User Panel
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? |
|
Cost of education pyramid scheme. Colleges and the government a the top, teachers in the middle, students and taxpayers at the bottom.
|
|
It's two more years of communist indoctrination before they lock them in a room with your children for 8 hours a day.
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
Quoted:
Pay bump View Quote 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? |
|
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. |
|
Quoted:
But it definitely screws you as far as moving to a new school system, right? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes |
|
Quoted:
But it definitely screws you as far as moving to a new school system, right? View Quote 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. |
|
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.
|
|
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 Quoted:
Quoted:
Pay bump 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? |
|
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 |
|
Quoted:
But it definitely screws you as far as moving to a new school system, right? View Quote |
|
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.
|
|
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 |
|
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. |
|
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. |
|
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 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. |
|
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. |
|
|
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. |
|
You generally have to have a masters degree to promote into administration
|
|
|
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.
|
|
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? |
|
|
|
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. |
|
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 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? |
|
Teachers with masters degrees tend not to fuck their students.
|
|
|
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 Quoted:
Quoted:
Pay bump 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? |
|
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. |
|
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 View All Quotes Quoted:
Quoted:
how else would they be worth 18 bucks an hour? I bet your head explodes when you find out my wife, with a Master's in Special Education is making $27/hr. that... and the fact that nobody wants to put up with the [extra] associated bullshit politics on top of dealing with retards all day |
|
|
|
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 |
|
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.
|
|
|
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 |
|
Sign up for the ARFCOM weekly newsletter and be entered to win a free ARFCOM membership. One new winner* is announced every week!
You will receive an email every Friday morning featuring the latest chatter from the hottest topics, breaking news surrounding legislation, as well as exclusive deals only available to ARFCOM email subscribers.
AR15.COM is the world's largest firearm community and is a gathering place for firearm enthusiasts of all types.
From hunters and military members, to competition shooters and general firearm enthusiasts, we welcome anyone who values and respects the way of the firearm.
Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter to receive firearm news, product discounts from your favorite Industry Partners, and more.
Copyright © 1996-2024 AR15.COM LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Any use of this content without express written consent is prohibited.
AR15.Com reserves the right to overwrite or replace any affiliate, commercial, or monetizable links, posted by users, with our own.