Cheap Charters

I still don't completely understand what a charter school is. The best I can tell is that it is a public school that goes by it's own rules. One of those rules seems to be that they can pay teachers whatever they want. While they are not as tight as private schools, they also stress the bottom line and most likely won't pay you what you could earn in a public district. With private schools at least you get a more enjoyable job with your paycut, charter schools here in California generally seem to be in the less-desirable areas.

Two charter schools who called me in the past week, have now remarkedly failed to call me back since I told them my salary expectation is something close to what I could expect from a public district. Call me selfish, but I don't know why I would bother going through the time getting a Masters, passing all the stupid tests and getting fully credentialed, if they are just going to pay me the same as somebody without all his/her ducks in a row.

So as much as schools BS us about a lack of qualified teachers, I suggest that they love hiring unqualified folks because it helps their budget. While I'm no fan of NCLB, I do think that without it, I would have an even harder time finding a job because I'm more expensive than shipped in Filipinos.

And for anybody in California who is thinking of pursuing an Elementary/multiple-subject credential, please listen to me carefully, "You have a better shot of landing a job leading off for the Dodgers!!!" Here I am in the second-largest market in the country, I have been looking for elementary jobs for months, I have seen less than ten postings in that category in public districts this year. I haven't scored a single elementary interview. If you don't believe me, read this great letter to the editor in Modesto.

In a perfect world, California universities would stop offering elementary credentialing programs, citing the huge surplus, but just like the Charter schools they are worried about their bottom line as well.