Pay More Teachers or Pay Teachers More?

So my friend and colleague, Bill, and I were talking about the current, sad state of affairs in Education. On the one hand, districts throughout California are making hard decisions about increasing class size to reduce the budget impact (for those of you unclear: larger classes mean fewer teachers = less expense. On the other hand, we decry the woeful pay that teachers make (I cannot use the word earn, because I do believe we earn more than we make).

As teachers we are encouraged to differentiate and meet each child where he or she is, to provide learning opportunities to address all the learning styles and multiple intelligences outlined by Howard Gardner. I would love to do this and create a truly child centered classroom. But Bill is right, this is hard to do with 30+ kids.

So perhaps we keep the pay the same for teachers but hire more teachers. Reduce class size, not increase it. Radical idea. Doesn't do much for the budget, but it certainly helps us provide a learning environment that allows children to not only develop assets necessary to thrive today, but also to guide our students as they develop the 21st century skills needed to thrive in their future.