Mr. Amick, aside from the puerile fantasies in your postscript -- which should make any parent out there positively thrill at the idea of you in a classroom with their kids -- let's do some math.
In the past year, Pennsylvania schools graduated 12,000 people with the degrees necessary to be teachers. Last year, there were 3,000 openings. (One of my sons is among that number; he plans to move.)
In discussing costs (80 percent of school costs are personnel) I am not suggesting teachers are part of some country club set. I am saying their contracts have become decoupled from market economics. During the recession, only two fields saw actual salary rises: health care and education. I agree that we need both of these. And as a society, we find ourselves hard pressed to pay for eitherwithout fracturing state and local budgets.
The problem with revenues and rising ecucation costs is real, but trust me in this, nobody planned the recession around you. Even I had to change jobs. Dennis Roddy
Recent Comments
In the past year, Pennsylvania schools graduated 12,000 people with the degrees necessary to be teachers. Last year, there were 3,000 openings. (One of my sons is among that number; he plans to move.)
In discussing costs (80 percent of school costs are personnel) I am not suggesting teachers are part of some country club set. I am saying their contracts have become decoupled from market economics. During the recession, only two fields saw actual salary rises: health care and education. I agree that we need both of these. And as a society, we find ourselves hard pressed to pay for eitherwithout fracturing state and local budgets.
The problem with revenues and rising ecucation costs is real, but trust me in this, nobody planned the recession around you. Even I had to change jobs. Dennis Roddy