I honestly can't believe a thread like this exists. I mean seriously, how is even a single person arguing that we shouldn't strive to have the best teachers available? That doesn't always entail more money, but it should always be the goal and better pay will help.
The real problem with teachers, IMO, is that the profession does not receive the respect it deserves. The profession of teaching isn't respected or revered to the same level as many other professions it should be more revered than. The example of lawyers put forth on this thread is perfect. Lawyers serve a purpose in society but if Person A is a lawyer then people view their job, and that person, with more respect than Person B who is a teacher. Same is true for many professions. There is no good reason for that but society dictates it so you naturally have people who may be on the fence about teaching that don't go into because let's face it nobody wants to work for lower pay AND lower respect than they feel they deserve (except research scientists ironically enough). As an intellectual, I hold all my prior teachers in very high regard because I know I wouldn't be where I am now without their instruction. My intellect is what propels me now but it is the knowledge and skills they taught me which allow me to fully utilize my intellect. The same is true for everybody else in the world and yet teachers still don't get the respect they deserve. The point of all this rambling is that the solution isn't about pay, it is about respect. Part of proper respect is proper compensation but our society does not respect teaching/education the way it should and that is what is killing us now. I am not sure how to fix that but a start is stopping statements like "teachers don't need be super smart, just intelligent enough to teach algebra". For shame
You are very right on several different levels. In the age of accountability, the teacher is the scapegoat. Accountability sounds great, but the way they are holding people accountable is absurd. We basically want every child to learn the exact same things and make the exact same scores on a standardized test. The unspoken assumption is that every child is equal. Far from it. States and the federal governments have spent, and continue to spend, gobs of money trying to fit everybody into the same mold. They fiddle with tests to make them easy enough for most to pass yet hard enough to look rigorous. Test making companies have make billions on producing horrible standardized tests with a research proven fail percentage. Remember the horrible reading passage leaked last spring that was used for years in multiple states? Teachers are sworn to secrecy with these tests, now even forbidden from reading the test questions. How many students failed because of that one horrible passage? State and federal officials have developed numerous expensive quick, fix-all programs which are forced on teachers to learn and use, but are often abandoned within a year or two when, surprisingly, they don't work. We are failing teachers and students for what are many times failures in the system. Are there some bad teachers, yes. Bad teachers are only a minuscule part of the problem. This authoritarian, top down approach to education is both ineffective and inefficient. Teachers are not respected by their own district, state, and federal education systems. These systems are dictating more and more of a teacher's daily routine like we are standardizing assembly plant lines in different states. Children are individuals. Teachers are professionals. Treat them both as such.
Problems with students are increasingly the teacher's fault. It is much easier for parents to blame the teacher or the school than to take responsibility for their own shortcomings. If the school doesn't listen, all they have to do is threaten a lawsuit. When I was in school, my teachers and my parents held me accountable to behave and do my work. If I didn't behave, you got a spanking at school and then another when you got home. I'm not necessarily arguing for corporal punishment as I am for parental responsibility.
Finally, the school system itself is creating an image problem. This ties back in with our accountability kick. We are promoting our students and our schools to the community based on the results of a single flawed test. How are you going to feel if your community school is suddenly labeled a failure based on the results of one test? The community loses respect and trust for their school, parents don't trust the teachers, students don't trust their teachers, and the school gets worse instead of better. There is very little real support for failing schools. People swoop in with a little money and a few quick-fixes without a long-term solution. The school fails, gets shut down, and the voucher crowd starts screaming, "I told you so!" Districts and states would be well served to work diligently to remove the stigmas associated with individual schools, not add them. They need to promote that they offer a quality education at all of their schools. They need to develop long term, attainable goals for schools and support them through then entire process. Our schools are good. Don't beat them down, support them.
There are other things that need to be done in regards to teacher training, individualized education plans, planning periods, etc., but building respect is a big part of the fix.
