Obama Proposes Elite Corps Of Teachers

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Obama Proposes Elite Corps Of Teachers
by The Associated Press
July 18, 2012

The Obama administration unveiled plans Wednesday to create an elite corps of master teachers, a $1 billion effort to boost U.S. students' achievement in science, technology, engineering and math.

The program to reward high-performing teachers with salary stipends is part of a long-term effort by President Barack Obama to encourage education in high-demand areas that hold the key to future economic growth — and to close the achievement gap between American students and their international peers.

Teachers selected for the Master Teacher Corps will be paid an additional $20,000 a year and must commit to participate multiple years. The goal is to create a multiplier effect in which expert educators share their knowledge and skills with other teachers, improving the quality of education for all students.

Speaking at a rally for his re-election campaign in San Antonio on Tuesday, Obama framed his emphasis on expanded education funding as a point of contrast with Republican challenger Mitt Romney, whom he accused of prioritizing tax cuts for the wealthy over reinvestment in the nation.


Read more: http://www.npr.org/2012/07/18/156956392/obama-proposes-1-billion-for-science-math-teachers

[madrchsod]

1. he really is clueless when it comes to public education

he should stop listening to his billionaire friends and that idiot duncan when it comes to public education.

oh wait a minute, maybe he`s not talking about public education.

[newfie11]

2. Sounds good to me

Whatever it takes to get more science and math out there. Of course congress will not pass it! We will just send jobs to other countries or import folks with the knowledge to do the work.

[yurbud]

11. or have them cyber-teach

[ProgressiveEconomist]

37. Or BOTH cyber-teach and travel their states guest-teaching

Wouldn't cyber-teaching work better if students knew who's teching them over the internet and had received in-person invitations to email them with any question, anytime?

And wouldn't many teachers who'd witnessed guest teaching change their ways and maybe become more effective?

[yurbud]

40. I hope that's sarcastic.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

44. Why? What's wrong with trying to spread truly gifted

teaching methods to as many students and teachers as possible?

Are you denying that a relatively small group of teachers outperform the average teacher by wide margins?

[chervilant]

3. Pick me, pick me!!

What a load of horse hooey, from someone who installed Arne "I play basketball!" Duncan as SecEd, and helped retool NCLB into the equally embarrassing RTTT!

I've just spent the last five years attempting to become a certified teacher. I am a math geek. My students routinely tell me that I 'make learning math fun and easy.' Yet, I cannot get a job!

My friends tell me I am over-qualified (MA in Sociology). My family tells me that I'm too old (56 last January). My gut tells me that having a rare IQ in a nation fraught with anti-intellectualism makes me a threat to most administrators (no matter how much I mirror their words and body language, and avoid sesquipedalian words).

I have been un- or under-employed for five years now, fruitlessly seeking certification, so that I can indulge my passion for helping our children viscerally grasp a subject about which most people shudder. Why not get ME a job, Mr. Obama?

Oh, wait, you don't really want to rescue our system of public educaton, do you?

[Ash_F]

51. "avoid sesquipedalian words"

Mission failed.

[chervilant]

54. O, lord...

I was being facetious, ash. Just a little pun.

[Ash_F]

55. In all seriousness, much respect for pursuing a career in education.

What kind of obstacles have you faced in gaining certification? I am genuinely ignorant on the subject as it has been many years since I was in the system.

[chervilant]

56. Thanks for asking.

My first major obstacle was the accelerated certification program I chose--in a small district south of Houston. The training was good, but I was required to apply for jobs only within the district, which was heavily populated with inappropriate adminstrators.

I was first hired as a 7th grade science teacher, in a school in the poorest part of the district. The students had been through quite a few substitutes, and were resentfully disinterested. I told them I was the Rock of Gibraltar, and that I wasn't going anywhere--that I would help them learn science and have fun doing experiments (the Rock of Gibraltar analogy became a teachable moment). Within three weeks, I had total buy-in from my students and we had done our first experiment.

