Got thoughts on public education?

I work in the system as a substitute teacher, for two counties in the state of Florida. (Which has some of the best public schools in the country.)
Bring your opinions, good or bad, to this thread.
The discussion is open.

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CountScrofula · 41-45, M

I feel it's being deliberately sabotaged by the status quo political order. Teachers are paid less and less, schools are underfunded (particularly if in poor locations), and the curriculum is a constant punching bag for political climbers. Not to mention activists taking over school boards to push shitty agendas.

Public education is a vital, important, and precious thing to have in a healthy society. Being a teacher should be a well-paid and respectable job.

Reason10 · 61-69, M

@CountScrofula There's a lot of validity in your points. Teacher salaries (at least in the State of Florida) are determined at the county level, since they are mostly based on real estate property taxes. In counties with expensive waterfront homes, the schools are brand new and the teachers are paid the most. In ghetto counties, the reverse is true. A lot of teachers are leaving the profession because teacher pay cannot keep up with the rising cost of housing. And it takes a LOT to get a teacher to quit the profession, because these teachers ARE THE JOB.

CountScrofula · 41-45, M

@Reason10 Right, exactly. It's an old game of governments to take a functioning system, sabotage it, and then claim it's a bad idea in the first place and push people into a private sector model.

deathfairy ·

talking about salary is half the problem. then there is the issue that half of them don’t even like the way they are expected to teach, they can’t use their own knowledge and ideas, but have to follow extremely rigid lesson plans where they lose students on a daily basis. being a teacher is hard, and then the pay is shit also.. ): @CountScrofula @Reason10

CountScrofula · 41-45, M

@deathfairy Yep. The reason I talk about salary is it's a simple clear problem with a simple solution (pay them more). The rest gets more complex but you're absolutely right.

deathfairy ·

no i understand why you guys talked about salary, it’s good info and very real. this is a side branch but it’s kinda the same thing with doctors, they can’t actually rly treat their patients because insurance ruins patient care. like shitting on them. @CountScrofula

CountScrofula · 41-45, M

@deathfairy Yep! Completely agree with you on all counts. Doctors basically work for insurance companies in the US.

Reason10 · 61-69, M

@CountScrofula The very concept of public education and its funding may come across to accounting majors as being about as ass backward as it gets. Apparently a student's funding follows the student to the public school. And administrators figure out the more kids in the classroom, the more money the school brings in. THAT'S the mentality, and it's the reason why classrooms are so crowded. Teacher pay in some areas is low due to decisions by the school boards. (In Florida, teacher pay varies by the county.) The poorest counties (which are not surprisingly high population centers) usually vote on the low side for teacher pay, and then they act surprised when teachers leave the profession.

Reason10 · 61-69, M

@CountScrofula Actually, insurance companies (and Medicare) have enabled doctors to price gouge the public for the past sixty years.
Just imagine what would happen if ALL insurance companies and ALL government subsidies ceased to exist. Imagine if doctors had to price their services according to what people could afford. You'd see some REAL changes in the costs, and quickly.