and knowledge and achievement,” said Hanusheck with the caveat, “Bad teachers can also change the level of student knowledge, learning, and achievement.”
“We have a system today that does not reward good teachers. We have a system today that gives equal reward to bad teachers. Is it surprising that we might have a shortage of high quality teachers, of highly effective teachers, in the classroom?”
The fact now is that teachers are paid based on years of experience or the degree they hold.
He offered this advice: Teachers must have “pay that’s differentiated by performance and effectiveness in the classroom.”
A comedy made in the 80s should not represent the reality of our schools today. Isn’t it time we reward our good teachers, so that our children are not rendered comatose?
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