Only the same (but paid a whole more) – one would have thought in 40 years, much better. In the Wall Street Journal:
“Let’s hire another hundred thousand math and science teachers,” said President Obama…
…“For decades we have tried to boost academic outcomes by hiring more teachers, and we have essentially nothing to show for it. In 1970, public schools employed 2.06 million teachers, or one for every 22.3 students, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s Digest of Education Statistics. In 2012, we have 3.27 million teachers, one for every 15.2 students. Yet math and reading scores for 17-year-olds have remained virtually unchanged since 1970, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s National Assessment of Educational Progress. The federal estimate of high-school graduation rates also shows no progress (with about 75% of students completing high school then and now). Unless the next teacher-hiring binge produces something that the last several couldn’t, there is no reason to expect it to contribute to student outcomes. . . . Parents like the idea of smaller class sizes in the same way that people like the idea of having a personal chef. Parents imagine that their kids will have one of the Iron Chefs. But when you have to hire almost 3.3 million chefs, you’re liable to end up with something closer to the fry-guy from the local burger joint.”
Problem is, in this economy, not even the kids aren’t getting the jobs where the tail end sentence is “Want fries with that”? The emphasis has been wrong headed on focusing on just class sizes – and that meme aided and abetted by Teachers Unions everywhere (e.g., more teachers = more dues = more political power). What the Unions DON’T want to take center stage is that a more primary determinant of student performance is actually the quality of the teacher in front of the class. Yes, much more Political Correctness to deal with (and whose fault is THAT!) and regulations and paperwork (thanks, govt and busybodies everywhere!).
