America's teachers are suing the federal government over student loans

Discussion in 'Education' started by Bluesguy, Aug 18, 2019.

  1. Bluesguy

    Bluesguy Well-Known Member Donor

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    So teachers feel privileged and that taxpayers should pay off their college bills.

    "Teachers across America have gotten so frustrated with low pay and a broken federal loan forgiveness system — which supposedly forgives loans for people working in qualifying public service jobs after a decade of payments — that they’ve decided to sue the Department of Education (DOE)."

    What teachers make is well publicized and especially for public school teachers a matter of public record. So a student knows what the job will pay and can run the numbers will it be worth it, maybe I should shop schools a little better.

    "They’re now “embarrassed” about their student loans, United Federation of Teachers (UTF) President Michael Mulgrew told Yahoo Finance. “Because the thing is, I went to school, I went to college, I wanted to become a teacher. I took loans. And now I’m paying $600, $700 a month right off the bat every month for my student loan… it’s a horrendous situation for them to be in.“"
    Why does it cost so much now, and why did you pay if you could see the pay would not be enough to finance it?

    And of course teachers unions have worked to get requirements increased and as a response to a failing public education system one of the remedies has been teachers with higher degrees


    Master's Degree Required for Teaching License (36 States + DC)
    1. Alabama
    2. Alaska
    3. Arizona
    4. Arkansas
    5. California
    6. Colorado
    7. Connecticut
    8. District of Columbia
    9. Florida
    10. Georgia
    11. Idaho
    12. Illinois
    13. Indiana
    14. Iowa
    15. Kentucky
    16. Louisiana
    17. Maine
    18. Massachusetts
    19. Minnesota
    20. Mississippi
    21. Missouri
    22. Nebraska
    23. New Hampshire
    24. New Jersey
    25. North Carolina
    26. North Dakota
    27. Ohio
    28. Pennsylvania
    29. Rhode Island
    30. South Carolina
    31. Tennessee
    32. Utah
    33. Vermont
    34. Washington
    35. West Virginia
    36. Wisconsin
    37. Wyoming
    Why does it take a masters degree to teach elementary school levels of education? Kids can only learn to a certain level at those early ages why does it take someone with a masters degree to teach how to read Dick and Jane and math tables up to 10?

    And why with all these teachers with advanced degrees teachings have outcomes suffered so. How much student debt is attributed the remedial freshman courses just to get to college level?

    https://news.yahoo.com/teachers-sue...r-student-debt-broken-promises-132531064.html
     
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  2. kazenatsu

    kazenatsu Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Because everyone was told "Get a college degree, you need a college degree, a college degree will make you earn so much money you'll have no problem paying back the loans, however much you borrow".
    Colleges, teachers, and government policy-makers were the ones pushing this message, and it was spouted off by politicians as well.
    Nobody questioned the reasoning. Or it least there were definitely few people openly questioning it, and the critics were not part of the mainstream.
     
    Last edited: Aug 18, 2019
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  3. kazenatsu

    kazenatsu Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Because in some areas there's a lot of competition for teaching jobs, and bachelors degrees are a dime a dozen, so they have to screen out all the applicants who "merely" only have a 4-year degree, and they decided to codify it into law.

    When there were more people with more advanced degrees, more jobs began requiring advanced degrees, which did not used to require them before, surprise surprise.

    The justification of course was "Our children deserve higher quality education and more educated teachers".

    Basically, as a greater percent of the population sought to rise above the bar, the bar was raised.
    This isn't surprising, it's part of an inherent economic equilibrium.
     
    Last edited: Aug 18, 2019
  4. Moonglow

    Moonglow Well-Known Member

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    Nope. The rules of the game stated that if those with student loans worked in a public field of work for ten years and paid on their debt for ten years they could have their debts forgiven. It was an incentive for cops, teachers, firemen etc..
    My youngest is in high school and has AP classes which are credited for college level classes so he will have his first year completed for college before he goes to college. In my day I used to take CLEP test for the college courses and skip going to the class..
     
    Last edited: Aug 18, 2019
  5. perdidochas

    perdidochas Well-Known Member

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    Master's degrees are not necessary to teach in Alabama, Georgia or Florida (yes, teacher's get a salary bonus if they have a master's degrees in those states). My guess is that's the case for most of the rest of the states as well. That said, what I've heard about the student loan forgiveness is total bureaucratic bull ****. They created a system that was so convuluted and unworkable that the only people that benefitted were the bureaucrats that told everybody else "no, you don't get any money."
     
    Last edited: Aug 19, 2019
  6. perdidochas

    perdidochas Well-Known Member

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    The real answer is that it doesn't. I'm not sure who made up the spurious list of states that require master's degrees to teach. I know for a fact that Alabama, Florida and Georgia don't, and they are listed on that list. Where did the OP get that **** list from?
     
  7. Bluesguy

    Bluesguy Well-Known Member Donor

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    I will stand to be correct.

    While the OP article stated

    "A master’s degree, in particular, is required to obtain a permanent teaching license in 36 states and D.C."

    The link to THEIR cite actually says

    "Overview of School Speech-Language Pathology Requirements for Initial Employment"

    So it actually is for a specialized field.
     
  8. perdidochas

    perdidochas Well-Known Member

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    That's totally different. The above also goes for principals and counselors (both groups needing master's degrees).
     
  9. Bluesguy

    Bluesguy Well-Known Member Donor

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    Yes as I noted.
     
  10. tkolter

    tkolter Well-Known Member

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    Okay now say I want to be a teacher in Florida and want the degree for initial entry so a bachelors degree in say Early Childhood Education I will get paid to be a teacher a certain amount so isn't the smart move to get the education as cheaply as possible to enter the profession then go for the advanced degree the same way and with modern options there are many ways to earn a Masters degree. So why would I go to an high cost small school over a state school and run up a big debt to begin with?

    Now I will note the program to eliminate the debt is a good one but don't you need to work in crappy districts to get the loan forgiveness many dangerous?

    And why aren't unions fighting the Masters degree requirement for the permanent license and tenure shouldn't talent and the teacher being a good one the most important thing?
     
  11. JakeStarkey

    JakeStarkey Well-Known Member

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    The simple reason public ed is the way it is points directly to the 'job security' the administrators have created for themselves at district, state, and national levels.

    Until the admin is cut by half and their salaries by 30% and sovereignty is return to the local school faculty and administration, the problems will continue.
     

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