The political cartoon on the Jan. 19 editorial page, which suggests that “peanuts” pay makes it difficult to attract teachers, must have come as a surprise to the many communities that pay teachers as much as $90,000 a year. The biggest barrier to fresh teaching talent is the restrictive entry requirements mandated by state educational officials at the urging of the teachers’ unions.
The result: Many people with graduate degrees, who often are qualified to teach at the college level, cannot get a teaching job in elementary or high schools. At the same time, studies have shown that many graduates of teachers college are unqualified to teach their assigned subjects.
I believe it is no accident that Chicago’s schools have made their greatest progress under the leadership of executives from outside the educational establishment.
