Report: US is #1 in School Spending

[Dinner]

Originally posted by GePap
Teachers accross the country are NOT a highly paid job,

Per Capita income in the US is around $35k per year and where I live the average high school teacher is making $55,097 and he gets 12 weeks off instead of average of 2-3 weeks off. Simple math shows that they make 1/3 more then average and as the link I provided earlier showed they made more then many other professionals in the same job market.

They're well paid and we spend enough on education (remember our per student spending is the highest in the world). Our big problem is that the money gets sucked up by a useless beuracracy instead of going towards improving learning conditions for students. That's not just my opinion that's the opinion of many experts.

[Adam Smith]

A couple of weeks ago Newsweek reported that primary education (K-12) accounts for one half of California's budget. If you were spending one half of your budget on something, and felt that you were not getting your money's worth, would you spend more money, or find more effective ways to spend the money you have?

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Oerdin


Per Capita income in the US is around $35k per year and where I live the average high school teacher is making $55,097 and he gets 12 weeks off instead of average of 2-3 weeks off. Simple math shows that they make 1/3 more then average and as the link I provided earlier showed they made more then many other professionals in the same job market.

They're well paid and we spend enough on education (remember our per student spending is the highest in the world). Our big problem is that the money gets sucked up by a useless beuracracy instead of going towards improving learning conditions for students. That's not just my opinion that's the opinion of many experts.

Why don't you teach high school then?

[Dinner]

I notice that for all the critics not a single one of you can explain why we spend the most per student but get the worst results in the industrialized world. There's been lots of whining, but Che aside , no one has said what they'd do to fix this mess.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Kidicious
Why don't you teach high school then?

Because I got laid off from my job a week and a half ago and now I'm trying to find a job.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Adam Smith
A couple of weeks ago Newsweek reported that primary education (K-12) accounts for one half of California's budget. If you were spending one half of your budget on something, and felt that you were not getting your money's worth, would you spend more money, or find more effective ways to spend the money you have?

We spend 40% of the state budget on education and the politicians only do that because the people passed a state proposition (a publicite if you will) making it law that they do so. Before that the politicians kept cutting education so they could fund their pet projects. Luckily California has a propsition system which lets the people intervine when the politicians ignore them (as Davis is currently finding out).

[GePap]

Last I checked, the average pay for a teacher in one os the Dakota's 9I forget north or south) was 23k a year.

Why don't you find the median income of the city of San Diego and then compare where median teacher incomes in san Diego come out to? Any other numbes you use are apples and steaks, and make for incorrect and misleading comparisons.

And read the thread..I sugested centralization and moving education funding from property taxes. If everyone else spends less and gets more, it seems obvious to ask, what does everyone else do right? One thing is clear, almost every other large industrilized state (including ones with very strong labor unions, even for teachers) has a highy centralized education system run out of ministries, NOT by local boards and local parents groups.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Oerdin
I notice that for all the critics not a single one of you can explain why we spend the most per student but get the worst results in the industrialized world. There's been lots of whining, but Che aside , no one has said what they'd do to fix this mess.

It's not because of the teachers. I'm sure they are as well trained as any in the world, probably better trained than most.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Oerdin
Because I got laid off from my job a week and a half ago and now I'm trying to find a job.

Get your emergency credential. Then go and substitute teach at the high schools there. I bet you will change your tone.

[Kidlicious]

Oh, btw. Sorry to hear that you got laid off Oerdin.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by GePap
Why don't you find the median income of the city of San Diego and then compare where median teacher incomes in san Diego come out to?.

http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Diego

Males have a median income of $36,984 versus $31,076 for females.

Slightly above the national average but not enough to significantly change the satistics.

edit: Our numbers are scewed down ward by the presence of several very large military bases populated by low ranking military personnel. If you exclude the military bases then I'm sure the income would raise.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by GePap

And read the thread..I sugested centralization and moving education funding from property taxes. If everyone else spends less and gets more, it seems obvious to ask, what does everyone else do right? One thing is clear, almost every other large industrilized state (including ones with very strong labor unions, even for teachers) has a highy centralized education system run out of ministries, NOT by local boards and local parents groups.

Sorry, I missed your suggestion. We have property tax income equalized by the state and then redistributed equally by the state government. We have been doing this since the 1970's so I think we've already moved educational spending away from property taxes. The problem is the test scores still suck.

Having standardized curriculum would improve things I think. We used to but an unholy alliance of fundamentalist Christians and die-hard leftists joined together and complained the standard curriculum wasn't sensitive enough to their needs. That's why in the very late 1970's the local school boards were empowered to make those choices.

[Sava]

Oerdin: I fail to see how union busting is going to improve things. For some odd reason, you seem to think teachers are well off.

[JohnT]

How about we live in a free society instead where people are allowed to be in politics regardless of their profession?

Even extending to religious leaders ala Pat Robertson?

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by JohnT

How about we live in a free society instead where people are allowed to be in politics regardless of their profession?

Even extending to religious leaders ala Pat Robertson?

Just because I don't agree with him doesn't mean I think he should be excluded from the political process (however much I might wish the hand of God came down and squished him).