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Posted: 6/7/2017 11:46:33 AM EST
So, I know a lot of public school teacher and they all either have, or are working on a master's degree since its significant pay raise, or in many cases mandatory to earn one within 5 years to keep their license/job.  Once they get it, its a bitch to move and find a new job, since per the union contract, they're now more expensive than an entry level employee. 

So, the ones I know well enough to ask, I've been asking WTF they learned getting the Masters that made them a better teacher.  As of yet, 1 out of 4 said they had ONE pretty decent class where they learned some new things about child discipline.  Otherwise, it was just punching a ticket.  I have a real hard time understanding why getting a random education MA is really needed to teach K-3.

It seems like a huge scam otherwise.   On the plus side it looks like Ohio isn't making people get a masters anymore.

What, if any consequence would there be for a teacher with a master's degree not mentioning it, and just taking the entry level position?
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 11:47:02 AM EST
[#1]
Cost of education pyramid scheme. Colleges and the government a the top, teachers in the middle, students and taxpayers at the bottom.
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 11:48:06 AM EST
[#2]
It's two more years of communist indoctrination before they lock them in a room with your children for 8 hours a day. 
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 11:48:54 AM EST
[#3]
Automatic raise

all about working the system 
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 11:49:58 AM EST
[#4]
Former co-worker went to tOSU for education. Had to get a Masters. Couldn't find a teaching job. Yeah she'll pretty much be paying those student loans for the rest of her life.
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 11:50:08 AM EST
[#5]
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Quoted:
Automatic raise

all about working the system 
View Quote
But it definitely screws you as far as moving to a new school system, right? 
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 11:54:13 AM EST
[#6]
Justification for more pay.
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 11:54:42 AM EST
[#7]
Pay bump
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 11:56:04 AM EST
[#8]
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Quoted:
It's two more years of communist indoctrination before they lock them in a room with your children for 8 hours a day. 
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Basically what I was going to post.
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 11:56:36 AM EST
[#9]
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Quoted:
Pay bump
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I can understand why teachers do it.  I'm trying to understand why society/school boards/administrators allow it.

Is it that they actually think they're better teachers for it?

Is it a cynical move to keep teachers in your system, sort of like non-compete agreements, stock options or whatever in private industry?
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 11:59:10 AM EST
[#10]
I couldn't get a teaching credential without a masters attached.

I went to school in Texas and needed a California Teachers Credential when I moved here. Nobody offered just the credential. More $$$ for schools to double the curriculum.

I do enjoy the pay bump. Helps pay for my wife to stay home and raise our kids properly.
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 12:00:13 PM EST
[#11]
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Quoted:
But it definitely screws you as far as moving to a new school system, right? 
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Automatic raise

all about working the system 
But it definitely screws you as far as moving to a new school system, right? 
No.   But getting teaching jobs can be very competitive, depending on the area.     In most of the country, It has the lowest ROI for time and effort, of any job I can think of.
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 12:01:30 PM EST
[#12]
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Quoted:
But it definitely screws you as far as moving to a new school system, right? 
View Quote
A new PUBLIC school system, yes. Probably makes you more desirable for better-paying private school/academy jobs.

My mother was a public school teacher and got a masters for pretty much that reason (automatic raise), and after we relocated to a new state, she apparently needed lots of extra college to qualify for a teaching certificate in the new state.

She ended up taking a job at a private (catholic) school because they didn't require the full state certification and it included free tuition for my three youngest siblings who were still in elem or middle school at the time. Those benefits more than offset the pay difference from a public school teacher with a master's, assuming she could even have gotten a job with a PS system, after completing whatever additional college hours they wanted to require of her.
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 12:03:10 PM EST
[#13]
See what it does is requires these people to most likely rack up a kick ass student loan debt, which means they will need a job for a long while in order to pay that off. So it's kind of a way to ensure you someone will fill the position in order to pay off their debt.
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 12:04:18 PM EST
[#14]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
I can understand why teachers do it.  I'm trying to understand why society/school boards/administrators allow it.

Is it that they actually think they're better teachers for it?

Is it a cynical move to keep teachers in your system, sort of like non-compete agreements, stock options or whatever in private industry?
View Quote View All Quotes
View All Quotes
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
Quoted:
Pay bump
I can understand why teachers do it.  I'm trying to understand why society/school boards/administrators allow it.

Is it that they actually think they're better teachers for it?

