Illegal immigrant wanted on gun charges heads Iowa's largest school district

durangodawood said:

Ive never understood why a PhD is considered an appropriate requirement for school admin at any level. What does your ability to do original research have to do with running a complex and often political organization?

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Not sure.
...having a few teachers in the family, based on what they said, it does seem like there's an emphasis on that sort of thing though.

My one aunt is a 4th grade teacher (covering math and reading), and had been doing the job just fine for 15+ years with a bachelors. She went back to complete her Masters because A) they offered to pay for it, and B) it got her an instant 20% pay bump because the district she teaches in uses the "step & lane" salary schedule. And completing the degree allowed her to move to a different "lane" (which is based on what type of degree you have) that had additional step levels, and retroactively apply "steps" (which are based on tenure) that she would've had.

This isn't her district, this is just an example I found from a real school district that uses a similar model.


Did that new degree make her any better at her job? She says not really lol. After teaching 4th graders for 15+ years, one would assume a teacher has it pretty dialed in by that point.

Not to mention, is a relatively "green" teacher with Masters better than a veteran teacher with a bachelors who's been doing it for well over a decade? In the context of elementary or Jr. High, I'd say probably not.

Larniavc said:

What exactly is the problem here? This is a perfect example of cultural assimilation. Isn’t this behaviour part of the citizen test?

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No. Breaking laws isn’t part of any citizen test.

Larniavc said:

I’m not. I’m saying he has assimilated perfectly into American society.

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That isn’t the topic of this thread. The topic is his breaking of several laws.

durangodawood said:

Ive never understood why a PhD is considered an appropriate requirement for school admin at any level. What does your ability to do original research have to do with running a complex and often political organization?

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Some of it is meaningless credentialism, no doubt.

There's an old saying from the dictator's playbook, "show me the man, and I'll show you the crime", and I think that sums this up. Do we really want to live in a country where the government engages in politically motivated witch hunts, looking for relatively minor infractions for something that happened decades ago? It seems to me to be lacking in prudence and proportionality.

FireDragon76 said:

Some of it is meaningless credentialism, no doubt.

There's an old saying from the dictator's playbook, "show me the man, and I'll show you the crime", and I think that sums this up. Do we really want to live in a country where the government engages in politically motivated witch hunts, looking for relatively minor infractions for something that happened decades ago? It seems to me to be lacking in prudence and proportionality.

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I do think lying about having a college degree for getting a job is pretty bad. And Im ok with it being a crime for acquiring public positions.

The guy should have laid low and worked in private industry or somewhere else.

ThatRobGuy said:

Not sure.
...having a few teachers in the family, based on what they said, it does seem like there's an emphasis on that sort of thing though.

My one aunt is a 4th grade teacher (covering math and reading), and had been doing the job just fine for 15+ years with a bachelors. She went back to complete her Masters because A) they offered to pay for it, and B) it got her an instant 20% pay bump because the district she teaches in uses the "step & lane" salary schedule. And completing the degree allowed her to move to a different "lane" (which is based on what type of degree you have) that had additional step levels, and retroactively apply "steps" (which are based on tenure) that she would've had.

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Which, as best I know, the standard way teacher salaries are deterimined at public schools. Salaries are set by experience and by educational preparation (degree attainment). Increasing either increases your salary.

ThatRobGuy said:

This isn't her district, this is just an example I found from a real school district that uses a similar model.

Manhattan-Ogden Unified School District 383

Manhattan-Ogden Unified School District 383

www.usd383.org

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OK.

ThatRobGuy said:

Did that new degree make her any better at her job? She says not really lol. After teaching 4th graders for 15+ years, one would assume a teacher has it pretty dialed in by that point.

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They go to teachers school and learn more about teaching and students. The districts and state education departments certainly think teacjers should continue to engage in ongoing education (and generally require some to maintain their credentials)

ThatRobGuy said:

Not to mention, is a relatively "green" teacher with Masters better than a veteran teacher with a bachelors who's been doing it for well over a decade? In the context of elementary or Jr. High, I'd say probably not.

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The top salary for bachelor's (no extra credits) is $53140. The rookie salary with a Master's is $50315. So, no they don't think that. (I assume the levels are basically years.)

The rookie masters degree teacher is likely to be young science teacher with a BS that then gets a MEd.