Thomas Friedman on education: 'There is no secret'

I think the 8,978,245th time we have this same exact discussion will finally yield a solution to the problem.

 

Here in Arlington, TX, first-year teachers (in the public schools) start at $50K. Just down the road in Fort Worth, first-year teachers start at $47K. Getting a masters degree adds $1,500 or $2,000 a year to that.

 

Hanna Rosin's book from last year, "The End of Men," is an interesting read related to some of this. Men still think that they will be able to get a hard labor job for $30/hour and retire on it. That mentality needs a reboot, maybe first and foremost.

 

I want teacher starting salaries for all 50 states.

 

That being unavilable, YankeeFan has dug up a comp:

http://www1.salary.com/anesthesiologist-Salary.html

 

I blame our miserable state of education squarely on parents, parents, parents.

Even teachers who graduate in the bottom third of their class could teach well if they have interested students backed by motivated parents. I don't hear about a teacher problem for the asian kids who are kicking ass, many times in less-than-desirable teaching conditions. Not with YF on this one.

 

The median is $49,000.

$32,000, with full benefits, for a 22-year-old, with a BA isn't terrible. After a few years, they'll be making more than $50,000. And, they'll have better benefits, and pensions than the parents of the kids they teach. And, they'll make more than most of them too.

And, they're not hurting for teachers. There's one teaching job available in the district:

http://www.elkhart.k12.in.us/employment.php

 

You said that corporate law partners and investment bankers want to be teachers, and can't.

That's the valid comparison. Not the kid who checked me out at Target today.

 

If it's such a killer career, why do all the Teach for America kids go to law school in two years?

 

OK, so the answer is that in the poorest states, with the lowest cost of living, some teachers start at around $30,000 with benefits, which puts them solidly in the middle class.

Is this really the problem?

And, it's always funny that when we talk salary, in regards to teachers, folks always want to focus on the starting salary. Why? When we discuss what CEOs or baseball players make, we don't focus on the lowest paid among them.

And, those starting salaries are in line with what college graduates can expect to make in other fields in their first job, unless they're in a very high demand field.

 

You know that's not true.

How many of them do stay in teaching?

 

Yes, we do. Almost every discussion I've ever seen about corporate law firms talks about the starting salary, for example. Everyone in that business, or aspiring to join that business, knows it by heart, at any given moment.

You have said that corporate law partners and investment bankers would want to get into teaching, but can't, because of the union. They would start at $30,000, in some places, about 5 percent of their current salary.

Also, I'm curious to see some hard evidence that there is an army of capable 22-year-olds from the tip-top of their class who want to make teaching a career, but cannot. Because of the union.