Vox

Musings, rants, rambling, general nonsense

What Are Teachers For?

Posted on | September 21, 2012 | No Comments

City of Chicago

I realize the Chicago teachers strike is “over” for the time being, but I would like to explore the issues behind it for a minute.

Recall that Chicago teachers were upset about an offer of a 16% raise over  4 years. Also a factor, holding teachers accountable for the students performance on standardized tests.

The facts are these:

  • The average current salary for a Chicago teacher is over $75,000.00 a year; 60% higher than the earnings of the average Chicago family, 58% more than the average yearly pay for a Chicagoan with a bachelor’s degree.
  • Chicago Public Schools System is facing a $1 billion shortfall in their budget next year.
  • Seventy-nine percent of the 8th graders in the Chicago Public Schools are not grade-level proficient in reading, according to the U.S. Department of Education, and 80% are not grade-level proficient in math.
  • Chicago is currently facing 11% unemployment.
  • The dropout rate in Chicago has been so high that they just reported a 60% graduation rate as record settingly high.

The Chicago teachers union claims they should not be held accountable for these dismal results.

So, if teachers can’t be held accountable for whether or not their students learn, why does Chicago need teachers at all? Why do they need advanced degrees and salaries well above what the parents are making?

I am sure in a city with double-digit unemployment, they could find babysitters to work for less than half the price – and with no benefits. If all Chicago expects from their educators is warehousing, their educators shouldn’t expect to be paid as more than seat-fillers.

Hopefully other cities can still expect to have teachers who teach.

 



✏

Category: education, politics

Comments

Leave a Reply





Time limit is exhausted. Please reload CAPTCHA.