I think in Texas they are thinking of making obtaining your CHL the only requirement to be a teacher to address the shortage. It sort of makes sense if you think about it. What more important skill is there as a teacher in this country than stopping a bad guy with a gun?
In some states yes. Others you may not need a Masters to get hired but need one if you want to make a living wage or make the leap to the admin side. Its also different depending on grade, subject matter, special ed v. mainstream. In NJ I know that 6-12 is considered middle/high school so youre degree has to be in the subject matter you teach and then X amount of hours as a student teacher. Other states don't seem to care and have history teachers teaching math.
Generally, "officially" - no. Practically speaking and "unofficially" - yes. It goes along with the trend of needing more and more degrees and certifications etc etc to hold jobs in society. https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=58
Masters in Texas don't get you **** as a teacher. My wife made an astounding $1,000 more per year for two masters as a teacher. She ended up moving on to being a Librarian, which did require a MS. And now she's about to finish her principal's certification, which also requires a MS. But for teachers, you don't need a Masters to make ends meet, because it's pointless.
Do you see the subject of this thread? Masters degrees in public education are a shrinking quantity. They can't even find people who have bachelor's to teach.
Right. I like that. Needing a masters to teach is dumb... your wife needing 3 masters to be a principal and another to be a librarian is dumb.
She needs one. She has a MLS - Masters in Library Sciences. She was able to get the Texas School Librarian cert with that one and the upcoming Principal Cert as well. Her first masters is in Literature and was an idealistic goal. She did adjunct teach at the college level with that one. I know she will ultimately get her PhD and then go on the lecture and consulting circuit. She's already well connected; she's on some statewide committees, being invited to speak at conventions and her aunt owns a massive multimillion dollar consulting firm for K-12. I can't wait until she makes more money than me. My body is ready
It really speaks to the worthless of Bachelor's degrees. Everyone has them, so you need a Master's to stand out. But also, you don't need a BA for most jobs. Of course, changing that means few people would go to college. And that means destroying the economy of hundreds if not thousands of college towns as well as drastically changing the post-Vietnam era view of college; mainly that it's a rite of passage and playground for young people instead of a place for higher learning.
Yes. That was my point. Practically speaking if you have any ambition in education you need a masters. To get the bump in pay, to get the desirable teaching assignments, to move up in education. People like to play dumb on here though, or just maybe are dumb. Can you get a teaching job without a master? Yes, of course, obviously. Is there tremendous pressure to go for your masters to make a better life for yourself? Yes. That's why the majority of teachers nowadays have them. That shouldn't be the culture but here we are. The proliferation of credentialism has been bad for society but I digress.
Yeah and ironically the proliferation of credentialism really only benefits the rich (who can afford to not only pay for college but also don't need to work right after graduation) along with the aforementioned college towns. Even if most colleges stayed open in a different environment (unlikely) I imagine a lot of places would go bottom up without the draw of college sports bringing in tourist money. I'm not sure how many people the Greek system employs, but that takes a hit, as do insurance companies who make bank off of sponsoring national GLOs. Higher ed admin jobs get cut. The ripple effect would hit even deeper than that too. You don't think about it, but I know from my summer job here that a lot of companies make big bank off of things like doing pest control or elevator maintenance, dining hall services. Leasing/rental companies. Travel/entertainment that rely on spring breakers and cheap college labor during the summer That's just the economic effects. You'd have a glut of 18-22 years struggling to get entry level jobs and likely unable to move out in a culture/society that dictates that anyone living with their parents is a loser. Birth rates are bad now...imagine how bad it's going to be when people in their mid twenties don't have the sexual (or even social/dating) skills that they would have picked up living in a college setting. I imagine substance abuse gets worse too, as colleges are actually pretty lax regarding alcohol and often offer treatment/amnesty for underage students who get overly intoxicated (provided it's just a case of underage drinking).
Also...PhDs are free. If you're paying for a PhD that's essentially your university saying that you won't make it through the program and they're milking you for money. The cost of a PhD isn't tuition per se, it's the living expenses and the opportunity cost of not working a full-time job. Much easier when you're more established and married. As I've said before though, there's people in my program who have never worked a day in their life outside of academia. If they drop or flunk out...they would: a) have an obscene amount of student loan debt from their BA and MA b) have to pay back UGA at least part of their tuition c) be working entry level jobs that barely pay enough to get by. Odds are their bosses would be younger than they are too. Not to toot my own horn, but if I drop out I at least have a few years of real work experience to fall back on. I need a Master's to move into a pay bracket to match the lifestyle/career path I'd like...but with just my experience and education I'd be able to land a solid admin role and make enough to get by.
...and unlike cops you can't shut your body cam off. Not because of the gun, but in case you mention that your brother has a husband or imply that white people owned slaves.
The whole "Seven Mountains" things always seemed far-fetched to me. But watching how the RW media apparatus has gotten non-religious conservatives to hate on not just higher education, but now popular media/culture as well (even things they usually enjoyed like Disney and the NFL)...seems to me that it could actually happen; and that the Evangelical control of every aspect of society could happen...especially if they learn to be more subtle about it.
You're right, I should clarify: if you're doing a PhD and working full time that's one thing...I did have one High school teacher who did that (her PhD was in language education and her full time job teaching HS Spanish counted as research). That said, being a PhD student not on an assistantship is almost always a bad sign/mistake. Especially if it's not from a big name school. At least in my field and for people my age who may be fresh out of college.
Our system is so broken that people can literally get masters and PhD's from places like University of New England - totally online... the value of such degrees is.... tissue paper IMO. There's a lot of variance in this.