Unfortunately, I was naive and trusting. The hiring committee told me I would complete my contract paperwork when they got the results of my certification exam. The day I got my score (highest in my cohort, btw), I asked the principal's secretary to get me into the computer system asap so that I could begin entering my grades.

I soon found out that the principal had gotten a resume from a science teacher with 12 years experience, so he lied to me and told me I had actually been hired as a long term sub. I pinned him on his deceit, and he threw his hiring committee under the bus ("I'm going to have to TALK to those girls!" said he, denying that they hired me for the position). That's when I packed my stuff and left--I simply could not pay my monthly expenses on substitute pay, which is less than a third what the district pays teachers per month.

This principal never got reprimanded for this, and I got a black mark because I didn't call the director of the accelerated program before I left the man's office.

I had two more frustrating and challenging experiences in the same district, and the director of the program 'encouraged' me to transfer to another accelerated program.

Since that time, I've handed out dozens of resumes, and made countless applications, trying to get a teaching position. Only two elementary school principals have bothered to respond to me--letting me know their positions had already been filled. I've had to find other ways to indulge my passion for teaching math, most recently at a small community college, teaching college algebra, trig and pre-cal.

I've asserted herein before that NOTHING will stop me from becoming a teacher, because my students routinely tell me that I make learning math fun and easy. Our children deserve to have a visceral understanding of math, and I intend to help as many of them as I can.

[Ian David]

4. Fox will label this a "conspiracy" n/t

[Arkana]

5. So...he's planning on creating an N7 Corps of teachers?

[Posteritatis]

10. What better route to class effect? (nt)

[malthaussen]

6. He should just go ahead and adopt the Texas GOP education platform

Since he obviously agrees with every word.

-- Mal

[Freddie Stubbs]

14. Does the Texas GOP education platform call for more money for teachers?

[TheWraith]

35. It's funny how the people who bash Obama on education can't back it up with facts.

So they spit screaming, hysterical hyperbole.

[Freddie Stubbs]

50. Who needs facts when you have hate?

[Marrah_G]

7. Bad move Mr. President

[NYC_SKP]

8. The concept of "Master Teachers" is not new, and for STEM content areas....

...the concept is pretty brilliant.

Typically, teachers are not prepared well for Science Technology Engineering and Math.

A Math credential, or even math and science, just don't get it done.

[mopinko]

9. +++

[chervilant]

16. Typically,

people who've never taught seem to have all the answers...

[NYC_SKP]

22. I proudly hold degrees in education and architecture, with years in both fields.

I'm not sure what your point is, however.

[chervilant]

23. hmm...

I didn't think my point was unclear. I don't know if you followed madfloridian's posts on the original DU? A significant number of people on this website pontificate at length about what is necessary to 'save' public education, especially repeating the meme that 'bad' teachers (and their greedy unions) are the reason our system of public education is disintegrating.

I have a post hereinbelow which more fully explicates my position, if you care to read it.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

27. I, and undoubtedly others, miss madfloridian.

[chervilant]

28. Yes,

and I remain an activist on behalf of teachers everywhere in part because of my deep admiration for madfloridian and her tireless efforts to highlight the ongoing corporate assault on public education. She was relentlessly denigrated and disrespected by quite a number of people on the original DU, many of whom are still on my IL.

[NYC_SKP]

30. Actually, there really are some miserable teachers out there.

Which has nothing to do with this OP or my replies herein.

Like police, and soldiers, and lawyers and chefs and gardeners, there are brilliant ones and awful ones. Again I do not see what that has to do with developing master teachers in the realm of STEM (I gather STEM is outside of your experience set).

And I'm very familiar with madfloridian and her posts and positions.

They don't really impact what I see day to day in my full time position in public education.

AFAIK, mad is no longer working in the classroom and, in any even, we are on opposite sides of the country.

Florida and California may as well be different countries when it comes to education.

[chervilant]

41. So,

do you think 'miserable teachers' are the primary detriment to our system of public education?

