www.ditl.org

My wife could have more lucrative careers - but there are other rewards than monetary ones.

OK, so that's pretty corny, but she does derive a great deal of satisfaction from "reaching" kids and seeing them develop.

I know a few teacher who choose it because of the life style. It has a bit more personal freedom than jobs like an accountant ect.

Mikey wrote:That's a great idea, Dusk, but unfortunately somewhat idealistic. Where does the money come from if not from property tax - or some other form of tax, which generally would lead to the same situation? It's not coming from Abbott programs, because Abbott districts can barely support their current status quo. State-issued funding invariably cuts into transportation trusts, which ends up costing EVERY program - education included - more in the long run; in addition, it leads to removing control of local schools from local decision-makers. I've seen that happen enough in my own state, and it generally makes matters more confused, if not just plain worse.

My own high school was a heterogenous mix, and drew equally on rather rural areas, suburbia, and more urban areas - yet despite your own experience, we were able to maintain a high standard of education, and excellent graduation rates and standardized test scores, even with some "inner-city" populace. Schools need more money than they're currently getting, yes - but JUST more money isn't a solution to anything.

It's not idealism. The UK and IIRC France Germany and Sweden already do the flat funding, standardization of education quality system, and quite well. We rank well behind them despite being a "wealthier nation." It's not a lack of money, it's a lack of priorities and allocation of resources, and yes a lot of that is greed. We pay arseloads in tax but it goes to things like the Iraq War and maintaining hundreds of bases around the world leftover from the Cold War, corporate welfare, corporate bailouts, foreign aid to questionable governments, and a million other worthless things which don't directly benefit any of us.

Yes, it would involve tax. But tax being a dirty word and treated like the plague EVEN when it is going to do something like upgrade our school system to again being first rate, or hell, even maintaining our infrastructure and roadways so that friggin bridges don't collapse out from under you, or entire cities aren't lost to floods due to levee neglect, is some particular neurosis we have as a first world, wealthy nation. We are more like third world nations with corrupt governments than we are like other first world nations in that regard.

I wonder why Rochey and Bryan and Graham all teach. Them all seem like the type who really wanted to.

Yeah, I always had my mind set on being a teacher. Dunno why, really. Particularly when you consider the crap my own teachers had to put up with from my class.

Thing is, we never have any of the stuff over here that goes on in the US. I think the worst that I ever recalled happening where I teach is some student trying to intimidate a teacher. Said student was quickly shown the door.
Aside from one or two assholes per class, the students are generaly easy-going and fine to get along with. I try to keep an informal and relaxed atmosphere in my classes, so I suppose that helps, and most of the students I teach do genuinely seem to like me as a teacher. The fact that I teach two subjects that aren't regarded as easy choices also ensures that I don't get any knackers looking for an easy class to sleep through.

Come on Rochey Cooking and sewing are hardly "hard" classes

Rinne mé do mhaithar, soith.

Uhhhh...

I know you are but what am I?

Hah, got you there. 8)

Teaos wrote:Come on Rochey Cooking and sewing are hardly "hard" classes

Everyone knows Rochey is just a supercomputer mainframe. All he does is upload lesson plans to student's laptops and then electrocute them if they fail to study.

Exactly.