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Incentivize teacher training

Think of the hypocrisy of the Obama/Duncan claim that every student should go to college but teachers should not pursue an advanced degree.

As Heidi Lamb writes: How ironic that the leader of the Department of Education would make a statement devaluing the pursuit of higher education. Except that it's worse than ironic. It is cold-blooded strategy in a campaign to make teaching a blue collar occupation.

By Heidi Lamb

I read with dismay Arne Duncan's comments about eliminating teacher bonuses for earning higher level degrees.

The nation's Education Secretary seems to believe it has no effect on student achievement and therefore should not be monetarily rewarded.

I have entered my fifth year of teaching at an inner-city school in Savannah that is 98 percent free and reduced lunch.

As a career changer, I took a $20,000 pay cut to become a teacher. I have been scraping by for the past five years trying to keep a roof over my family's head.

This year, I finally started my master's degree program.

Of course, my motivation is to try to raise this career choice into the realm of a livable wage. However, I can tell you that I have already benefited greatly as a teacher from advancing my education.

The courses I have taken thus far have helped me to have a deeper understanding of the field of education and all its challenges. It is ludicrous to claim that a highly educated teacher is not better at his or her job.

I am not sure how Mr. Duncan arrived at this assumption.

A physician who specializes in cardiac medicine by advancing his or her education in those areas would be infinitely better suited to address concerns in that field than a general practitioner. How ironic that the leader of the Department of Education would make a statement devaluing the pursuit of higher education.

I believe I am speaking for most teachers when I say that we are tired of the assault on our profession.

Mr. Duncan, as the head of the Department of Education, should do everything in his power to encourage the men and woman who brave this profession to learn as much as possible about the processes and theories that guide them daily in the classroom.

To do otherwise is a disservice to the teachers he claims to support and a disservice to the students we are charged with educating.

Heidi Lamb teaches at Gadsden Elementary School in Savannah.


— Heidi Lamb
Savannah Now
2010-11-25
http://savannahnow.com/column/2010-11-25/lamb-incentivize-teacher-training

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