Is it a cynical move to keep teachers in your system, sort of like non-compete agreements, stock options or whatever in private industry?
Everyone wants the best for the children don't you know.
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 12:05:21 PM EST
[#15]
My wife is a teacher just got a masters degree and got no pay raise for it
We paid for it ourselves and no unions around here
She wanted to better herself, be a better teacher and open up more opportunities in the future.
Most teachers here do not have anything more than a bachelors

Oh yea and she is conservative and thinks teacher unions should be illegal
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 12:06:30 PM EST
[#16]
Because much of an undergraduate education is garbage.
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 12:06:40 PM EST
[#17]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:

But it definitely screws you as far as moving to a new school system, right? 
View Quote
Around here it generally does. However, our state is in such disarray that I think a shortage of teachers will get things moving again. FWIW, I don't have my masters and I don't plan on getting one. If I go back to school it will be to exit education. 
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 12:07:05 PM EST
[#18]
The point is to force people to stay in teaching.
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 12:08:01 PM EST
[#19]
It's not required here.  I'm getting my Masters right now in Educational Administration/Building License so I can move up and become a principal.  In the middle of a School Law class right now actually.  It's fucking retarded and teaching me nothing.
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 12:08:21 PM EST
[#20]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
My wife is a teacher just got a masters degree and got no pay raise for it
We paid for it ourselves and no unions around here
She wanted to better herself, be a better teacher and open up more opportunities in the future.
Most teachers here do not have anything more than a bachelors
View Quote
What state?
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 12:08:27 PM EST
[#21]
In many cases it's a credential bubble.

Human capital is inelastic. Suppose a bachelors degree used to select for the top 30%. Selecting for that quality directly is impractical or banned, so firms check for a bachelors as a proxy.

That makes a bachelors valuable, so the market reacts and expands the supply. Now the top 60% can get one. This degrades its value as a filter, so institutions have to decide on a new filter tuned for the 30% mark until the market catches up and destroys that one.
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 12:09:23 PM EST
[#22]
It depends on the district and the state. Good districts will hire the most qualified. But if you have a masters and no experience it will be hard to get a job. Since you are basically an unknown. 

I have an M.Ed it helped me a ton because my undergrad wasn't in education it was in my field. My M.Ed was a licensure program though so 3/4 or so of the way through I was licensed. I got hired before I finished then had them paid for the rest of my masters.

Been on a bunch of hiring committees and never have been told to pick a lesser qualified candidate by admin. But I am sure it happens but here our hiring is done by the teachers in the department and they don't care how much someone costs. 
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 12:09:34 PM EST
[#23]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
I can understand why teachers do it.  I'm trying to understand why society/school boards/administrators allow it.

Is it that they actually think they're better teachers for it?

Is it a cynical move to keep teachers in your system, sort of like non-compete agreements, stock options or whatever in private industry?
View Quote
It's just like anything else regarding a college degree.

Does a Masters automatically make you a better teacher?  Of course not.
Does not having a Masters make you a worse teacher?  Of course not.

However, it's seen as taking classes and professional development that *could* and theoretically *would* make you a better teaching for having more knowledge in your content area and/or better teaching skills/ideas/thoughts/concepts depending on the degree if it's in something like Curriculum and Instruction.
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 12:10:51 PM EST
[#24]
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Quoted:

What state?
View Quote
NC
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 12:12:11 PM EST
[#25]
how else would they be worth 18 bucks an hour?
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 12:13:17 PM EST
[#26]
In theory, academic rigor, critical thinking and analysis skills, necessity to create and defend an argument/premise (Thesis), advanced writing abilities.

In practice, see the posts above.

Also a discriminator, there are sooooooo many BAs now, they can use it as a selection criteria to reduce the pool of applicants.
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 1:15:31 PM EST
[#27]
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Quoted:
how else would they be worth 18 bucks an hour?
View Quote
Bitter much.
I bet your head explodes when you find out my wife, with a Master's in Special Education is making $27/hr.
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 1:30:48 PM EST
[#28]
I can offer one point not mentioned yet - it's academia.


I have noticed there is a distinct caste system in academics.


There are many who look down on those without degrees at all; most think a 2 yr degree is equivalent to a high school diploma. They sort of tolerate a bachlelors, but a masters is where it is at for them. Few get a doctorate, they start really doing cost / benefit ratios looking at them, but there is a university near me that keeps a full class load of teachers trying to get their doctors of learnin. Most have aspirations of either college tenure or being a principal, few are what I would expect a doctoral candidate to act or interact like. (shrugs)

I guess if all you wanna do is educate little kids in a church school, you may not need it, but out in the world, you gotta have them letters after your name or no one will take you seriously.
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 1:51:57 PM EST
[#29]
You generally have to have a masters degree to promote into administration
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 1:57:09 PM EST
[#30]
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Quoted:
You generally have to have a masters degree (in Administration) to promote into administration
View Quote
fixt
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 2:11:22 PM EST
[#31]
My wife is a teacher.

