I think there is an argument to be made that high school classes are more rigorous, have more assignments that are harder to prepare than workbook sheets, or whatever. I also think we could have a district that had two tiers of pay. Listen, teacher pay is public info. Any d65 teacher can see this and apply at ETHS for a job if they want …
I think there is an argument to be made that high school classes are more rigorous, have more assignments that are harder to prepare than workbook sheets, or whatever. I also think we could have a district that had two tiers of pay. Listen, teacher pay is public info. Any d65 teacher can see this and apply at ETHS for a job if they want to. Does every city that consolidates k-12 have same pay rate? I’m more pissed about the gender pay gap in Evanston. That is suss.
Teachers are certified for specific grade ranges. As a certified K-8 teacher, I cannot apply at ETHS if I want to. Addressing your comment regarding more rigorous work and more assignments is an issue too involved for this medium, but most (not all) teachers I know are certainly not just making copies of workbook sheets.
I concede you make a good point, but I happen to know that it is entirely possible to go from elementary to high school as a teacher here in Evanston. Someone I graduated from ETHS and later taught my kid at a d65 middle school did just that. You need to be certified. You aren’t obligated to only ever be certified for k-8 and my point was, if d65 teachers like the salaries paid to HS educators better, they can apply. I don’t think k-8 teachers are always copying worksheets but I’m also the parent of six children, one currently in 4th grade, and they have workbooks for math, science, and reading. Hence my comment. As the child of a 3rd grade teacher, I also know well the hours spent planning units on fairy tales, the ravines in Highland Park (where she taught for 25 years), and projects like a story quilt her kids made and she sewed. I still contend there is an argument to be made that HS classes are more rigorous and that it can explain and justify the salary difference. And differing salary tiers alone is not a good enough reason to not explore the consolidation of the two districts. My opinion.
Of course it's entirely possible to go from elementary to high school. It was possible for me to go from corporate to education - with lots of schooling & certification. Ignoring the roadblocks to doing so is simplistic. And I contend that academic "rigor" in terms of the content knowledge necessary at the HS level does not in any way diminish or surpass the skills needed to actually educate students, regardless of age. That said, I am fully in favor of consolidation of the districts to rid taxpayers of the bloat of administration costs.
Yeah, I get it. I wouldn’t want to be a teacher at all these days and I’m grateful for those that do. Honestly, at this point in my life, I don’t want to be around more than two kids at the same time, so anyone that willingly does is a hero in my books. I understand the certification aspect, my point only was that I’m not sure you would legally have to pay all the teachers the same in order to join the two districts. I also think maybe the caliber of Board members would be greater, and candidates would get elected for what actual skills they bring to the table to operate such a district, rather than on how many times they can use the word “equity”.
" I am fully in favor of consolidation of the districts to rid taxpayers of the bloat of administration costs." This assumes that there would be significant savings from the consolidation. My guess is that larger districts have _more_ administrative overhead, but that is simply a guess. Has anyone seen any actual data, either comparisons or better yet an actual study of an actual consolidation?
While the data for comparisons is public at ISBE, Tom noted that it's complicated to obtain, and I abandoned my effort to get it.
Yeah I'll poke around, the ISBE actually does have some pretty good documentation they've published about past consolidations. I think, in general, the ISBE and the IL legislature is in favor of consolidations - there was a big law passed in 2007 to even fund some consolidations.
I think there is an argument to be made that high school classes are more rigorous, have more assignments that are harder to prepare than workbook sheets, or whatever. I also think we could have a district that had two tiers of pay. Listen, teacher pay is public info. Any d65 teacher can see this and apply at ETHS for a job if they want to. Does every city that consolidates k-12 have same pay rate? I’m more pissed about the gender pay gap in Evanston. That is suss.
Teachers are certified for specific grade ranges. As a certified K-8 teacher, I cannot apply at ETHS if I want to. Addressing your comment regarding more rigorous work and more assignments is an issue too involved for this medium, but most (not all) teachers I know are certainly not just making copies of workbook sheets.
I concede you make a good point, but I happen to know that it is entirely possible to go from elementary to high school as a teacher here in Evanston. Someone I graduated from ETHS and later taught my kid at a d65 middle school did just that. You need to be certified. You aren’t obligated to only ever be certified for k-8 and my point was, if d65 teachers like the salaries paid to HS educators better, they can apply. I don’t think k-8 teachers are always copying worksheets but I’m also the parent of six children, one currently in 4th grade, and they have workbooks for math, science, and reading. Hence my comment. As the child of a 3rd grade teacher, I also know well the hours spent planning units on fairy tales, the ravines in Highland Park (where she taught for 25 years), and projects like a story quilt her kids made and she sewed. I still contend there is an argument to be made that HS classes are more rigorous and that it can explain and justify the salary difference. And differing salary tiers alone is not a good enough reason to not explore the consolidation of the two districts. My opinion.
Of course it's entirely possible to go from elementary to high school. It was possible for me to go from corporate to education - with lots of schooling & certification. Ignoring the roadblocks to doing so is simplistic. And I contend that academic "rigor" in terms of the content knowledge necessary at the HS level does not in any way diminish or surpass the skills needed to actually educate students, regardless of age. That said, I am fully in favor of consolidation of the districts to rid taxpayers of the bloat of administration costs.
Yeah, I get it. I wouldn’t want to be a teacher at all these days and I’m grateful for those that do. Honestly, at this point in my life, I don’t want to be around more than two kids at the same time, so anyone that willingly does is a hero in my books. I understand the certification aspect, my point only was that I’m not sure you would legally have to pay all the teachers the same in order to join the two districts. I also think maybe the caliber of Board members would be greater, and candidates would get elected for what actual skills they bring to the table to operate such a district, rather than on how many times they can use the word “equity”.
" I am fully in favor of consolidation of the districts to rid taxpayers of the bloat of administration costs." This assumes that there would be significant savings from the consolidation. My guess is that larger districts have _more_ administrative overhead, but that is simply a guess. Has anyone seen any actual data, either comparisons or better yet an actual study of an actual consolidation?
While the data for comparisons is public at ISBE, Tom noted that it's complicated to obtain, and I abandoned my effort to get it.
Yeah I'll poke around, the ISBE actually does have some pretty good documentation they've published about past consolidations. I think, in general, the ISBE and the IL legislature is in favor of consolidations - there was a big law passed in 2007 to even fund some consolidations.