Monday, February 25, 2008

Paid for time...

This AP story shows how Education Secretary Margaret Spellings is going to investigate education....It will be a big surprise when she tells us how great and rosy our future is...and how NCLB is on track...

"Spellings has been traveling across the country to meet with the state education boards to talk about the No Child Left Behind law. Enacted in 2001, it requires all students to be proficient in reading and math by 2014."

Hmmm... So she is talking with education boards to get the real skinny on how to improve education?! Brilliant!! (Is she meeting with parents and teachers, too? Silly question...I see no mention of that here...)

"Missouri Education Commissioner Kent King noted that in Missouri last year, just one person graduating from college had majored in teaching physics. He said that's not uncommon. "

OUCH! (I never even considered being a teacher~I wanted to make MONEY!)

"Currently, Missouri elementary and middle school teacher requirements include a minimum 2.5 grade point average, the completion of certain classes and a minimum time spent student teaching."

Isn't a 2.5 not even a 'B' average? So our teachers just barely need to hit a C average and they need to spend time in class doing this, then they need to spend more time student teaching then they can get paid for passing more time (as opposed to actually TEACHING...We're paying barely average people to do a barely average job and we are upset that STL Public schools lost their accreditation? We need quaility teachers to begin with....this is about passing time...)

"Spellings said in a news conference afterward that low salaries also make it hard to attract people to teaching. Average teacher salaries in Missouri are among the lowest in the nation."

Okay~finally something we can all agree to. But is she going to suggest we reward teachers for advancing students? Or just meeting minimum requirements and passing time...?!

No comments: