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Comment by reidjs | Hacker News Reader

I think a lot of it does come down to scale. Imagine the challenge of being a teacher tasked with teaching (science/english/math/etc) to 150-200 unique kids per day, often with little to no budget or support from admin, parents, etc. Unless you are truly exceptional at teaching, you have to teach to the middle to compensate, or your class will tear itself apart.

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You are correct. But, as a teacher myself, it doesn't matter if you are good or bad as a teacher, you can't give every student what they need to best excel. Everything you do is a tradeoff that helps certain types of students, and others not so much. Perhaps make some disinterested in the topic.

As a teacher or institute, you decide on a teaching philosophy, which then determines your tradeoffs in practice. And you live with the result.

This is no different from, as many on this forum will understand, writing software for a certain type of user. Changing the UI or featureset will tradeoff the type of users interested in your software. You can't satisfy everyone.

Also in the US the incentives for going into teaching are totally wrong. We should train the best and brightest so that our kids learn from them, but the salaries and working conditions are so bad that it actively discourages people.

What's the advantage to having the best and brightest teachers if they're in a room of average and dim students?

Both teachers and students should be tracked by ability. Best teachers for the best students. Mid teachers for mid students.

that assumes that average and dim are constants and unchangeable. but the point remains is that we're not even getting the best teachers to begin with, because the job is so unattractive if it's not your passion.

Average and dim usually seem pretty fixed by adulthood.

Were teachers better in previous generations? I remember the majority of mine being excellent. Might it be more unattractive now than 30 - 40 years ago?

People are not going into the public school system during adulthood.

Inflation-adjusted average teachers salaries have fallen over the past decade, and starting salaries are at the lowest levels measured: https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/average-teac...

A lot of teachers in the US now work two jobs to make ends meet, which is a recipe for disaster.

No they don't enter public school during adulthood, but if none of the interventions move the needle by the time their adults, what's the point?

Have inflation-adjusted salaries for other industries? They're not great either. Look at average attorney starting salaries.

The best students may actually be fine with no teacher or a very hands off method.

The students struggling the most may require the best teacher (and useful administration).

Because that's the system that built the modern world?

Send the best and brightest to thow themselves against the dull and dim because the best students will be fine with no teacher.

The best and brightest should be challenged and pushed to excel at academicly rigorous programs. The dim and dull should managed through a course of study that has more achievable standards.

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