The Temuification of the American School System

Ed Reform is trying to fix our education system by shopping at Temu. You get what you pay for and oftentimes getting it for cheap is worse than not getting it at all. Now you have a misfitting pair of paper-thin jeans. Sure, it costs $3, but you have to throw them out.

A tenet of the Ed Reform movement was the need to treat teachers like professionals and hold them accountable for their results. Principals should be able to fire ineffective teachers. On its face, this sounds pretty reasonable.

But the execution for the past two decades has been an unmitigated disaster and is the direct result of the major funders of Ed Reform doing so from positions of ignorance, bad faith, or both.

You cannot expect a person to act with high agency, as Ed Reformers expect of teachers, and pay them a median salary of $65k per year in 2025.

The job is too hard. Try being on your feet, tricking children into learning for even an hour! Sure, a principal can fire an ineffective teacher with a little more ease than thirty years ago, but good luck replacing them. Who would go into this field today?

The answer is not to pay teachers $100k like TEP Charter School in NYC got headlines for doing. Pay teachers $500k and hire 3-4x as many. The money exists; it is a matter of prioritization. Don't trick recent college graduates with gimmicks like Teach for America. Compete with the most prestigious, high-paying careers.

Or we can keep things the way they are and we'll get what we pay for.