Comment by techiferous | Hacker News Reader

Comment by techiferous | Hacker News Reader

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Hi, former teacher here.

You're right. But also consider that the current economy does not support this level of professionalism in teachers. Any teacher who can do a fantastic job meeting all of the expectations of students, teachers and administrators is smart enough to make 2x, 3x or more money in another profession with less stress.

I actually enjoy teaching more than programming and it's a better fit for me. But I choose programming because I can make 3x the money with half the effort. I'm not stressed out and I can pay the bills.

So keep that in mind the next time you confront a teacher. Even though you may technically be right, if you make their job harder, you may push them away from teaching. Remember, they could be a doctor, lawyer, engineer, or some other type of professional. We want to encourage highly intelligent and highly educated people to remain teachers, and if you give teachers a hard time, the only ones that will stick around are those who aren't able to find other jobs. Which aren't the kind of teachers you want.

Yeah, there's a funny "tragedy of the commons"-like dynamic going on here. While it may be a rational decision for each individual parent to hassle their kids' teachers for every possible issue, the cumulative effect is that those that can get another job will leave because their job is made so unpleasant, ultimately defeating the goals of all those parents.

It's a real shame that teachers are not being compensated better.

I'm not in the habit of confronting people, teachers least of all. I don't think it's productive most of the time. My point was simply about priorities. My son is a gorgeous, brilliant, quick-witted, hard-headed and strong-willed story-teller, liar, teller of jokes and fan of Pokemon. He's 4 years old. I love him more than myself, and I will do what I can to make his childhood fantastic. That imperative eclipses any concerns about the authority and sentiments of the education professionals in whose case I entrust him.

So the economy is an excuse? If that's the case then, once again, everyone has the same excuse for a lack of professionalism.

Not really. Teachers aren't paid well enough compared to other professions, so the opportunity cost is high.

My point about the economy is that you want the market forces to encourage intelligent people to become teachers. Otherwise, you can get into a dangerous positive feedback loop of uneducated people teaching the next generation. If you make teaching a lousy job by underpaying teachers and treating them poorly, then why would intelligent people who have other career opportunities stick around?

The economic value we place on teaching as a profession is too low to attract and retain (in the face of job stress) the kind of talent we might want. As a result schools, as institutions, suffer from a variety of the dead sea effect (http://brucefwebster.com/2008/04/11/the-wetware-crisis-the-d...). The most qualified teachers can get other jobs that pay better. If their lives are made miserable by dealing with irate parents, school bureaucracy and lawsuits, why would they stay?

Honestly, not really sure how you could have missed his point by so much.

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