REform? What reform? The year of "reform" is down to one spending issue and one teacher issue. Nothing about recruitment, pay, or training. I think it is pretty silly Arnold called it the year of reform. If these ideas were so hot or obvious how come he didn't stick them on last year's ballot?

Tim, ever thought about teaching computers or tech? Santa Su has a great magent program.

I can't answer the question about teaching because I do teach. But why stops you? Is it the money? The hours? Or is it just something else in life fulfils you?

brian

Good Morning:

I tend to agree with Brian on the reform aspect. I think the credentialing system needs to be changed to allow all people with degrees, advanced degrees, and doctorates, including juris doctorates to easily move in and out of the school system, which is much more like the university system.

Another thing I notice is that I think a lot of people in the education field are a little tired of being "reformed". I am not sure we need more legislation, we need to be spending our time enhancing the process, managing the resources better, and eliminating bogus rules that create waste and headaches.

I don't think adding more lines to the education code is going to solve anyone's problem. We should be spending our time on building stronger bonds and clearer lines of responsibility between parents, administrators, teachers, taxpayers, and the community in general.

We also need to figure out why a growing number of teachers are leaving the profession in the first few years.

Brian and Arleigh:

Why do a lot teachers leave the profession?

Scott

Brian,
I agree, the year of reform has blown up in Arnold's face! The teacher tenure initiative will only make teaching less attractive. Going to 5 years just means that they can release you without cause. Currently I deal with teachers who are told not to come back after their second year and the principal does not have to show cause. This means a young teacher might speak up at a faculty meeting and suggest a new idea, maybe the Principal feels challenged and decides to let the new teacher go, they can do this now for two years and Arnolds bill makes it 5 years that this can happen. See the person does not have to be a bad teacher, they could be the greatest teacher in the world, but an arbitrary decision can mean they are fired and no one must say why. In terms of tenure itself, it is a lie that tenure guarantees lifetime employment, it only guarantees that you can not be let go without cause.
Many of the new teachers these days do not see teaching as a career, they don't see any job as a career. They see their lives as a series of jobs that will change at least five times. Of course there are other reasons they leave before five years and more needs to be done.

All:

On July 23rd the House reauthorized the Higher Education Act, which basically worked around the edges of a serious problem in Higher Education. Basically, with the rising costs of a college education we are seeing recent graduates saddled with way more debt than ever before. I would argue that the increasing costs of a college education have placed ever more pressure on grads to pick a career that pays.

I think one of the things that is really affecting a career choice in teaching is the fact that recent grads look at their options that starting salaries for teachers combined with a cumbersome and costly credentialing process have really limited the pool of teachers.

Let's pretend you graduate from UCLA in four and a half years with a degree in Math and Accounting and owe about 60K to 85K. You go into accounting and make about 42-54K annually to start and are paying about $380 a month in student loans. You find out you don't like accounting and want to teach math.

Well, first you must complete a myriad of credential requirements, which cost time and money. This increases your student loan liability to $500 a month. You get through the credntialing system and start teaching with a starting salary of about 35K, which makes that 500 X 12 = $6,000 student loans pretty significant Second, lined up with rent of between 1,050 - 1,300 per month.

When put in this context, it's about as rational for this person to go into teaching as it is for me to walk to work to Thousand Oaks each day to help the air quality.

I think we need to look at more attractive inducements to attract teachers into the business such as signing bonuses, increased starting salaries, retention incentives, and student debt management packages along with streamlining the credential process to simplify the process by which teachers are refined for duty.

Thoughts???

Scott

Scott,

did you post your guess on my website yet? it might be fun to take you to lunch and continue our conversations, although you would footnote all your points with peer reviewed articles.

brian dennert

Scott,

did you post your guess on my website yet? it might be fun to take you to lunch and continue our conversations, although you would footnote all your points with peer reviewed articles.

brian dennert

Brian:

I just posted.