School funding

[Def_Wins]

I wonder how the union would like if the state took over and they avg out the salaries of teachers from around the state so it is fair for all? Rural PA, max salaries are 65-75K...Philly burbs max salaries 95k and up... I am sure unions would not mind if all were treated more fairly.

Check out the discrepancies in the map below....shows avg and max salaries when you click on the districts on the map. Granted more expensive to live in SE PA, but if property taxes are no longer part of the equation and they are reduced, then that is no longer a problem...not like it is more expensive to live in the democratic areas of the state is it???

http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/pennsylvania/mc-pa-teacher-salary-map-htmlstory.html

 

[NickleDimer]

I would think there would be a way to grade teachers, from feedback from colleagues & students & parents, class progress, student progress year over year, in class observation etc...Maybe a sort of extra credit for teachers that log extra time working with kids before and after school...some good ones do do that kind of thing.

Here's the feedback you would get from....
COLLEAGUES: A+++. gr8!! Give us all raises.
STUDENTS: This teachers sucks.
PARENTS: You're gr8 if you give my kid A's, never upset my kid and tell me what a bright little snowflake I bred.

"extra credit"? Tough to do. If you formalize extra time, you'd be documenting it and would have to pay OT. Then they would game that system for $, like cops do. Extra time is usually seen as punitive for students, not helpful anyway.

Hey, maybe test them on their own class material! Lets see how well, they know it without relying on their daily notes? I mean this is not rocket science, I am sure administrators know who their good teachers are vs those that just get by.

Do you honestly think that teachers are not intellectually competent and don't understand the material that they teach? How do administrators know who a good teacher is? By popping in their classroom once a year for 15 min?

In the real world you may get graded on how a project may turn out that you are involved in, but you only have limited ability to control the outcome of that project. So your grade could be affected by someone else dropping the ball or someone or a group of individuals excelling or the outside forces of the market in general. So that is not always fair either, so not saying merit pay would be perfect for teachers, but it is not always fair in the real world either.

Measuring a teacher's impact on the mental development (or lack thereof) of a child is way more complicated that tracking a "project". Not sure I've seen a teacher merit pay system yet that makes sense. Everyone likes the idea, but they're still searching for a way to make it fair for students and teachers.

Granted more expensive to live in SE PA, but if property taxes are no longer part of the equation and they are reduced, then that is no longer a problem...not like it is more expensive to live in the democratic areas of the sate is it???

Property taxes is the only reason cost of living is more in some areas?

 

[Novacatt94]

I would think there would be a way to grade teachers, from feedback from colleagues & students & parents, class progress, student progress year over year, in class observation etc...Maybe a sort of extra credit for teachers that log extra time working with kids before and after school...some good ones do do that kind of thing. Hey, maybe test them on their own class material! Lets see how well, they know it without relying on their daily notes? I mean this is not rocket science, I am sure administrators know who their good teachers are vs those that just get by.

They find a way to grade students from many different backgrounds, with varying abilities and personalities, and various skill levels, I think the intellectuals could find a way to grade themselves.

In the real world you may get graded on how a project may turn out that you are involved in, but you only have limited ability to control the outcome of that project. So your grade could be affected by someone else dropping the ball or someone or a group of individuals excelling or the outside forces of the market in general. So that is not always fair either, so not saying merit pay would be perfect for teachers, but it is not always fair in the real world either.

And again, you know that the teachers and the administrators in these schools know who the better teachers are and those that just do enough to get by if that.

We need this guy to weigh in. He was a gr8 teacher: