From the Trenches...

College Education for All? No Thanks!

College is the Ticket!.....?

  I hear so many teachers, political leaders, and even business leaders talk about how everyone must go to college. Without a college, you have no hope. Families and schools alike are preaching this mantra like it is not disputable one iota. Most people don't think it is up for debate and I used to agree. I then examined my own life and what makes my world turn. I was shocked at what I found and felt like an idiot for not understanding everything sooner. I found that we are hurting many of our young people and, as a result, hurting ourselves in the process.

The Covert Operation

Here was my plan: I was going to keep track of every person on whom I relied for two weeks. I would note their apparent job description and ascertain their educational status. Here is a brief list of my activities during that time period:

• Got my oil changed
• 4 visits to a coffee shop
• Had 2 doctor's appointments
• Had 6 UPS deliveries
• Had 2 FedEx deliveries
• Had my trash picked up 2 times
• Went through two toll booths
• Went into 4 grocery stores/drug stores
• Got gas 2 times
• Had a phone line repaired
• Renewed my driver's license
• Went shopping for a chain saw (for non-harming use, I promise!)
• Went out to eat 1 time
• Called a rodent removal service, and
• Renewed my newspaper subscription

The Intel

  Now, some of these activities are not required to have a happy life. Some of you are thinking, "Duke, make your own coffee." I agree with that sentiment. However, out of the 15 groups of activities above, 12 of them had a relatively large impact on my life. That being the case, I wouldn't want to give up anything on the list. I rely on everyone involved in the list. If you only count the individuals with whom I had direct contact, there were 22. If you make a conservative estimate of those with a direct impact, but were "behind the scenes," there were 56. Depending on how far out you would like to branch, you could easily count well over 100 people who had a part in making this list happen (people who stock shelves, clean, make boxes, etc...).

  For instance, at the restaurant, I only had direct contact with the hostess and the waiter. I know, however, there were at least two other individuals cooking, plating, and directing operations. If you want to get right down to it, there are also people in that restaurant who cleaned the floor, installed the booths, and put a roof on the place. For now...I won't count all those people. Would you agree, however, that those people are also critical to the proper operation of the facility?

So What?

  Now that we have a general picture of the two week period, let's pick apart the information that was gathered. Of the 56 most directly encountered individuals, can you guess how many were required to have a college degree to perform their vital service? Anyone?

  FOUR! That's it. Two doctor's and two nurses. It turns out four other individuals did, indeed, have college degrees. None of them, however, were using the particular degree. Those individuals were:

• Waiter
• UPS Driver
• Phone Repair Person
• Oil Change Technician

  What can we make of these findings? There have been several responses as I have shown people my little experiment. Many say something like, "Most of those are temporary jobs." To that I say, I hope not. The waiter was really efficient and was tipped handsomely for his efforts. One of the women at the coffee shop made me the best coffee I've had in a while. The rodent removal gentleman knew tricks he had gathered over his 30+ years of business. None of those individuals would have done as excellent of a job if they had only been on the job a short time. They also would not have taken as much pride in their work if they viewed their current profession as "just a temporary fix." I WANT people who change my oil, pick up my trash, and deliver my packages to be experienced, intelligent, and hard-working people. I urge everyone to view all of the occupations from the list as vital cogs in the societal machine.

Let's Pretend...

  Just for a moment, let's pretend that every child went to college for an entire generation. That means one of three things would probably happen:

1. There would be nobody to take traditionally "non-college" jobs,
2. Pay would have to be significantly increased for those jobs...resulting in increased costs for everyone, or
3. Only very temporary workers would be in those jobs.

  I don't know about you, but I do not want any of those outcomes! The truth is, we rely much more heavily on hard workers who did not go to college to get through our lives than on those who did. Do we need some people to go to college? Absolutely! I think college is a fantastic option for those whose style match college requirements. I don't, however, think is appropriate for everyone...or even a vast majority.

What We Should Do?

  We need to support children who choose to not attend college. Let's get real, many 18 year olds are not ready to go to college anyway. Of those who attend immediately, most change their mind about their field of study many times. Once they "settle," they don't usually work within their degree anyway. Take some of the pressure off of our youth. Begin by teaching them honesty, work ethic, fundamentals, and how to be happy. Those who are in line to attend college will separate themselves and acquire the required academic schedule and knowledge. We need to reinforce the fact that there are thousands of critical jobs in this society that need workers. I bet you haven't recently heard a student say, "I want to be a carpenter," "I want to be a garbage man," or "I want to be a waiter." I think that is a shame. If you want to make it about money, that's easy! Folks, I made more money working a Red Lobster two years in college than I did in my first two years as a teacher. I even had health benefits and a flexible schedule!

  In short...stop the rhetoric about "everybody MUST attend college to be worthwhile" when you hear it. Let's not exaggerate the promise of college, but feed it where the desire can be built. No student should ever feel badly for choosing not to attend college. Frankly, if I had a choice between everyone going to college or nobody going to college...I would seriously consider the later. We should be evaluating the strengths of our children and devloping their talents to become effective members of society. Our society requires many hard working individuals who choose not to (or are not able to) attend college. I would like to give a sincere "thank you" to BOTH groups.

