[GRLUG] Linux @ school.

[Ron Lauzon]

Let me chime in on this, since this is a sore point for me (both my dad and
one of my brother's are teachers).

Having had bad teachers, and having seen what the schools did to my
brothers, I can see Collin's point.  I think that we pay teachers way too
much *for what we get from them*.

I think the issue here is value.  I don't mind paying a good teacher plenty
of money, but I do mind paying a bad teacher alot of money.  But current
public school rules say that teacher have to be paid not on how good a job
they do, but on their senority.  No wonder why charter schools tend to do
better.

Now back to Linux...
One of the issues with computer technology in schools is money.  Why are
schools PAYING for Windows when Linux is free?  Why are schools PAYING for
MS Office when OpenOffice is free?

These are the type of questions that parents need to bring up to the schools
when the schools say "we don't have the money for xxxxx."  Part of the
problem with the schools is that they do not spend their funds wisely.

On 9/27/06, Benjamin Eavey <ben at eavey.com> wrote:
>
> > Or how about we don't pay teachers way more than they are worth and
> > don't cater to their incessant demands? We waste far more money on
> > teachers and their above average benefits than we ever could on buying
> > computers and other supplies. Don't forget that the true cost of an
> > employee is usually double their salary. For a teacher making 50,000
> > that's upwards of 100,000 after payroll taxes and benefits. Now you tell
> > me which is a better way to save money: Not buying $3,000 computers or
> > knocking holier-than-thou teachers off their bully pulpits? Maybe we can
> > use the money we save to buy better supplies and hire more teachers?
>
> I don't want to go too far into this debate, so I'll just give my
> opinion and leave it at that:
>
> You say $50,000/year is way too much for a teacher's salary.
>
> I have 2 kids in elementary school.
>
> Your opinion scares me.
>
> I don't want someone who makes $25,000/year, for instance, teaching my
> kids.  Period.  What kind of people will you end up with if you don't
> pay a decent salary?  You'll end up with people who couldn't get a
> better job doing something else.  That's frightening.
>
> My children will (unfortunately) spend more time with their teacher
> during the week than with me.  I want that person to be someone who has
> a good education, who is well-qualified, and who makes a good salary.  I
> want the position of "teacher" to be desirable and satisfying for
> intelligent, well-educated people who can be good role models for kids.
>
> Basically, I don't want someone in a comparable economic position to the
> assistant manager at Wendy's educating my children.
>
> Thanks for reading.
>
> We can go back to talking about Linux now...  :)
>
> -Ben
> _______________________________________________
> grlug mailing list
> grlug at grlug.org
> http://shinobu.grlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/grlug
>



-- 
Ron Lauzon - rlauzon at acm dot org
   Homepage: http://7lauzon.home.comcast.net/
   Weblog: http://ronsapartment.blogspot.com/

   DNRC: Lord of All Things That Are Fattening

   "To be sure, conservative radio talk show hosts have a built-in
   audience unavailable to liberals: People driving cars to some
   sort of job." - Ann Coulter

Microsoft Free since July 06, 2001
Running Mandrake Linux 10.1
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://shinobu.grlug.org/pipermail/grlug/attachments/20060927/c71933bc/attachment.htm