New Strategy Needed to Solve Teacher Shortage
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Re “State, U.S. Feud Over Teachers,” Aug. 6:
The state cannot meet federal requirements for “skilled” teachers. An analogy:
The secretary of defense orders a general to launch 100,000 fighters to support his war strategy. The general says, “We only have 60,000 fighters.” But the major says, “Sir, we can send up all 40,000 Cessna planes. That would make 100,000.”
The bottom line: If you do not have the resources for a given strategy, it’s time to change the strategy. A solution to the teacher shortage? Triple the salary of teachers and wait five years for the pipeline to fill. Or change the curriculum so the currently available teachers can teach effectively even in the worst schools. Good curriculum is possible; it is just not in our schools. It is time for the bureaucracy to stop demanding the impossible and adjust the methods to reality.
Larry Severson
Fountain Valley
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