Equal Education....Teachers' Salary.

In The Role of Government in Education, Friedman states, “And this is equally clear with respect to courses in basket weaving, social dancing, and the numerous other subjects that do such credit to the ingenuity of educators. I hasten to add that there can be no conceivable objection to parents’ spending their own money on such frills as they wish. That is their business. The objection is to using money raised by taxation imposed on parents and non-parents alike for such purposes. Wherein are the “neighborhood effects” that justify such tax money?” Can we really say that “neighborhood effects” are not present? How could we measure them? Perhaps having these classes makes children who are not privy to a private education feel more apart of society; by feeling more like a part of society perhaps they will strive to contribute more to it. Parents and non-parents are not just paying taxes for certain types of classes, they are contributing to education; they are contributing to society through people. They are making an investment that will benefit them and their children later through the creation of better people. On the other hand, why do their need to be “neighborhood effects” in order for these types of classes to be offered in public schools? A child who attends a public school should have the opportunity to have these types of classes. They should not be reserved just for people who can afford to go to private schools. They are people and they are entitled to these types of so called “frills”. This is a part of “equal education”.

Friedman also states, “Poor teachers are grossly overpaid and good teachers are grossly underpaid…Salary schedules tend to be uniform and determined far more by seniority, degrees received, and teaching certificates acquired than by merit.” How does a person determine who is a poor teacher and who is a good teacher? If payment were based on merit, how would a person judge a teacher’s merit? Would determination of poor/good or merit be based on student’s performance? Would it be based on a judgment made by a principal or other administrative personnel? If it were based on their judgment, how would a person know that their assessment was accurate? Perhaps changes do need to be made in regards to teachers’ salaries, but some sort of standard would need to be established before such modifications could take place.