Yes, everyone cares about their education, but not their grandchildren's. In yesterday's paper, we had about 2 call ins about "how tired they are for schools" because their children are all grown up.
i think most people don't believe teachers don't need a pay increase due to the fact that they only work around nine months (time taken off from vacations). getting paid at least $33000 for that time period isn't that bad; i know some of my friends who work all twelve months who don't make as much. besides, if the teachers are good, then it shouldn't matter what their salaries are. if people are being teachers just for the money, that would be just ridiculous. my education friends tell me that they teach because they want to make a difference. students and their parents are also responsible for their education so if the kids are not willing to learn and the parents are not willing to support their children's education then what can a teacher do?
First off, many teachers don't get paid $33,000 a year. Heck, some teachers in America don't get paid at all. "Teach for America" is a program where they take volunteers to teach in rural areas or the inner city. Their reimbursement? Living expenses and some college loan differment . In the South, some teachers don't make $20,000 a year. When the pay for teachers is lower than people who work at a fast food joint full time, many college-educated people are not going to go into teaching even if it's what they want to do because they don't want to live below the poverty line that badly.
Even in areas where teachers make $33,000 a year, it's not like they sit around all summer doing nothing. In Wisconsin, teachers have to go back to college to work towards a graduate degree. Afterwards they do get a pay increase, which is pretty reasonable since they have a doctorate. My main point is that the reason most people go to college for 4-6 years, dropping somewhere in the neighborhood of $20-50K is to get a good job. If the pay for teachers does not match that of other jobs requiring an bachelors or graduate degree, less people are going to go after them.
anyway, back to topic. the rising cost of education is really obscure. colleges are really competitive so they try to make their universities stand out whether it means building state of the art labs, class rooms, or/and sport centers. they have to pay for their professors' salaries especially the prestigious and highly credited ones who do research and can help put their universities on the maps.
Obscure? Public college tuitions have grown 53% above inflation (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_tuition#Recent_trends
).
yes college can be expensive but there are various ways to pay for it. if you did well in school, you can get a scholarship. work study is available for those who need it and one can find a job on campus to help take care of the cost. at some universities if you are a resident assistant (RA) you might get free room and board (at mine, you get paid ~$7000 a year and a double as a single for the cost of a double).
Now I wasn't the valedictorian of my school but I did reasonably well (3.2 GPA and 29 on the ACT) and was fairly active in extracurriculars (Eagle Scout, Treasurer of the German Club, etc...) yet did not receive any scholarships. In fact, most of my friends who did receive scholarships got ~$100-200 a year, which ain't that much considering that tuition is 13,000 a year. And there are only so many RA and work study spots available.
not all american universities suck. if that was the case, then why would schools like the ivies, stanford and the public ivies have so many foreigners applying for entrance into their schools?
Because their schools suck more. Many of those students come from India, China, etc..., which don't have such great schools. Heck, India's literacy rate is like 65% on average (75% for men, 53% for women). And the number of international students in the USA has dropped in recent years.