Maybe it’s the summers off.
For some reason unknown to me, an inordinate number of my acquaintances
are, or are trying to be, schoolteachers. My Godmother is a teacher.
Two of my best friends have aspirations of teaching one day. I
myself operated under that delusion for a couple of collegiate semesters,
which, I suppose led me to meet so many aspiring-teacher types.
I wanted to be music teacher and a high school band director.
This was because I had fun in high school band and I naively assumed
that being the director would be an easy, fun job. Sooner rather
than later, thank goodness, I realized that I did not possess the patience
for this demanding line of work.
And it is demanding.
I have the utmost respect for teachers who work hard and are good at
their jobs. They work long hours at low pay, and many pour their
hearts into their work and get little respect in return. To be
honest, I’m not sure what drives these individuals; I suppose it
must be a “calling” of sorts that we non-teachers can’t
understand. And so to those who write on chalkboards and take
attendance and hand out detentions, I salute you.
And furthermore, I believe that the very best teachers ought to be more
handsomely compensated, the way the best doctors and lawyers are paid.
A great doctor saves people lives. A great lawyer gets people
out of tough jams. Likewise, a great teacher gives us knowledge
and inspiration; this is certainly no less important.
“Well, Jung, that’s all fine and good. But where is
that money going to come from? I’m sure YOU wouldn’t
want to pay any more TAXES for that, would you?” That’s
right, I wouldn’t. I already pay far too much local, state
and federal taxes for a failed educational system in which students
are babysat rather than taught, and which discourages bright hardworking
graduates from becoming teachers.
“Jung, you just said you knew a lot of people who wanted to be
teachers.” Well, to a point I do, and as I mentioned, these
are individuals who feel they have a “calling.” But
there are plenty of other sharp young grads that would be good at a
variety of professions, and those folks stay away from teaching for
any number of reasons ranging from low pay to low respect. And
that paradigm needs to be changed. So how can we pay the best
teachers lawyer-level salaries? Well I think the legal profession
gives us a good model. And it starts with ending free public education.
“What? Jung – need you be reminded that free public
education has been an institution in this country for 200 years, and
that is what set us apart from nations with class-systems like Great
Britain?” Yes. I need to be reminded of when the last
time was that this actually worked effectively. Let us again go
over an indisputable fact: our public schools are terrible. Disciplinary
problems reign supreme and teaching quality is slipping as fast as standardized
test scores. Classes have been dumbed down and are saturated with
political correctness rather than basic fundamentals. And while
politicians squabble over where to throw more tax money, our citizenry’s
collective I.Q. drops another couple of points.
ALL schools should be private. A free-market education system
would drive schools to compete for the best students and teachers.
Education would improve across the board. Niche markets would
develop – got a child who wants to be a scientist? There’d
be a school for her in your town. An artist? No problem.
Not sure? Then the school that handles it all will do.
Choice would be the order of the day. Prayer in school?
Up to you.
And what of the teachers? Well supposing our new educational paradigm
was modeled after the legal field. Potential teachers would
be required to take a teaching aptitude test before entering college.
Those with the best scores would then be admitted to the best teacher-training
institutions. And after graduating, they would test again before
they would be allowed to practice – a teacher’s bar exam of
sorts. Again, those with the best scores would have an inside
track at the best jobs. Those who felt a “calling”
to teach the disadvantaged would, like disadvantaged students, qualify
for a package of incentives provided by the government, such as loan
forgiveness. A free-market educational system would be a system
of encouragement, rather than our current system of discouragement.
Our teachers and children deserve a system that rewards achievement.
What better than the free-market system that has rewarded nearly every
other American enterprise? Hey, they’d still get their summers
off. Think about it. And as always, if you have a better
idea – then BRING IT ON!!!