Free higher education cons and pros?

Educators, what are the pros and cons of these ideas to improve education?

• 1. Increase pay of effective teachers, especially in under performing schools. 2. Don't just give Principles the ability, but mandate that they fire incompetent teachers and decrease Union influence when it comes to job protection. 3. Increase classroom hours for students who are behind. 4. Maintain the same high standards for all students. 5. Get rid of the vast majority of administration to decrease expenditures. (some studies suggest that less than 50% of education money is spent on educators) 6. Give parents more alternative choices (money follows the student, not the assigned school). 7. Establishment of an open community of comprehensive educational material available online (video lectures, worksheets, games, etc. of all standard k-12 material) along with a Non-Profit piece of hardware (ARM based hybrid tablet/laptop similar to the asus transformer prime) for a low subsidized price for students. Think Kahn Academy with hardware and software built to facilitate access. 8. System of rewards for students maintaining high standards (Camden High spends $24,000 per student, twice the national average and graduates 40% of their students. How many more would graduate if you spent the national average and offered students $5,000 a year to maintain a 3.5 gpa, or offer them a new car with 4 years of insurance prepaid when they graduate?) Again, just asking for the pros and cons of such ideas. Thanks.

• Answer:

  1. Increase pay of effective teachers, especially in under performing schools. Pros: It could motivate teachers to be better educators and help students reach their full potential. Cons: Some teachers will give students answers in order to raise scores, and thus increasing their pay. Also, there would be pay discrimination which would question equal opportunity employment. 2. Don't just give Principals the ability, but mandate that they fire incompetent teachers and decrease Union influence when it comes to job protection. Pros: Students would get the full benefits of having the best teachers. Test scores would be better since teachers would be more competent. Cons: What makes a teacher incompetent? Tenure would have to be abolished, which could cause strife amongst teachers. Unions are a right for teachers and taking away anything that a Union provides would be a challenge of their rights. 3. Increase classroom hours for students who are behind. Pros: Students have a chance to get caught up. Students can reach their full potential. Cons: Teachers would have to be paid overtime which some may be against. Some students may not have time to spend trying to catch up. Some students' parents would not be willing to put forth the effort. 4. Maintain the same high standards for all students. Pros: Students may feel that they have something more to work towards since they are held at such high expectations. Teachers would be required to work harder, including those who don't work as hard already. Cons: Students who really can't do the work or have legitimate learning disabilities would struggle even more with the work. 5. Get rid of the vast majority of administration to decrease expenditures. (some studies suggest that less than 50% of education money is spent on educators) Pros: more money for student benefits and learning materials Cons: Educators are needed to teach these materials. Administration members are a necessity to making schools run efficiently 6. Give parents more alternative choices (money follows the student, not the assigned school). Pros: Students could make their own choices when it comes to schools they attend and have the appropriate funding to do so. The money would benefit the individual student rather than the school. Cons: Parents could use the money for something else instead of for their child's education. 7. Establishment of an open community of comprehensive educational material available online (video lectures, worksheets, games, etc. of all standard k-12 material) along with a Non-Profit piece of hardware (ARM based hybrid tablet/laptop similar to the asus transformer prime) for a low subsidized price for students. Think Kahn Academy with hardware and software built to facilitate access. Pros: Some students could benefit since they could revise lectures and still be able to learn material even if they miss school. They could use alternative methods to learn. Cons: some students do not learn from these methods. The technology to do this would have to be a requirement and not all students would have access to it. Some people wouldn't be able to afford even a small price for these materials and opportunities so the students could miss out and be behind compared to those who could afford them. 8. System of rewards for students maintaining high standards (Camden High spends $24,000 per student, twice the national average and graduates 40% of their students. How many more would graduate if you spent the national average and offered students $5,000 a year to maintain a 3.5 gpa, or offer them a new car with 4 years of insurance prepaid when they graduate?) Pros: It would be a great motivator for students to achieve their full potential. They could get more from the hard work they put forth. Test scores could increase significantly Cons: Someone would have to finance such rewards, which would be a struggle for poorer schools.