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Originally Posted by twoNeurons
As for seniority teachers getting paid higher. Of course they should get paid more. There are subtle aspects of teaching that are learned over time. If it's an issue, you can make requirements that teachers take workshops to maintain pay increases. I don't know the system now, but I'm pretty sure they do this anyhow.
Also, loyalty as a long-term teacher also has value.
Note, I don't know how big this divide is, but it's common in MOST industries to pay the worker with more seniority a higher wage. You're rewarding years of service, loyalty and collected experience. Sure, it doesn't mean a new teacher isn't a better teacher, it just puts them all on a level playing field. You risk running a slippery slope if you start to compensate on how "good a teacher" a person is. What do you rate such a subjective thing on?
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Of course they should get paid more, but sometimes the wage gap is pretty high for people with the same credentials and results, but the difference being someone doing it for 1 year vs. 20 years.
Also, there are many teachers that are at best mediocre. I support unions for a lot of good they bring, but one of the worst aspect is that they tend do shelter *some* bad employees at the expense of eager and hardworking newcomers. I know it is difficult to judge which teacher is better than others, but barring any major incidents teachers are almost never fired. I think that is quite ludicrous to expect that all of them are saintly people with their heart completely towards educating the next generation. It is up to school administrations to base hiring/firing through observations and reviews, and it should be done by a consensus of a neutral party. Talent may be difficult to objectively judge, but effort should be easier to see. Considering that schools push students to pursue hard-work and perseverance, teachers too should be held to these standards.
It is without doubt that the majority of teachers currently employed are the baby boomers with high pay and benefits, so theoretically axing a chunk of the poorly performing ones out there in favour for new blood is a good thing for students, tax-payers, and unemployed teachers at the expense of complacent personnel. It also creates a "stick" incentive to push the average ones to better themselves beyond mandatory workshops. My personal experience with some teachers is that a few of them just don't care about students or the material they teach.
Teachers should be highly compensated as a whole (I am not against the wage increase), but in my opinion should be held to the highest standards as they are one of the core role models for the impressionable youth. Teachers shouldn't be fired for any mistakes they make, but their job shouldn't be so iron-clad as to breed mediocrity.