Quote:
Originally Posted by ngdawg
In our state, the NJEA decided, and the legislature agreed, that "laypeople" would no longer be hired as classroom aides or teacher assistants.
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The NJEA might have decided that in the end, but what caused it was probably No Child Left Behind. NCLB requires that "paraprofessional staff"--classroom aides--have at least a 2-year degree. They have to qualify as being "highly qualified" under NCLB.
School funding issues are different across the country, because state school funding models vary. In some states, education is a state constitutionally-protected right (like in Washington State). To that end, the state must always guarantee that a student can receive an education (and in WA they've defined this as extending to PE and the arts, so those programs can't be cut to save money). Some supplies are always guaranteed under that, but they are limited. In Oregon, supplies were cut out of the budget long ago. Education is not protected by the constitution here in any form, and various tax laws enacted by Oregon's populace (though one was overturned this fall) have made it hard to get funding for schools. When I moved here from Washington 13 years ago, one of the first things that struck me was that the school was still using a ditto machine, because teachers could make more copies on the ditto machine than the copy machine (the budget only allowed for x number of copies per year).
And ng, if you want to bring unions into this--there are other unions out there that demand higher pay for jobs that don't involve educating our children. I find it appalling that a guy putting together a car in Detroit makes more than a high school principal. I agree that tenure is not a good thing. It allows bad teachers to be protected, and often ties a principal's hands behind their back.
At any rate, I think it's sad that this teacher has to sell ad space on his tests, but on the other hand, I wonder if perhaps he ought to find another way to assess his students. I'm sure the fact that it's calculus limits his ability to get creative with assessment, but the possibility is still there. If he's been this creative with the idea to sell ad space, surely he can come up with another way to examine his students that does not involve photocopies.