I recently had the opportunity to speak to educators to kick off the start of a new school year in the Kansas City Public School District. I know the value of educators and those who give their all to help children.
A teacher’s job is the most important job because teachers change lives. They have the ability to connect with students beyond academics, in other aspects of their lives. A teacher’s personal interest can make the difference in whether or not a student returns to school or even whether he or she graduates.
One in four students will drop out of school. But according to the National Center for Education the dropout rate is decreasing, down from 10.9 percent in 2000 to 6.1 percent in 2016. The nation is moving in the right direction, but we still have more to do.
Not everyone can be a teacher. It takes patience and understanding. But teachers cannot do it alone; they need community support and resources to do their jobs. They need increased pay and smaller classrooms to give every student the attention they deserve. They need to know their schools are safe and protected.
Teachers and staff need additional support to identify and assist at-risk students. That’s why I introduced H.R. 3552, the “Cady Housh and Jason Flatt Teen Suicide Prevention Act.” This bill, a bipartisan effort, would require teachers, principals, counselors and other staff to take youth suicide awareness and prevention training each year. Currently twenty states have enacted some form of this law. I believe it should be expanded nationwide, so our teachers and staff have the tools they need to help save lives.
As we start another school year, let us not forget those who care for our children, so that teachers can continue to inspire, educate, and guide students into their future.
4 comments:
Very true; my daughter’s first teaching job was in inner City KC
My whole family ( excepting me) are proud teachers
Harvey HUTCHINSON 303-522-6622 voice&text
And yet a group in Oklahoma is trying to stop them getting their pay raises. In order to get a better context of what teacher pay is run these numbers for starting pay. Roughly $36,000 per year. 25 students in a classroom (if they are lucky), 7 hours per day, 180 days per year. If my math is correct that works out to about 31,500 contact hours and does not include early arrival, staying to help a student, bus duty, lunch room duty, study hall duty, preparation time, grading time and all else required of teachers. So just contact time is equivalent to about $1.16 per hour. Now I challenge anyone to go out and find a babysitter who will teach your child, mentor them, provide a role model for them and care about them and then risk getting shot for that amount of money. Dumb ass public when you complain about teacher pay. Be thankful, but it stands to reason why the country is short over 100,000 teachers this year, the pay and job conditions suck.
Your math is wrong. Hourly rate is more than $28, regardless of the number of students. If someone spends an hour in a classroom with 25 children, she should be paid 25 times what a babysitter would make for an hour? The going babysitter rate for me is $12 per hour, and your theory is that a teacher should make $300 per hour (based on your “contact hour” scheme)? I agree that teachers are grossly underpaid, but your argument that they make less than $2 per hour is nonsense.
Hmm, you must have missed a lot in school. I said contact hourly rate. That means the pay equates to how much they are getting paid per student and yes it does work out to about $28 per hour for the whole, repeat whole classroom and not per student. Still, when a welder makes that and more, but does not have to attend school for 4 years and then return every so often for continued training, does not have to have clothes that cost a little more than "jeans and work shirt", is not responsible for the lives of your children then the pay is unacceptable for the commitment. I cannot believe what babysitters get. My daughter used to get $1 an hour, 1994 date, and I told her it was more noteworthy to cut grass than babysit which is what she did.
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