Why are 'master teachers' (in or out of the 'realm' of STEM) the magic elixir? How will 'master teachers' save our students from math and science mediocrity?

IMHO, our students benefit from partnerships with enthusiastic, respectful instructors who don't delimit educational experiences with intellectual arrogance--or power and control issues.

(I'll reserve judgment on STEM--I've seen other such initiatives come and go, with mixed results.)

[NYC_SKP]

42. If you think teacher preparation programs are so effective that a master teacher program...

...is useless, then our discussion is over before it can even begin.

IMHO, teachers are not adequately prepared typically for more than the cursory needs of the learner.

To guide students along successfully in more advanced studies, it can really help to have particularly well trained teachers available.

Largely, my criticism isn't against individual teachers so much as their professional development opportunities and, of course, that they're underpaid.

[chervilant]

46. Well, no,

you don't seem to understand my concerns. Did you read my longer post?

I am seriously underwhelmed by this administrations' approach to 'saving' our system of public education. And, this 'master teacher' gambit strikes me as little more than an election year political ploy.

IMHO, targeting 'bad teachers' as the singular reason our system of public education is failing is simplistic, disingenuous, and egregiously disrespectful. Our nation has an amazing cadre of dedicated, professional teachers--many of whom are currently unemployed (self included).

I am in total agreement with yurbud: I'll believe that Mr. Obama is sincerely interested in salvaging our stricken system of public education when he gets rid of Bill Gates and his ilk. Arne Duncan, Michelle Rhee, and a number of others need to go. Then, we'll see.

(I'm not holding my breath...)

[KamaAina]

57. Just for us Rhee haters

http://www.rheefirst.com

[chervilant]

58. I don't hate the woman...

I just think she's one of the worst things we could inflict on our students.

[yurbud]

12. whatever the merits or flaws of this, it will be hard to trust Obama on K-12 ed issues until

He dumps the corporate education reform agenda and does an about face.

When conservatives applaud your choice for secretary of education, that's not a good sign.

[chervilant]

17. Spot on, yurbud.

Let's look at the glib assertion that we need “master teachers,” shall we?

A seminal study of public education in the US (The Coleman Report, 1966) substantiated that the strongest predictors of academic achievement are a student's family and peers. Yet, instead of motivating educators to explore ways to capitalize on these important predictors, this study was "widely interpreted as saying that schools do not matter." Since that time, our system of public education--and the teachers who carry the responsibility of EDUCATING our children--have gotten short shrift. To whit:

Research repeatedly demonstrates that standardized tests do not correlate with knowledge of core subjects. The vast majority of teachers will tell you that standardized testing is a stultifying, ineffective 'barometer' of how much our children have learned, proven by contemporary research to have absolutely no correlation with academic skills. Yet, federal funding is inexorably tied to standardized assessments, so schools persist in subjecting all students to expensive standardized tests, which means teachers are compelled to "teach to the test" (and strongly discouraged from helping students hone their critical thinking skills).

Do these tests measure academic achievement? The most current comparative assessment of the knowledge and skills of 15-year-olds in 70 countries around the world (the OECD PISA report) ranked the United States 14th out of 34 OECD countries for reading skills, 17th for science, and a below-average 25th for mathematics. Among industrialized nations, the United States is just NINE away from the bottom in math! Clearly, our much vaunted standardized tests are not accurate measures of our children's academic success.

Although funding and standardized testing are key issues, we should also consider:

~poverty, which affects a significant percentage of our youth, depriving them of adequate food and other essential resources, and saddling them with uncertainty, anxiety, and a host of other mentally overwhelming coping strategies.

~partisan politics and religiosity, which have motivated a growing number of public schools to solicit 'revised' textbooks, so that students are exposed to the 'appropriate' historical or religious perspective.

~the NCLB legislation (dressed up now as 'Race to the Top'), which has resulted in the dumbing down of our schools' curricula so that schools can 'mainstream' ESL and mentally challenged students (and, again, the inordinate focus on those ubiquitous standardized tests that virtually every educator derogates).