I believe ALL states require Continuing Education to renew your teaching certification.

Her contract says that a Bachelors degree is worth X salary.
But a Bachelors plus 15 hours is worth X plus a few grand more.
A Bachelors plus 30 hours is worth even more salary.

The teacher is essentially forced into those higher pay bands.  

Now, a smart teacher doesn't simply take random continuing education classes.
A smart teacher takes them towards a goal of a masters degree.  In something worthwhile.
Most teachers get their masters in a field that helps their teaching degree, but that isn't specified in her contract.

She taught for about 7 years before she realized she was wasting money.
So she earned her masters degree.

Even now I'm telling her she is wasting money.
Her school doesn't pay more for a Ph.D., but they pay more for a masters plus 15, and a masters plus 30.

She has her masters plus 4 hours simply to maintain her certification.
She can knock out a 3-hour online class that counts as continuing education in a month.
In less than a year she could increase her salary by more than 10%, for the rest of her career, assuming she is never fired.
And this is on top of normal annual increases, as well as the annual cost of living adjustment.

A teacher with a masters degree is virtually unemployable if they ever lose their job.

Before anyone bitches about teachers not being paid what they are worth....

I have been educating myself on the expectations her school has for teachers.  
Unless you are a teacher, you wouldn't be familiar with Priority Standards, PLC Agendas, etc,
The latest and greatest BS for teaching.  It is insane.  
I'm making 50% more salary than she is.  And I would not do her job at my salary.  Screw that.


This is my wife's salary schedule.
It was downloaded from the school's website, so it is public information.

Link Posted: 6/7/2017 2:13:59 PM EST
[#32]
Like most master's degrees I've come across, it has less to do with what you learn in the master's program, and more to do with the fact that someone showed enough dedication to complete their master's.
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 2:14:33 PM EST
[#33]
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 2:16:48 PM EST
[#34]
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Quoted:
Pay bump
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Brother-in-law and his wife, both teachers, said that is the only reason they got theirs. And the course requirements - according to them - were a joke.
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 2:17:58 PM EST
[#35]
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Quoted:
Cost of education pyramid scheme. Colleges and the government a the top, teachers in the middle, students and taxpayers at the bottom.
View Quote
^^^^^ THIS

It's a self-perpetuating bureaucracy.

Not much different from scientology except it's less expensive.
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 2:20:15 PM EST
[#36]
Checks a box.

My mom had been teaching for decades when it all of a sudden became super important for her to get a Masters.

She did. On her own dime, of course.
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 2:23:17 PM EST
[#37]
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Quoted:
I'm at 18 years teaching high school math and physics with no masters degree. I don't see how it would be worth my time or money except to climb a ladder to administration. But one must offer homage to the liberal gods of progressivism, right? It's a racket.

and PS, name me one other industry or field where the incompetent baseline workers get moved into management as a career track? 

View Quote
@MRW

Florida might be different than Iowa.
But here, after 18 years, with JUST your BS, you would be making $52,121

If you would have put any effort into it at all, after 18 years you should EASILY have your Masters plus 30, worth $71,128.

And that isn't worth your time or money?
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 2:24:37 PM EST
[#38]
Teachers with masters degrees tend not to fuck their students.
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 2:26:33 PM EST
[#39]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
Cost of education pyramid scheme. Colleges and the government a the top, teachers in the middle, students and taxpayers at the bottom.
View Quote
Yep

$200k college bill and forced to work to pay it and survive.

 I prefer the GI Bill, free college and $1100 a month
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 2:28:07 PM EST
[#40]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
I can understand why teachers do it.  I'm trying to understand why society/school boards/administrators allow it.

Is it that they actually think they're better teachers for it?

Is it a cynical move to keep teachers in your system, sort of like non-compete agreements, stock options or whatever in private industry?
View Quote View All Quotes
View All Quotes
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
Quoted:
Pay bump
I can understand why teachers do it.  I'm trying to understand why society/school boards/administrators allow it.

Is it that they actually think they're better teachers for it?

Is it a cynical move to keep teachers in your system, sort of like non-compete agreements, stock options or whatever in private industry?
Govt job reqs and pay bands have nothing to do with what's fair or reasonable or even make sense.
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 2:28:54 PM EST
[#41]
I am a teacher.  I have a MAgr from Texas A&M.  I was awarded that degree long before I became a teacher.  It has been useful as a way to slice through some educational bullshit.

MEd have gotten to be little more than participation trophies.  Districts require them so they can brag that their teachers all have a master's degree.

Over the years so much that has been taught in regards to pedagogy has turned out to be bull shit.  What was whizzbang one year was discredited in another.

