Why are the requirements to be a teacher being raised so high?

Question

Teachers are some of the most needed but yet lowest paid people in our society and there are quite a few who have gone on strike or quit because of the conditions under which they have to work. Why then, should people be making it harder to enter a profession where there is already a high demand and a decreasing supply?

I'm talking about expense largely. It's expensive to go through all the crap that you have to go through to be a teacher. Money doesn't make you smart, in fact, it makes alot of people stupider because they can afford to buy their way out of any situation they get themselves into. And if you really think the teachers out there are sooo horrible, then you should home school your children. If you are homeschooling them, then just quit bitchingt about them becase they're none of your concern. I would presonally prefer a personable teacher who is inexperiend to an experienced jerkish teacher with a Ph.D. in self-righteousness. The point I'm trying to make is that with any line of work you will learn far more with actual experience then you will by a textbook, and adding requirements that aren't reallty necessary just to shut parents up doesn't really fix anything except for shutting them up. If a teacher has book knowledge without people skills, it doesn't help sh*t

Answer 1

No! The requirements need to be even higher!

And the salary needs to be adequate!

Answer 2

Contrary to popular belief, teachers are not one of the lowest paid people in our society. Most first year teachers are making more that $30,000 and work approximately 9 months per year.
The requirements for teachers are being raised higher because in the past, current requirements were allowing teachers without the proper creditials to be teaching. No Child Left Behind requires state certification of all teachers in all states, as well as further educational courses to keep up on certification. Without this, we are doing a disservice to our students. Although there is a high demand for teachers, many higher income districts are turning away qualified teachers. It is in the urban districts where teachers are not as willing to work (but are needed the most) which have been negatively effected.

Answer 3

They really aren't that high. Educators are professionals. However, the perception and the reality is that often times poor educators are allowed to have a full career of 30+ years no matter how ineffective they are. I don't want to point the finger at teacher unions, but this culture of protected apathy is not a result of adminstrators and community stakeholders yearning for apathetic teachers. It is a result of union contracts that require an looooooooong process when firing a teacher.

As an adminstrator in a fairly large district I can tell you of a number teachers that are not only blatantly not doing their jobs, but have been suspected of some really disturbing things. Firing them is difficult. Almost like pulling teeth.

The standards need to be raised because otherwise I, and more importantly your kids, are left with weak educators who can't get the job done and can't be removed from the system.

Even with this problem the standards are not ungodly. Lawyers go through intense training, doctors do as well. Educators are just as important and their training is no where near these levels of intensity.

With that written. I have slightly used soapbox for sale..

Answer 4

The No Child Left Behind act (NCLB) mandates that teachers are "highly qualified." This means that states HAVE to raise the bar.

If you have children, would you want them taught by people who were anything other than highly qualified?

Many districts are paying better (I have no regrets about what I'm paid as a HS teacher with 7 years experience). Many teacher contracts also include tuition assistance which helps teachers earn those advanced degrees.

Part of being a good teacher means not losing touch with what it means to be a student.

It's going to take communities realizing that investing in their schools really is a good investment before salaries rise significantly. In the meantime, realize that most teachers aren't in it for the money. We love what we do, enjoy the time off, and reinvent ourselves often to keep pace with what we're teaching and who our students are.

Answer 5

Because, you have to look at where all this is coming from...the top. The administrators love to take the heat off themselves and apply it to the teachers ("worker bees"). Sadly, most teachers are more than qualified to teach, but education loves to push for everyone being Phds, which is the problem in junior colleges now. They are hiring Phds left and right and these folks can't identify with students, nor can they teach any better than other teachers with less education. It's status quo garbage.

Then, add to that parents who don't know what the truth is when it comes to where their tax money is being spent, or why their kids are being taught certain things. They need to look at administrators who make 6 figure incomes, have free reign on spending money (and usually that means corruption) and have a strong arm on teachers. Maybe if people look at the problem for what it is, things can change for teachers AND schools once and for all.

Answer 6

If you want your children to be highly educated to succeed in life, then your teachers need to be even more highly educated. Test scores show that American children are falling further behind their peers in other technologically advanced countries. Much of this is due to the lack of quality teachers. At the very least, a teacher needs to complete a bachelor's degree. Student teaching is currently only 1 semester of that degree. Personally (from experience as a teacher), I feel that a prospective teacher should complete a 4-year degree and then spend a fifth year as a student teacher. In Illinios, after you become a teacher, you are required to continually obtain additional training in order to renew your teaching license. I think it is a great idea!

To see how badly we need more qualified teachers, you only need to try to read some of the questions posted here. People can no longer write coherent sentences using proper English. Math skills grow even weaker.

Answer 7

Society is trying to divert attention away from the real problem in the public schools: lack of discipline at home.

Parents don't take responsiblity for their child's education any more. Teachers spend an inordinate amount of time disciplining children so they can't teach.

The administration always comes to the aid of the parents because that is who can get them fired. So instead of supporting the teachers, the administrators lobby for more requirements suggesting their staff isn't prepared enough.

The State and Local governments are also happy to blame teachers training lest they offending the general voting public by acknowledging the real problem - parents.

Couple that with the administrators desires to have the highest technology in their area and you end up with less money for teachers who are required to go through more training.

The alternative for teachers is private schools. Since parents have to pay for the education, they make sure thier kids are behaving in class and doing their homework at home. But private school teachers make half of what public school teachers do and often don't even get health benefits.

The wonder is that anybody goes into teaching anymore.

This is why home schooling is the fastest growing educational system.

Answer 8

I think, teacher should know the harder way of becoming teacher to train them. Like my professor always telling us that in becoming a teacher there is no money. But looking it into a bright side, our proferssor encourage us to think of a teacher who do not work for money. When you become a teacher sacrifice is always there. To become a teacher is a noble profession, so the requirement top be a teacher must raised up to the point that we are not dealing for a person life but a person future and the worlds future!

Answer 9

I think the standards should be high.

The public high school in my town just offered fabulous early retirement packages to the most qualified teachers so they could hire a bunch of starry eyed idealists fresh out of college for half the salary. But I don't suppose it really matters. All they're really required to do is teach the students how to do well on the standardized tests that give them their "top three in the country" ranking. It's all about appearances and has nothing to do with a real education.

Answer 10

They're raisng the standards due to the " NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND" Law. This law is really jacked up and then you have a lott of punk @$$ parents who don't discipline their kids and they expect for the teachers to educate and discipline the bad a$$es. You can be a highly qualified teacher but you'll never be able to educate your kids if you're constantly having discipline problems in the classroom. Its not fair to the students who want to learn.

Answer 11

No Child Left Behind legislation- states had to determine qualifications to meet a standard of "highly qualified" teachers. Even teachers in my school with a master's degree and twenty years experience had to take additional coursework in reading and ESOL in order to meet the new requirements in their respective fields. While I believe we need to get the most effective teachers, we need to raise pay to meet this demand. We are headed for a national teacher shortage and crisis.