Shocking Report Explodes 5 Myths About American Education

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/education/shocking-report-explodes-5-myths-about-american-education



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Myth #1: Our educational system provides more upward mobility than any other in the world.

It’s practically a sacred oath to proclaim that we lead the world in upward mobility. America, we are told ad nauseum, is the best place on Earth for a poor person to improve his or her station in life. You might struggle for one generation or so, but your kids can make it up the ladder faster here than any place else. And the reason, of course, is because we provide the best educational opportunities for all young people, rich and poor.

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Myth #2: Our teachers (protected by their greedy unions) work less and get paid more.

It’s open season on public employees, especially teachers and their unions. They get paid too much. Their benefits are too high. They get tenure while the rest of us fear layoffs. And they’re a bunch of lazy louts that get the entire summer off! If there’s educational decline, then teachers must be the cause. Right?

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Myth #3: Big government (via our tax dollars) funds higher education.

In state after state politicians are taking an ax to higher education budgets. As we plow more money into our prison system, we no longer can afford our lavish public colleges and universities, or so we are told. (See “ Crazy Country: 6 Reasons America Spends More on Prisons Than On Higher Education ”). But overall, don’t we still lead the world in big government support for higher education?

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Myth #4: We provide excellent early childhood education.

Worried about creeping socialism? Look no further than Head Start and other pre-school programs we throw money at. Isn’t this where the Nanny State begins?

[disidoro01]

1. I love

my children's teachers and their district. However, when I look at myth #2, I am greatly concerned. That works out to be 21 hours a week over a year. Please don't think I'll feel sorry for 1100 hours a year, thats not a big deal at all.
Many of the other points I agree with. 5 doesn't set my alarm off either.

[KitSileya]

4. Remember, that is teaching hours.

They teach those hours a week, and it'll be more than 21, because the school year isn't 52 weeks a year. In addition, you have the hours used for preparation and post-class work, including grading tests. A good rule of thumb is at least half an hour of prep and at least an hour of after-class work per hour spend in the classroom, depending on the grade you're teaching.

Everyone always thinks that the teacher only works when she's in the classroom with the students, which is risible, to say the least. I would have liked to see office workers hold 40hrs of meetings each week, going into them cold, and being told to write up the papers necessary for the meetings, as well as any emails, accounts, or papers concering the meeting topics in their spare time. That would be the equivalent of having teachers work "proper" hours.

And for your information, teaching 1100hrs a year, considering the shortness of the average American school year, is one of the reasons American schools are in such deep trouble. In most European countries, that is insanity, and I say that as a teacher in Norway who has decided not to teach in America just for that reason. I teach an average of 770 45-minute classes a year in my vocational high school, and that is a rather high number for a language teacher at that level, but acceptable because most vocational classes top out at 15 students.

[disidoro01]

6. I am

aware it is classroom hours. What is often missed is that many professions and classes work outside of the office/workspace or classroom. It isn't just teachers and that narrative that only teachers work outside of the classroom (office) is divisive and your statement is telling. "I would have liked to see office workers hold 40hrs of meetings each week, going into them cold, and being told to write up the papers necessary for the meetings, as well as any emails, accounts, or papers concering the meeting topics in their spare time. That would be the equivalent of having teachers work "proper" hours."
Virtually every manager i know works 50-70 hours a week. I'm not saying it is right, I'm just saying cut the nonsense about how teachers work outrageous hours while the rest of us just don't understand.
I start work between 3am and 4am and without fail I pass the garbage truck. Rain or shine, summer or winter there is someone collecting trash. I have never heard a person advocate for them nor express gratitude at the thankless job they perform. I'm not thrilled about getting to work hours before other people wake up either, but it's my job and I enjoy it as well.
I hate for this to seem disrespectful to teachers but I get frustrated by this attitude.

[KitSileya]

7. I am not saying that other people don't work as hard as teachers.

What I am saying is that many think that the only work teachers do, is in the classroom. That's how they get the 21hr work week canard. So, when they want to increase the number of hours teachers work, they usually mean hours in the classroom, without considering that each hour in the classroom triggers several hours of work outside the classroom.

In addition, teachers have a much shorter work year than the average worker. They have to work their hours when the students are at school, and so they end up working insane amounts those parts of the year. And, importantly, they don't getpaid for the time they're not at school. They can opt to get their pay divided into 12 instead of 9, so that they get a pay check every month, but let there be no mistake about it, they're only paid for the days they're at school. When school districts cut a day a week off the school year, and distribute 5 days worth of lessons onto 4 days, teachers teach those classes, and get 4 days pay.

I used 40hrs in my example that you quoted, because that is the average work week in Norway. That is a reasonable amount of work every week - that American workers have been squeezed and pressured into working 50-70hr weeks (and more!) should be a reason to fight to making working conditions better for everyone, not to drag others down into the mud because you're jealous of a perceived benefit another group has. As Benjamin Franklin said, "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately." Right now, American workers are being hanged separately, and they're attacking each other because they think the other guy has got a better quality of rope than they have!

[Frustratedlady]

2. Teachers don't get the summer off...

...they are under contract. They are not paid for the summer vacation.

If they are paid on a monthly basis, their salary is paid over 12 months even though they aren't working. So, even though they have earned that money, they don't actually get it over the 9-month contract year, but over 12 months.

I have a lot of teachers (2 generations) in my family and, trust me, they earn their money and more.

[byeya]

3. Administrators of public schools are on a 12 month contract;

teachers are not.
In addition to the 6 or 7 hours of classroom work per day, there are at-home lesson plans that must be submitted to the admonistration; grading of tests; averaging the students' grades; preparing exams; and a ton of unpaid after hours work like selling tickets for athletic events, having to help with proms, and having to supervise the various after hours clubs.
Teachers work way more than the 40 hours a week they are paid for.
And, most teachers are required to have a Masters degree or spend their own time taking classes to gain that degree.

Universal public education is one of the great inventions of the USA.

Years ago, the two best state college systems were virtually tuition free until Republicans took over: Rockefeller in New York and Reagan in California. Their odious party has always wanted to keep the kids of moderate and lower means out of college.

[tama]

5. It's not about money

"Ninety-three percent of Finns graduate from academic or vocational high schools, 17.5 percentage points higher than the United States, and 66 percent go on to higher education, the highest rate in the European Union. Yet Finland spends about 30 percent less per student than the United States."

Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/Why-Are-Finlands-Schools-Successful.html#ixzz26pYB6VUB