[quote=Blogstar]Teachers should get paid more to teach in crappy areas.[/quote]
Right. And that’s the exact opposite of what happens now. With union seniority rules, the more experienced teachers get their pick of schools. With few exceptions, they gravitate toward the wealthier neighborhoods where teaching is easier and students and their parents more involved and supportive.
Beginning teachers are sent to the poorest neighborhoods where they are the least able to handle the disciplinary problems. No wonder they burn out quickly.
This also means that when a district must cut teachers due to declining enrollments (like now, with students opting for private or charter schools, or families fleeing the state), union rules force the last hired to be laid off. This disporportionately hits the inner city school faculty. The result, in San Diego, was for some poorer neighborhood schools to get all the layoff notices while richer neighborhoods kept theirs teachers.
Make no mistake, the teachers unions exist for the benefit adults, not children. And the union policies most hurt poor children more than rich children despite their lofty rhetoric.
