State Sen. Shadrack McGill defended a pay raise his predecessors in the Legislature passed, but said doubling teacher pay could lead to less-qualified educators.I don't know but that all sorts of riff-raff might be attracted to run for the state legislature at pay close to $50,000 per year. I know folks who make less, that is, the people who have jobs.
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McGill, R-Woodville, said a 62 percent pay raise in 2007 - passed first by a controversial voice vote and later in an override of a veto by then-Gov. Bob Riley - better rewards lawmakers and makes them less susceptible to being swayed by lobbyists.
Lawmakers entered the 2007 legislative session making $30,710 a year, a rate that had not been changed in 16 years. The raise increased it to $49,500 annually.
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McGill said that by paying legislators more, they're less susceptible to taking bribes.
"He needs to make enough that he can say no, in regards to temptation. ... Teachers need to make the money that they need to make. There needs to be a balance there. If you double what you're paying education, you know what's going to happen? I've heard the comment many times, ‘Well, the quality of education's going to go up.' That's never proven to happen, guys.
"It's a Biblical principle. If you double a teacher's pay scale, you'll attract people who aren't called to teach.
"To go in and raise someone's child for eight hours a day, or many people's children for eight hours a day, requires a calling. It better be a calling in your life. I know I wouldn't want to do it, OK?
"And these teachers that are called to teach, regardless of the pay scale, they would teach. It's just in them to do. It's the ability that God give 'em. And there are also some teachers, it wouldn't matter how much you would pay them, they would still perform to the same capacity. (My emphasis)
Still, if the Bible says to keep teachers on a short wage leash, perhaps the Christians amongst us should pay attention. But wait! Where in the Bible does it say, "If you double a teacher's pay scale, you'll attract people who aren't called to teach." Can anyone out there cite chapter and verse?
Seems to me that Sen' McGill assumes more character and principles in teachers than in legislators. He could be right.
And what do Meshach and Abednego think about Shadrack's proposal? I guess we'll never know.
Thanks (or no thanks?) to Paul (A.), who sent the link with the following subject line:
At least Louisiana isn't responsible for this representative.At least...
His reasoning is flawed....and stupid! As an ex-teacher I spent so much of the little I earned supplying the students with needed supplies or even my room with the dictionaries that weren't covered in my classroom budget.
ReplyDeleteWhere is he getting his information????
Maybe we should apply that logic to legislators' pay, or to CEOs'. After all those are callings too.
ReplyDeleteWhat if the legislature were like jury duty -- a collection of randomly selected, but qualified, people each serving a month or so in groups of 50 or 100. That's the way the ancient Greeks did it.
ReplyDeleteGive them lunch money and carfare, and let's see how well they govern.
Ciss, It's a crying shame to have folks like Shadrack making laws, but the citizens continue to elect them. I don't believe I know even one teacher who has not spent his/her own money to buy supplies.
ReplyDeleteDaniel and Tobias, your suggestions work for me.
Well to be exact that was what the ancient Athenians did (Sparta had quite a different system). It also did not include women, slaves or aliens (and you were an alien unless both of your parents were citizens).
ReplyDeleteFinland btw pays teachers well, gives them responsibility (and respect). I'm reading over an article in The Atlantic.
Since the 1980s, the main driver of Finnish education policy has been the idea that every child should have exactly the same opportunity to learn, regardless of family background, income, or geographic location. Education has been seen first and foremost not as a way to produce star performers, but as an instrument to even out social inequality.
As a side effect they seem to have gotten excellence.
The man ought to be put in a sack and beaten with sticks until his retinas detach.
ReplyDeleteHe's a disgrace.
Aye, Erp. Those Athenians. Spartans had entirely different notions. Nor would I suggest the paedogogical methods of either city-state... ;-)
ReplyDeleteFinland should be a model for us all. Their goal is equality, and the result is excellence. Of course Finland's population is a small fraction of ours, and I wonder if their system would work for us.
ReplyDeleteStill, here in the US, we don't make equality in education a priority, and, in the various states, the quality of public education varies widely.
Yes.
ReplyDeleteI'm not an expert on biblical education, but I rather thought that in the New Testament Greek world, most teachers were slaves. Is that what he means by a 'calling'???
ReplyDeleteTim, something like that, I'd guess.
ReplyDeleteI met a couple of people you know at dinner night before last...two lovely women priests from your neighborhood named Heidi and Elizabeth. Don't be surprised if the ladies hug you when you next see them, as they do it on my orders. ;-)
That would be Eileen, not Heidi. Eileen Conway, to be precise. Sorry, mentioned them on the other thread before seeing your note on this one.
ReplyDeleteEileen warned me about the hugs already!
Tim, yes it would be Eileen. I'm terrible with names. One out of two is not bad, is it? Thanks for the correction. The ladies were delightful company. It's a small world that I 'knew' two other people from Edmonton.
ReplyDeleteYes, brace yourself for the onslaught.
Delightfully small.
ReplyDelete