1. Pay. We the People in these United States have always made teaching an economically marginal vocation. There was a reason most teaching was done in a church setting, where the community counted on the "calling" to cut their costs, and the Sunday offering plate offered some level of security to the teacher. Secularized teaching naturally attracted the marginalized or subsidized, especially unmarried women still living at home or, as spinsters, with few other career options. Few people with talent now lack more lucrative options. If we desire talented persons as teachers, pay must be competitive with those other options. Especially given the expense, and marginal value, of the formal education we now insist that teachers acquire.
Given the current dynamics of school systems in this country, I don't see how we can proceed with needed pay increases unless we:
2. Nationalize the schools. I'm sorry, but I think that the shenanigans of local school control criminally reinforce social stratification (rich vs. poor) and both race and gender inequity. I believe that, in this instance, We the People have demonstrated that we are unfit to govern ourselves. Even given the known ills and potential abuses of a nationalized system, I would adopt one tomorrow if I could. That system would abolish private options for levels K-6, and standardize pay and curricula for all schools teaching those grades - which had then better ensure that their students can pass that 1885 grammar test that was mentioned here awhile back. Yes I would allow certain local adjustments, but dammit I want kids going to school in downtown Oakland to have the same bloody resources and talent pool available to them as is available to all the limousine liberals here in Berkeley.
Private options can be reinstated after grade 6, when young persons reach puberty and start making career choices - I think it a crime to imprison a young person in high school, listening to drones, who is already decided on auto mechanic or computer repair tech. After all, it's not like we don't have an Internet for continuing education options.
3. Men need to be visibly at the vanguard of quashing unacceptable behaviors. Men, not women, need to be the ones shouting down instances of abuse in schools and elsewhere. There is no excuse either for World Championship Wrestling or Barry Bonds. Both need to be eliminated by the unanimous voices of men. Right now, it's pretty much the unanimous voices of men that are keeping these things there. Yes, the "bad boy" image is appealing. And it even attracts the chicks - who practice on you and then go looking for a real man to invest in. And if at that point all they find are bad boys, they may just decide that they can do without. Or haven't you been reading some of the posts on here? There are already subcultures in this country in which the male is reduced to the social role, and status, of the roving stallion.
"We have met the enemy, and he is us." - Pogo (Walt Kelly)
- O Ceallaigh
Copyright © 2006 Felloffatruck Publications, featuring The New Millennium Devil's Dictionary. All wrongs deplored.
All opinions are mine as a private citizen.
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If you haven't already (shame on you), check out Realitycheck's take on school uniforms and their impact on schools.
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