~illiteracy among 40% (or more) of our nation's adult population, meaning that a significant number of our students get no help with their homework at home, or--worse--get to hear an adult caregiver ridicule academia in general.

~exponential times, which means that life-altering events happen with machine-gun rapidity.

When politicians persist in assigning blame for our pathetic system of public education on 'bad' teachers, they are drinking the corporate megalomaniacs' kool-aid. That teachers run the gamut from very bad to very good is inarguable--we see the same range of skills in EVERY population of workers in the workforce. AND, as with any other industry, public education has established protocols for getting rid of 'bad' teachers, despite the propaganda we get from Michelle Rhee or any of Arne's other corporatist shills.

Sigh...

I often have to remind myself to really SEE the forest and not the trees, because the historic events unfolding even as I type this are often painful and frightening. (IMHO, our species is facing an evolutionary fork in the road, and it doesn't surprise me that so many of us are in denial, or manifesting some dystopic coping strategy.)

Public education in the US doesn't have to be ineffective. Consider Finland. Finland has strong unions for teachers. Finland's teachers are held in high regard by students AND their parents. According to assessments by internationally recognized and well-regarded entities (PISA and OECD), Finland's students have the highest math and science literacy on the planet.

In 1970, Finland passed legislation that required all their teachers above the kindergarten level to hold master's degrees. Can we not insure that our teachers are better equipped to teach without calling them 'master teachers'? Can we not PAY our teachers salaries that would enable them to pursue advanced degrees? Surely, we could achieve a comparable--or higher--level of academic achievement for our children!

Recognizing that adequate funding, well-trained and supported teachers, and involved parents are essential to a well-educated population is a no-brainer. However, witnessing our nation's continued corporate assault on teachers with the assistance of our democratic administration is getting tiresome.

[yurbud]

33. what you just said deserves a new thread of it own and should be forwarded to Diane Ravitch

[chervilant]

47. Wow.

Thanks, yurbud. I think that about what you said! I don't know how to forward anything to Ms. Ravitch.

Actually, I love something she said, which is quite relevant to this issue:

"You don’t improve education by demoralizing the people who have to do the work every day.” -Diane Ravitch

[yurbud]

49. Her email address is on dianeravitch.com

[riderinthestorm]

34. [phone]. This really needs to be its own OP. nt

[chervilant]

48. Thanks so much.

I'm still shy about posting OPs. I'm trying to get over it.

[oberliner]

13. No English or History teachers?

Why just those subjects?

[SomeGuyInEagan]

15. +1000

[Xithras]

20. All areas are more important, but STEM has implications for our national security and economy.

The importance of STEM coursework cannot be overstated when it comes to keeping our technological edge in the world marketplace. With so many other areas of our economy hammered, our research and technology skills are one of the bright spots that have helped to keep our economy running for the last couple decades. Unfortunately, many students are leaving public schools today with insufficient skills to progress into advanced STEM coursework. Much of that can be traced to a chronic shortage of skilled STEM teachers (there are enough bodies to fill the seats, but few with that background are willing to teach because it's a serious step down in pay).

Keeping America on top requires that we innovate. Modern innovation is driven by STEM degrees. Without innovation we basically become Russia...we're big and we have a large Army, but we don't really contribute much to the world and our economy is stuck in permanent decay.

Or, to put it more succinctly: History majors don't put people to work.

[oberliner]

24. I do find though that there can be unfortunate side effects

Such as a tendency to discourage students from pursuing the arts, for example, which tends to get devalued in some ways for the reasons you've listed here.

[Xithras]

38. You can emphasize some without devaluing others.

The STEM fields themselves aren't sufficient alone, and nobody is saying that. But I can give you a simple example of it's importance. Facebook.

Love it or hate it, Facebook is a multibillion dollar global company used by hundreds of millions of people that employs thousands directly and through companies that make Facebook apps. By one estimate, Facebook generated $13 billion for the U.S. economy last year alone.

