A modest proposal

As I was driving in to work this morning, one of the radio shows I listen to was talking about a caller who had said that $250,000 a year is not really all that much.  This from the same people that say a teacher making $50,000 is greedy and overpaid.  It is time for a small dose of reality, and I think I know how it can be accomplished.

• Members of congress and the senate would no longer be paid by the federal government, but by the states they represent.
• The salaries of U.S. Representatives would be fixed at the median income for a K-12 public school teacher in their home state.  Their benefit packages would also be the same.
• The salaries of U.S. Senators would be fixed at the median income for public high school principals in their home state.  They too would recieve the same benefit packages.
• There would be no federal retirement for members of congress or the senate, rather they would participate in the same plan as the teachers in their home state.
• In recognition of the cost of maintaining two residences, the elected representatives would qualify for Section 8 housing in our nation's capital.

OK, it will never happen.  Because if it did, then our elected representatives would have to find someone else to demonize other than teachers and the working poor.

Checking my kid's homework is too hard, let's blame the teacher

You read all about declining graduation high school rates and how hard it is get rid of bad teachers.  Couple that with complaints about them being over paid, and having bloated benefit packages.  And while you're at it, you can blame them for not doing a good job of instilling your kids with good values, a strong work ethic. Wait a minute, that was your job.  Oh, whatever.

Getting kids to graduate is not the teacher's job, it is your job.  It is the teacher's job to give them the information, and the work they need to make sure they learn it.  It is your job as a parent to make sure they do the work.

And on the subject of compensation, who can name another job requiring that much education, and that many hours of work that pays so little?  You do realize that preparing lesson plans, grading Junior's papers, and a lot of times going out and buying classroom materials with your own money is all time spent outside of the classroom?

So if you want to make sure your child is one of those statistics that cannot finish high school, let alone go to college, here is my prescription.

• Don't check their homework to see if it is right, or if they even did it.
• Make it clear, in the example that you set for them, that their goal in life should be to do as little as possible.  They should not find any honor or self satisfaction in doing something well, it is just about getting by with as little effort as possible.
• Remind them that their teachers are lazy, overpaid incompetents, and they should not pay any attention to them.
• Make sure they know how bad you think their school is.  Give them an excuse to fail..It is not their fault, and it certainly isn't yours.
• And finally, don't read.  Spend your free time camped in front of the TV, the remote firmly in your hand.  If you read you may be exposed to ideas.  That might make you think, and we all know thinking is dangerous.

An after you have carefully followed that recipe, blame the lazy, overpaid, incompetent teacher for your child's failure to finish high school.