What If Teachers Were Paid As Much As Engineers?

What if teachers made as much money as engineers? What if "master teachers" made more money, teachers could afford to support a family on their salary and sub-standard teachers were shown the door?

That's the vision President Obama laid out this morning on NBC's Today Show as he stressed that the economic success of the U.S. depends on our education system.

"I want to lift up the teaching profession to honor it the way it needs to be honored in our society," he said, relating a conversation with the mayor of Shanghai, China, who told him that teaching is one of the most prestigious professions and teachers are paid on par with engineers.

Obama, who sat down with Matt Lauer in the White House, also called for a school year that is a month longer, and 10,000 new math and science teachers. In the U.S., once a science powerhouse, students rank 21st in science and 25th in math, and students in other industrialized countries go to school a month longer.

He also sent a message to teachers' unions, whose public image has taken a hit recently in the new education documentary Waiting for "Superman." "We want to work with you," he said, but added that unions can't defend a status quo where a third of U.S. students are dropping out. 

What's holding schools back? Besides low teacher salaries, Obama said that schools that don't have a system of expelling bad teachers are bringing the entire profession down. He also said that charter schools and other experimental schools can be "laboratories of excellence" where best practices can be learned, and then spread. He'd also like to close the lowest-performing five percent of schools, turning them over to charter school operators or sending them to other schools.

What's the overall takeaway from Obama's chat? Money, money, money - all of the changes he suggested would be expensive. A longer school year has been proven to help kids retain more information, and some charter schools have had miraculous results with low-performing kids. But paying teachers more, adding length to the school year and studying - then implementing - new methods are changes that will take time and funds to make into reality.

But in the end, Obama said, what he wants is equal opportunity for every student. There's a huge gap in education quality between Sidwell Friends School, the private Quaker school where his daughters attend, and the D.C. Public Schools, he said.

"I'll be blunt with you," he said. "D.C. public school systems are struggling." Although the system has made important strides, most students aren't getting the same quality they'd get at a private school. (How's this for sticker shock? Tuition at Sidwell Friends starts at $31,069 for one year, plus textbooks and fees.)

Could it work? A world where teachers come first - and good teachers are rewarded with more respect and more pay - would be amazing. But it will take everyone's help - from the White House right on down to the city and county voters who approve or reject school funding measures. Obama's changes on the top can only trickle down if those of us on the ground choose to put them in motion.

Photo credit: U.S. Embassy in Bolivia