| From the department of "Who could have predicted?" Paying teachers more won't attract them to high-needs school districts, especially if that extra pay in linked to student performance, according to a study released by groups backed by teachers unions. More attractive to teachers, the report says, is smaller class sizes and opportunities to collaborate with colleagues, said Teri Battaglieri, executive director of the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice, which helped fund the study.
In other words, like all professionals, teachers aren't automatically drawn to pay but are drawn to things that make the career they've chosen to be professionally attractive. Does this surprise anyone that people who go into a service-oriented field rather than one predicated on making lots of money pick things that make their work more personally enriching rather than money? Again, if we had policy making decisions based on reality rather than the whims of people who believe the whole world really does operate according to the bottom line of a ledger, this wouldn't be necessary. And, I've said it before, I'll say it again ... the key to improving schools has next to nothing to do with teacher pay. It has everything to do with making children want to learn and feel that it will benefit them. That means getting parents more involved. It also means being able to help a child make a connection between an education and how it will improve his or her lot. Cities allowed to resemble demilitarized zones sends the message that getting an education won't necessarily open up opportunities for a better life. |
