School choice and teachers
Most of the time when we discuss school choice, we talk about options for students and their families. But what about school choice for teachers?
Allison Kasic at the Independent Women’s Forum takes a look at our current one-size-fits-all model of education and the impact that has on teachers.
Education is the second largest industry in the United States, but unlike other professions, teachers have fewer options when it comes to their career track. Consider the choices that most people get to make in their careers: employees can choose to specialize in a certain area, to work for a large or small company, or perhaps weigh a higher salary vs. a more flexible schedule. That simply doesn’t exist on a large scale for teachers. Just as most students attend an assigned, government-run school, most teachers are employed by those same public schools.
Such a cookie-cutter system creates few choices for teachers. Within a given district, salaries, administrative set-up, and curriculum are mostly the same. Schools rarely compete to attract and retain the best teachers. Except for the minority of teachers that gain employment through a private or charter school, teachers are largely trapped within a one-size-fits-all system.
She goes on to explain how choice would benefit teachers- and that would be an added benefit for students as well.
Parents should take note. Having a good teacher has been widely documented to improve the results of students. Parents and students would be better much served by an education system that rewards good teaching (through policies such as merit pay), rather than a failing system that demoralizes and frustrates teachers.
The key to such an improved system is more choice. Most of the debate about school choice has centered on the policy’s impact on students, but teachers would benefit from greater freedom and a more diverse education marketplace as well.
We know that a free market with choice and competition improves the quality of products in our daily lives.
Teachers unions should recognize that a more robust education marketplace would be good for their members as well as students. Unfortunately, to date they have been on the wrong side of this issue.
This article is definitely worth a read, and for more information, visit IWF’s Women for School Choice Program.
