[aways]

Originally posted by Superman
In the olden days there were two professions into which women could go. They could be school teachers, and they could be nurses. Their husbands were the breadwinners, so these were second-income jobs.

And the pay reflected that. Additionally, ordinary women did not do this work. These were the women who were energetic, ambitious, smart, etc. Overall. So, we were paying peanuts for some top flight talent.

Have you guys noticed that these two occupations are having some growing pains in terms of compensation. They are moving closer to what wage analysts would call "equity," or equilibrium.

All of my four sisters have been school teachers at one time or another, and two are currently public school district employees. I'm not sure I've heard of any teacher in the last several years that did not have a Masters' degree or higher.

You whiners and teacher-basher/union-basher folks are not going to listen, but the truth is that if you want to have some more pure competition in the teaching field, be careful what you wish for. It's going to get spendy real fast. Teaching is not easy, and you're going to get what you pay for.

Plus, there is going to be intense competition for class seats. Education is the way out of our economic dangers. If you do away with public schools, you will have very intense competition for those private school seats, they will be more expensive than you can imagine, and only rich peoples' kids will have access. So, you'll have a permenent lower class, and a permanent upper class, and not much in the middle.

Two of my sisters are still school teachers. I out-earn them both. I have an MBA. One of them has nearly a doctorate, and the other has an impressive Masters degree from a foreign university under a rotary scholarship.

Currently, you have to go into teaching if you love teaching and are willing to sacrifice earnings. Or if you are lazy and don't want to work. I'm all for competition. It would compensate the good teachers more appropriately and eliminate the deadwood. But it will be expensive and you guys will have a brand new thing to whine about.

I agree with much of what you say, particularly with regard to the fact that teachers are underpaid. If we want more competent K-12 teachers, particularly in math and science, it's gonna cost money. I disagree on the competition issue though. With school vouchers, "provate schools" will be cropping up all over the place and supply will quickly come into equilibrium with demand. The best schools will be the most sought after, and the most expensive, but you get what you pay for in the end. As I said, if you want competent teachers, you're gonna have to pony-up $ one way or the other anyway -- public or private. Finally, your point about merit pay is misdirected. It's the teachers UNIONS that have waged a war on any kind of merit pay system.