What would be useful?  Degrees in the subjects that are taught make more sense.  In some districts it is difficult for a person with a degree in education to get a classroom position.  The districts want mathematicians who have been trained to teach and not teachers who have been taught rudimentary math.  In that case there might be some justification for a MEd.

When I entered education in 2005, I had zero experience and strong background knowledge.  I learned that I was woefully unprepared.  I did not have a successful career in public education from a combination of lack of skill and a temperament ill-suited for Title 1 schools.

I now teach in a private school.  I am a better teacher.  I also have ZERO discipline problems.  If a student is disruptive, they are expelled.  End of story.

About 50% of all new teachers quit by the end of their 5th year.  Public education is a crappy way to make a living unless you are an admin.  They are not educators;  they are bureaucrats and as such know how to avoid the difficult stuff, delegate the problematic stuff, and hide the screwed-up stuff.
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 2:30:21 PM EST
[#42]
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Quoted:
Bitter much.
I bet your head explodes when you find out my wife, with a Master's in Special Education is making $27/hr.
View Quote View All Quotes
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Quoted:
Quoted:
how else would they be worth 18 bucks an hour?
Bitter much.
I bet your head explodes when you find out my wife, with a Master's in Special Education is making $27/hr.
the cost is the result of demand for a job that requires specialization

that... and the fact that nobody wants to put up with the [extra] associated bullshit politics on top of dealing with retards all day
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 2:30:50 PM EST
[#43]
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Quoted:
fixt
View Quote View All Quotes
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Quoted:
Quoted:
You generally have to have a masters degree (in Administration) to promote into administration
fixt
OLL yo
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 2:40:08 PM EST
[#44]
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Quoted:
Teachers with masters degrees tend not to fuck their students.
View Quote
Hmm, I dunno.  Seems like plenty of college professors rail their students, and they pretty much all have Phds.
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 2:49:42 PM EST
[#45]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
I'm at 18 years teaching high school math and physics with no masters degree. I don't see how it would be worth my time or money except to climb a ladder to administration. But one must offer homage to the liberal gods of progressivism, right? It's a racket.

and PS, name me one other industry or field where the incompetent baseline workers get moved into management as a career track

View Quote
All of them.
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 2:52:27 PM EST
[#46]
It's not like this is anything new. I remember one of my high school teachers (small Catholic high school) telling us she was taking summer/evening classes for her master's. This was in the mid-80s. Not sure if the license required a master's after a certain number of years in Michigan at the time. Teacher was a lady in her late 40s.
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 2:53:57 PM EST
[#47]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:

Bitter much.
I bet your head explodes when you find out my wife, with a Master's in Special Education is making $27/hr.
View Quote
She must be young'ish.  Give it a few years and she will be making a lot more than that.
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 3:00:29 PM EST
[#48]
Additional indoctrination
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 3:01:34 PM EST
[#49]
More revenue for colleges is the main reason.
Link Posted: 6/7/2017 3:10:15 PM EST
[#50]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
My wife is a teacher.

I believe ALL states require Continuing Education to renew your teaching certification.

Her contract says that a Bachelors degree is worth X salary.
But a Bachelors plus 15 hours is worth X plus a few grand more.
A Bachelors plus 30 hours is worth even more salary.

The teacher is essentially forced into those higher pay bands.  

Now, a smart teacher doesn't simply take random continuing education classes.
A smart teacher takes them towards a goal of a masters degree.  In something worthwhile.
Most teachers get their masters in a field that helps their teaching degree, but that isn't specified in her contract.

She taught for about 7 years before she realized she was wasting money.
So she earned her masters degree.

Even now I'm telling her she is wasting money.
Her school doesn't pay more for a Ph.D., but they pay more for a masters plus 15, and a masters plus 30.

She has her masters plus 4 hours simply to maintain her certification.
She can knock out a 3-hour online class that counts as continuing education in a month.
In less than a year she could increase her salary by more than 10%, for the rest of her career, assuming she is never fired.
And this is on top of normal annual increases, as well as the annual cost of living adjustment.

A teacher with a masters degree is virtually unemployable if they ever lose their job.

Before anyone bitches about teachers not being paid what they are worth....

I have been educating myself on the expectations her school has for teachers.  
Unless you are a teacher, you wouldn't be familiar with Priority Standards, PLC Agendas, etc,
The latest and greatest BS for teaching.  It is insane.  
I'm making 50% more salary than she is.  And I would not do her job at my salary.  Screw that.


This is my wife's salary schedule.
It was downloaded from the school's website, so it is public information.

http://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/74127/Salary-Schedule-225272.jpg
View Quote
That's shit pay for the education and years. They would have been better off not being a teacher, majoring in non fluff,  and getting a different public job.
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