Facebook was written by Zuckerberg, who was a SOCIOLOGY major. He had received a solid education in the computer sciences from childhood on via his schools and family, and he was studying computer science at Harvard, but it was ultimately his understanding of human sociology that led to the founding of Facebook. He wasn't a computer geek who came up with a cool computer app, but was a budding sociologist who figured out how to put his computer skills to work in a way that people could use.

That's why STEM classes are so important, and why they need a more powerful push across the educational spectrum. Not so that we can generate more computer geeks, but so that people with interests in OTHER areas will have a sufficient understanding of the STEM fields that they will recognize opportunities like this one and have the skills to apply them. STEM skills help to drive innovation across the board.

[oberliner]

39. You make some good points

Lots to think about - thanks.

[NYC_SKP]

31. Also, where our green jobs and infrastructure need people.

eom

[Mad-in-Mo]

18. Who will make the determination about "Master Teacher"?

Who will decide whether someone is a master teacher? Will it be the ex-football coach now school principal/superintendent who knows very little about math/science? The same one who placed physics in the math program at my local school? Yep, he's qualified alright.

[chervilant]

43. Therein lies the rub...

I had an unfortunate experience with an administrator who decided that she needed to force me to resign after I used a word she didn't understand. My veteran teacher friends helped me understand that this administrator removed one new teacher each semester, and her attack was not about me personally.

However, since I am an extreme outlier on IQ assessments, I tend to 'intimidate' most administrators, no matter how hard I work to mirror their grammar and body language. The fact that I LOVE math just exacerbates an already challenging situation.

Well, durn...as long as my students continue to tell me that I make learning math fun and easy, I'll continue to pursue my certification. While it's fun to teach at the college level, I feel strongly that our middle school students need exceptional math teachers--and I think I can make a bigger difference at that level.

[Steerpike]

19. There are plenty

of people with Masters Degrees who would love to teach. Why don't we just hire them. I have a close pal who graduated with honors and is probably the smartest guy I've ever met. He tried getting a job as a teacher but could not get through his OJT. They essentially drummed him out of the teaching profession. They said he just was not the right fit.

Now he makes most of his money as a private tutor to rich kids.

[chervilant]

45. Yep...

Been there; done that! 'Not the right fit' means your friend is ideologically or intellectually at odds with someone in a power position.

And, tutoring can be VERY lucrative. I hope he doesn't give up, tho.

[HooptieWagon]

21. The teacher version of Navy Seal 6?

That would be cool, and a whole lot more effective in improving public schools than privatizing them.

[kwassa]

25. So, we are going to create a class system in teaching? Higher and lower-valued subject matter?

This will create fabulous morale in the average school teaching corps.

Education policy in the Obama administration is profoundly wrong and idiotic.

and to point out another problem:

"U.S. pushes for more scientists, but the jobs aren’t there"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/us-pushes-for-more-scientists-but-the-jobs-arent-there/2012/07/07/gJQAZJpQUW_story.html

Dropping her dream, she took an administrative position at her university, experiencing firsthand an economic reality that, at first look, is counterintuitive: There are too many laboratory scientists for too few jobs.

That reality runs counter to messages sent by President Obama and the National Science Foundation and other influential groups, who in recent years have called for U.S. universities to churn out more scientists.

Obama has made science education a priority, launching a White House science fair to get young people interested in the field.

But it’s questionable whether those youths will be able to find work when they get a PhD. Although jobs in some high-tech areas, especially computer and petroleum engineering, seem to be booming, the market is much tighter for lab-bound scientists — those seeking new discoveries in biology, chemistry and medicine.

“There have been many predictions of [science] labor shortages and .?.?. robust job growth,” said Jim Austin, editor of the online magazine ScienceCareers. “And yet, it seems awfully hard for people to find a job. Anyone who goes into science expecting employers to clamor for their services will be deeply disappointed.”

