https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeK759FF84s I was in third grade at this time. I am the same age as these kids. This clip shows you just how important a teacher can be at a very early stage in our lives. Why we treat teachers so poorly is beyond me. I say pay them well. If by attracting the best of us we can bring back some of these great teaching methods, then let's do it.
Teachers are being paid adequately for the most part (they get paid about 5/6 of what a person with an equivalent degree makes, and considering they work 5/6 of the year, that's appropriate). That's not the problem with keeping good teachers. The real problem is the work conditions, the incessant testing (not teacher done tests, but district/state tests), the lack of discipline with students (and the lack of political will to deal with disruptive students), etc. I taught for 8 yrs. The hardest part of the job is that you have to be "on" for most of the day, with almost no breaks. Yes, you have lunch, but most of my lunchtime as a teacher was a 30 minute lunch break with the expectation that I do so in the lunchroom--not the most conducive for a relaxing lunch. Yes, you have planning, but that's spent planning, grading, using the bathroom (the only time you have time to), calling parents, making copies, etc. Figure out a way to better work conditions, and you'll get better teachers.
