Why is it a terrible article? Does the truth hurt?
My daughter is a teacher, her health insurance is 1300 a month out of her pocket. No free health coverage, etc. Then in the summer 2months, not 3, she has conferences she has to go to, early prep sessions for the next year, etc. none of that is extra pay so she works effectively 12months a year.
Writer may find that in Chicago schools but not elsewhere.
No, it's a terrible article because it is miles away from the truth.
1. Teachers don't "..work 9 months and get paid for twelve." They work OVER 9 months and have the option of spreading their salary out over 12 months. My wife worked in education 30 years and her SHORTEST contract was 215 work days, not 180. Some years, she worked a 255 day contract. (That's all year.)
2. In Texas, there is no "free insurance" for teachers. Because it's in a pool, it's a bit cheaper, but not much. The only thing that makes it cheaper is because premiums are taken out of your check, it is an "above the line" tax deduction so you get to deduct it all. That's the ONLY real advantage. The quality of the insurance itself is not that great.
3. Talking about salaries, many years my wife had to contribute BOTH to Texas Teacher Retirement AND Social security along with regular withholding. Try taking those three chunks out of your paycheck and see what you have left.
Teachers these days have it rough, but I'll admit they did it to themselves. And, like doctors or lawyers, there are many teachers out there who have no business being teachers. But, if you think the job is easy, try educating your own kid. I'm sure there are many teachers out there who would appreciate the break.
For starters, I get paid for 8 hours a day, 196 days a year. I can choose to have my salary spread out over the year, or I can be paid for the 10 months I teach.
In my school district, teachers CAN be covered 100% for their insurance, however, to add on family members is quite pricey. According to a fellow teacher, covering her entire family costs her $735 a month.
As far as pass rates go? Sorry, you just cannot include my rural Va kids in with the Detroit kids. Radically different situations. We are in the middle of our state exams - standards of learning, called SOL's. The pass rate in my rural county school. is over 85% for both reading and writing. The math SOL's will be taken next week. Last year's pass for 90%+ with 95% pass rate for Algebra I and 100% pass rate for geometry. And that 15% failure rate? Fun fact - we can only exempt the tiniest percent from those SOL's and those exemptions are reserved for the absolute lowest functioning kids. My 2 students with a 65 IQ did indeed take, and fail, the 6th grade reading SOL. The student who arrived in March from Mexico knowing no English, he too took the reading SOL, and yes, failed it.
While the article has some good points about poor teaching which applies to only parts of the country, the author is misguided to take a broad brush and include the good with the bad. What makes the difference here? To be plain spoken, it's the parents and working together so that the kids are successful. The school cannot do the job of the home and I suspect in many places that is the expectation.
As far as the current events quiz? I'd fail that flat out. I never watch the news, I never read a paper. I get most of my news from here, Drudge, and on occasion a UK paper.
And no, I'm not cleaning toilets with a toothbrush nor am I going to jail for doing a poor job.
All that being said, believe what you want to believe rather than the facts presented by fellow conservatives doing the work.