College is important, but so are many other things. Some of the happiest people I know are those who have "honest days work for an honest days pay" types of jobs. They come home proud that they worked hard and were able to feed their families. What is more important than that? 

Thank you for your time,

Sorry Teachers, Money In Your Pocket Is Not The Answer

Thank you, first of all, for the many emails from the previous post! In the future, also feel free to place a "comment" by clicking on the appropriate link at the end of the post so everyone can benefit from your point of view.

Origin of the Thought...

Let me be clear that this blog will not take a stance on politics. I will, however, take stances (sometimes quite bold and unconventional ones) on policy. This post takes such a stance. The impetus for this post came over the weekend when I listened to a speech from a Presidential candidate. Once again, this post is NOT about the candidate, just a component of the speech. Here is an excerpt as it appears in my notes from the speech:

We need to stop giving lip service to how great our teachers are, and start rewarding them for their greatness, with better pay...

I know there must be a major plan behind this statement and I assume there are many details worked out with regards to implementation. This statement by itself, however, can feed a lot of discussion.

On the surface, I have two major issues with this statement.

1. Where does the money come from? Can we afford it?
2. Would raising pay really make a difference?

To me, the answer to question 1 is obvious...of course we can't afford it. I won't, however, discuss funding options in this post. The second question really made me think...

Let's Raise the Question

Let me be clear that I am not talking about school funding for textbooks, technology, etc...This statement seems to be about teacher salaries exclusively. To see if students would benefit from a raise in teacher salaries, let me pose this exaggerated question:

If you get paid twice as much starting tomorrow, what would you do differently for students?

Answers Anyone?

There are two groups of responses to this question:

1. I would do everything the same, or
2. I can specifically list changes I would make in my teaching.

I would like to address these two groups separately. For those who would do everything the same...what's the point of getting a raise? Who benefits? The teacher would certainly benefit, but the benefits stop there. There is an argument to be made that teachers deserve more money based on the number of hours they actually work...which is obviously many more (in most cases) that is written into a  teaching contract. Let's also be honest with each other. The salary of a teacher was not a surprise when you signed on for the job. You did not reel back with your mouth agape upon receiving your first paycheck thinking, "That's it? They promised me more!" I would contend that, since you knew what you were getting into, you don't deserve more money if you are not going to do anything differently once you get it. Nobody can expect a raise if they are not taking on more responsibility, becoming more efficient, or increasing student achievement. People in this group are likely to be stodgy teachers who should probably move on to another profession, anyway. Most people would, I hope (for my own child's sake), fit into the second group.

I would guess that there are many of you in the second group. Think about what you would change more deeply for a moment. Actually write them down...make a list. Separate the list into two categories:

1. Things that cost money, and
2. Things that don't cost money.

Many of the things people feel "motivated" to do differently do not cost money at all. I have questioned several teachers this morning, trying to get at the heart of this issue. It sometimes is a matter of feeling appreciated, valued, and respected. Folks, if you are looking for money to do that, you are in deep trouble. I certainly understand the urge (I have it myself from time to time). We need to look, however, around the money and into the eyes of children that we affect. That is where the motivation comes from to do the things we know are right and are without cost.

If you listed things that you would do differently that DO cost money, please enter a comment at the end of this article! Some teachers say they would use their own money to purchase more materials (the average teacher already spends in excess of $300 of personal funds on school supplies), upgrade technology, or maybe acquire appropriate subscription services on the internet to benefit students. I think most of these teachers do this sort of thing anyway. I know my wife, for instance, spends more than double the national average when it comes to personally funding her public school. Herein lies the rub: These teachers will never be satisfied with what they are able to do in the classroom. As soon as they have access to more money, they would discover more things that could benefit their classroom! I don't believe the answer, then, is to give individual teachers money directly into their pocket. Meaning, I don't think this will directly correlate to increased student achievement. I do not agree with those who say schools should, as a whole, be run like business. I do agree, however, that there is definitely a business component to running schools as it relates to finances. I would like to hear from any district level administrator who disagrees with that statement.

Proposed Solution

There needs to be a way to keep this last group of educators thinking, "What else can I do to benefit my students?" If our nation suddenly has the funds to raise teacher salaries, I propose that we use the money in a different way. Give smaller chunks of this money directly to the schools specifically dedicated for teacher use. The rest of the money can go for other necessary educational programs. Motivated teachers can fill out a small, one page, application for the funds describing how they will use the money to benefit students...a sort of grant. Once per month, a school level group looks through the applications, with the names removed, to decide which projects aid students the most. These can be quick decisions and they will benefit the teachers who would like to go to a conference, purchase project supplies, etc...

I'm sorry, I just don't think an across the board raise will benefit students. Even if the raise is only for "good" teachers, I don't know of a way to measure that! It is something that can be obvious when you see it but hard to define. We certainly can't use things like test scores, discipline reports or observations as a measure. These things all have too many factors to be fair. There is too much room for scandal and corruption.

I look forward to hearing what you think...

Regards,