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Politics : Just the Facts, Ma'am: A Compendium of Liberal Fiction -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Oeconomicus who wrote (78038)	3/2/2010 6:39:56 PM
From: TimF	Respond to of 90947

but I don't think that's enough above 200 or so to call teaching a "part-time" job I don't either, and I didn't call it that. I just think its less work than most full time workers. You might also consider that a full five-day week in many hourly jobs in the US is 35 hours. For most salaried jobs, and many hourly jobs its longer than that. From my experience, teachers were expected to be on the job, onsite, from roughly 7:30 to 4:30 with about a half hour for lunch. That's 42.5 hours per week just at school Experience varies a lot, apparently its an hour a day less in Illinois. Also, teachers unions have more control in some states than in others. Teachers in GA have no union. Yes I think the unions are an important issue here. Which is the reason I mentioned non-union teachers as making less (and I would add probably working more). See Message 26357460 To attract new teachers, all schools, public and private, compete in the same labor market. If some teachers opt for private schools despite lower pay, it is probably because of the greater prestige (on average) of teaching at a private school A prestigious private academy conveys more prestige than some broken down inner city school, but I don't think most of the religious schools (which amount for a huge portion of private schools) convey more than any semi-decent school or school system. And the teacher at that academy might make more than the public school teacher rather than less like most private school teachers. some affinity for the school or its mission That I think is a real factor, and probably the "belief that the students will be generally more motivated and better behaved, and parents more supportive" as well. Still I think the union and politics play a role in inflating the teacher salaries to a higher level than they would be in a pure open market. The whole education/teacher credential thing is an important part of that. It puts a barrier for prospective public school teachers to jump over before they can teach, reducing the supply for that largest segment of the market and thus increasing prices.

To: Oeconomicus who wrote (78038)	3/3/2010 9:03:42 AM
From: Zakrosian	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

private schools can often get away with paying less, though I think the reasons are more complex than simply that government salaries are higher because they are government, not free market. To attract new teachers, all schools, public and private, compete in the same labor market. If some teachers opt for private schools despite lower pay, it is probably because of the greater prestige (on average) of teaching at a private school, some affinity for the school or its mission (e.g. at religious or special needs schools), and/or the belief that the students will be generally more motivated and better behaved, and parents more supportive. There's another significant reason that a teacher would opt for private school: accreditation isn't required. I've known teachers who have taught in private until they took the courses they needed to teach in public schools. Also, private school teachers might be more content, despite the lower pay and benefits, because there is a lot less paperwork involved in the job. They can focus on teaching, and not filling out weekly lesson plans, etc. My kids have gone to both private and public schools, the latter in Fairfax County, which is one of the most highly regarded in the country. Every teacher they've had in private school was excellent; they've had several mediocre and poor teachers in the public school system. In fact, one year my 9 year old daughter came home in tears when she found out who her teacher was going to be. To the school's credit, that teacher was fired after that school year.