PLATFORM : Money Talks

People are realizing that everyone is putting education first except (the United States). Now we’re hearing about restructuring, teacher empowerment and school-based management. But the best teachers are not in the schools. Our pay is so low, who wants to teach?

So who’s teaching the elementary school students? Teachers who are not really interested, teachers who are just making a living, teachers who really don’t have the skills or the innovation or the creativity to make school all it’s worth.

Teachers should be required to attend more in-service programs and workshops. That will increase the skill of teachers. But if teachers are not really interested, it’s not going to help.

I’d like to start with getting the best-qualified teachers in the schools, and money talks. The average salary is $40,000. We need to at least begin with $65,000. It boosts our morale. Even though I enjoy teaching, I still feel like, monetarily, I’m not getting what I should get.