Poor textbooks are a big part of our problem, IMO.
I agree that many older textbooks (including math) are better that what is issued today.
average salaries in districts around here are $75-90K.
This compares with a
median household income of $51,939 as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau, September 2014.
In general, teachers in government schools enjoy a strong labor union. In addition to above-average salaries while working 9 or 10 months rather than a full 12-month year, many have strong employment benefits packages. This may include full tuition reimbursement for successfully completing coursework toward obtaining higher degrees, post-retirement pensions, and life-long post-employment health insurance benefits. Some teachers "retire" from one district, and collect a pension while being employed by another district.
I don't think we should dump on parents working two low wage jobs without benefits just so they can make ends meet.
I agree.
Here I will add that the "Affordable Healthcare Act" (also known as Obamacare) has provided incentive to many companies to cut the average work-week from 40 hours (with benefits) to under 30 hours (without benefits).
I think that US society is very quick to dump on people it sets up for failure.
Some may say that the way in which in which a society sets people up for failure is by funding (rewarding) self-defeating behaviors... which may tend to encourage more of the self-defeating behavior, even through multiple generations.
Unfortunately, all of the above may negatively impact the in-home educational support for some students.