[hedgehog]

26. Yet, thanks to a weak economy and state budget cutbacks,

my DIL with a master's can't get a job teaching science!

[AnotherMcIntosh]

29. More certification? As a "key to future economic growth"? In this country? Maybe it would be a

good idea to not sign any more job-transferring "free-trade" agreements.

No matter how many jobs are transferred to foreign countries from such "free-trade" agreements, the jobs in those countries are not going to trickle down to Americans in this country.

No matter how many new certifications are created (most likely publicly-financed corporate-run private schools), the potential for "future economic growth" in this country is going to be offset by the job-transferring "free-trade" agreements.

Another one is in the works:

Trans-Pacific negotiations have been taking place throughout the Obama presidency. The deal is strongly supported by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the top lobbying group for American corporations. Obama's Republican opponent in the 2012 presidential elections, Mitt Romney, has urged the U.S. to finalize the deal as soon as possible.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/13/obama-trade-document-leak_n_1592593.html

Any teacher, whether the recipient of any special certificiation for teaching in a privatized corporate-school or not, should be able to recognize that teaching students in this country is not going to lead to "future economic growth" but is an expensive mirage to benefit the super-rich when this country is maintaining job-transferring "free-trade" agreements.

[w4rma]

32. Does this mean these "master teachers" will get paid as much as a regular teacher used to?

The policies that he, Bill Gates, etc. have supported have replaced extremely good, well trained teachers with cheap, inexperienced teachers. They have also been busting the teachers' unions that help keep teacher pay high and the job competitive.

[riderinthestorm]

36. There's a lot of unemployed master degreed teachers out there - how will this idea help?

Also there are a shitload of unemployed STEM PhD's who can't even find work. Obama's approach sounds like a system that won't really address the problems going on in teaching.



Push For Science Majors, But Lots Of Unemployed Ph.D's Already
Michelle Amaral wanted to be a brain scientist to help cure diseases...three years after earning a doctorate in neuroscience, she gave up trying to find a permanent job in her field... experiencing firsthand an economic reality that, at first look, is counterintuitive: There are too many laboratory scientists for too few jobs...

That reality runs counter to messages sent by President Obama, the National Science Foundation and other influential groups, who in recent years have called for U.S. universities to churn out more scientists....But it’s questionable whether those youths will be able to find work when they get a PhD. Although jobs in some high-tech areas, especially computer and petroleum engineering, seem to be booming, the market is much tighter for lab-bound scientists — those seeking new discoveries in biology, chemistry and medicine.

Traditional academic jobs are scarcer than ever. Once a primary career path, only 14 percent of those with a PhD in biology and the life sciences now land a coveted academic position within five years, according to a 2009 NSF survey. That figure has been steadily declining since the 1970s, said Paula Stephan, an economist at Georgia State University who studies the scientific workforce...

The pharmaceutical industry once offered a haven for biologists and chemists who did not go into academia... But a decade of slash-and-burn mergers; stagnating profit (note: i question this, i believe pharma profit margins are among the highest); exporting of jobs to India, China and Europe; and declining investment in research and development have dramatically shrunk the U.S. drug industry, with research positions taking heavy hits.

Since 2000, U.S. drug firms have slashed 300,000 jobs, according to an analysis by consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas....

Many Ph.D's are working low wage jobs - sometimes doing low paying post doc jobs for five, seven or ten years. Most post doc's are being exploited by a system set up to do just that...

http://perdidostreetschool.blogspot.com/2012/07/push-for-science-majors-but-lots-of.html

[FarCenter]

52. It would be pointless to put elite STEM teachers into average schoolrooms

If this is to be done effectively, you need to put them in classrooms full of kids with the self-discipline, intelligence and talent to do STEM subjects.

Otherwise they would just dissapate their efforts dealing with all the sociological issues and slow learners.

[Teamster Jeff]

53. An election year cheapshot at teachers and teachers unions

Because everyone knows our current math and science teachers are useless and overpaid. -sarcasm-