Greater Value on Teaching Equals Better Schools, Brighter Future for America

Greater Value on Teaching Equals Better Schools, Brighter Future for America

The uneven appreciation for teachers in America is astonishing. For many years, we have heard countless calls for education reform at many levels, but those calls have either fallen on deaf ears or have been met with feeble attempts to improve. Now, another report has been released, urging the US to raise its status of the teaching profession so that more qualified candidates from the top tiers of their graduating classes will want to become a teacher.  It may seem like a no-brainer in top-scoring countries like Korea, Singapore and Finland who view their teachers as “nation builders”, but in America, teaching has gotten a “bad rap” for being an easy job with field trips and summers off. Hence, teachers are underpaid and receive little support from their leadership. Some of our leaders seem to have ignored the damage it is doing to our children, but if we want to be able to compete with other nations across the globe, we must place a higher value on this issue, which is so critical to America’s security. 

Highlighted Clip for Wednesday, March 16, 2011:

"U.S. Is Urged to Raise Teachers’ Status"

To improve its public schools, the United States should raise the status of the teaching profession by recruiting more qualified candidates, training them better and paying them more, according to a new report on comparative educational systems.