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Thomas 1 Jasmine Thomas Professor Hofmann English 1102-057 22 January 2014 “Closed For Business” Response The two Frenchman, Catorama and Leroy Merlin, reasoning for leaving their stores open on Sundays is absolutely justified. However, there are pros and cons to both sides of this article and here is why. Sunday, like stated is most commonly known to most people as a rest day, whether working in a business or not. Not only should employees have a fair day off but it gives everyone else days to recuperate and paves a way for stocks to be steady. If stores were open seven days a week, more money would be gone quicker eventually overtime because consumers would be more persuaded to buy. When having the store close at least one day a week, gives consumers reasons to hold off. Stocks would not decrease nor increase but rather become steady. On the other side of the argument, it is also fair for the law to make every store close on Sundays because it gives equality to everyone and makes it fair all around for businesses

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Page 1: Outside Homework Assignments

Thomas 1

Jasmine Thomas

Professor Hofmann

English 1102-057

22 January 2014

“Closed For Business” Response

The two Frenchman, Catorama and Leroy Merlin, reasoning for leaving their stores open

on Sundays is absolutely justified. However, there are pros and cons to both sides of this article

and here is why. Sunday, like stated is most commonly known to most people as a rest day,

whether working in a business or not. Not only should employees have a fair day off but it gives

everyone else days to recuperate and paves a way for stocks to be steady. If stores were open

seven days a week, more money would be gone quicker eventually overtime because consumers

would be more persuaded to buy. When having the store close at least one day a week, gives

consumers reasons to hold off. Stocks would not decrease nor increase but rather become steady.

On the other side of the argument, it is also fair for the law to make every store close on

Sundays because it gives equality to everyone and makes it fair all around for businesses to make

their money. We all know and understand that consumerism is important with businesses and in

this type of economy, everyone is in competition with other businesses around them. This is the

reason why we have similar clothing stores such as DIY’s and in Americas, different restaurants

that sale some the same things remotely beside each other. Competition betters the stock market

and makes raising money more of a way to see what businesses are better. That is where

companies go out of business.

A lot of companies say that having the store open on Sundays brings in more money, but

in reality it is just an extra day of regular work. In America, the rules for Sunday hours have been

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lifted to be justifiable having the stores open but closing earlier than expected. Making this rule

in France would help a lot of the problem that Castorama and Merlin see with how businesses

are ran there. Usually stores close around nine and ten but on Sundays, many know that usual

business hours stop at six pm. In closing, I agree with the Frenchman that there should be more

leniency on business hours for Sundays and stores should not be forced by federal law to close

their store down.

Jasmine Thomas

Professor Hofmann

English 1102-057

18 February, 2014

Pre-Library Memo

RE: Inquiry Project Memo Pre-Library Visit

Explanation:

A. While in the process of determining what questions Interests me, I looked for something that I am a fan of. I plan to be a teacher and principal someday so I wondered why teachers were paid so little when they are an essential part of learning. I do think that teachers are taken for granted and as a future leader in the county schools I want answers and ways that I could change them. In research I looked up good articles from the New York Times stating that in three other countries they train their teachers with extra seminars etc. which we do not do in American schools, like we should. This narrowed my search down to looking at those three particular schools systems and countries in comparison with America for better debate, which is where I am now at.

B. Being a future teacher or principal in America raises awareness of any individual. There are seminars and workshops for teachers in other countries for bettering teaching to the children, where as in the United States, teachers have informal training in educating kids. There are definite differences in the way each schools system is setup to educate its students.

Concept/idea: teacher salaries within one culture or across two cultures: teaching culture within the US

and UK

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Potential inquiry question: why are teachers paid so little in the US versus the UK when they are an essential part of kids futures

C. As stated before, I plan to be a principal and teacher so looking further into what is going on economically is something I was interested in doing. I do not think that it is okay for teachers to get blamed for the way children are taught and they do not get paid enough for the work and strenuous amount of effort and time they put into helping adolescents out. Teachers in the UK get paid to work at seminars and have basic training workshops before becoming certified in the teaching field. Unlike the US, teachers only need a masters and bachelors to become a teacher and some form of student teaching to prove they can handle dealing with kids. There are way more requirements for becoming a teacher in the UK than there is in the United States.

D. I am not confident about writing a report on this and I do not think that this topic is something that I can easily research in one day because of the fact that there are so many factors. I am capable of finding the right information to convince the US government to pay teachers higher amounts if need be. This topic may also be a little bit broad but I am very interested in knowing the reasons why.

E. I need to find more research on my topic and look at what can be done to enforce better workshops and teaching methods can be used so that there will be an increase in progression of students in classrooms and the government seeing that teachers do a lot more for students than they may think. Not only is it important for teachers to be thought of more, they work hard to give their all to these children, so higher pay should be put in place to help teachers have more stability financially.

Jasmine Thomas

Professor Hofmann

English 1102-057

3 February, 2014

Working Knowledge Activity

Part A

1. Definitions: According to Webster’s dictionary, teachers are educators in school. One may ask, what is a considered to be an “educator”? When is an individual required to teach in schools? There are even deeper questions as to why these educators get paid so little for they are an essential part of adolescents learning.

2. Debates: Research on this question is of many controversies, being that some people look deep into it like myself and others don’t see it as that big of a deal. Disagreements surrounding this area may be why North Carolina is horrible for jobs as a teacher, why hasn’t government made plans to make education more important—not just thinking of the students, but being fair to the teachers who spend countless hours planning and getting the children ready for everyday living. Should there be a raise on teaching in schools that have a higher demand for teachers; mainly in urbanized communities or

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should there be a raise for all communities? Research has not even been looked into on what teachers think about their salaries and whether or not they think it is reasonable.

3. People: President Barak Obama’s first term in the white house focused on the importance of education and a little on the teachers in America and what can happened to lower tuition and see what teachers can do to get a little extra money. There are many local leaders in various places over the US that have spoken out in communities about whether or not educators are getting treated fairly.

4. Contexts: This topic is not something that can be changed overnight but has many factors that play into it: economy, community support, and educational leadership.

Part B.

As I looked into google, I saw two completely different viewpoints on Wikipedia that were reasonable and made a lot of sense as to why teachers were paid so little. One individual said that it was because of the fact that we as citizens do not like to pay more for taxes which would obviously give teachers a greater salary as well as not wanting to help finance and rebuild the school system for better teaching. On the other side of this argument, one stated that teachers are not happy with the amount of money they make, but money is not a factor that they immediately think about. Most teachers have a passion for helping kids and see educating these young kids as their reward. Though it may not financially pay for their well-being and quality of life, it is rewarding to see how far a child gets with the spreading of their knowledge. That point of view is really intriguing to me and came from a mother’s point of view. He/she was an active volunteer in school, which can also help schools and sent little treats to school with their kids to show how much teachers are really valued and appreciated.

Though that was not a credible source, looking into other online articles, I found it interesting on the NY Times that writers made an interesting comparison between war and our schooling/communities. It is common that when our children fail we are likely to blame the teachers for them “not helping our children” when simply it is the community who is not helping their children get any better. They say the sixty percent of teachers work outside of school to make end meet, because of the salary they make with teaching does not help much. It is not okay for parents to constantly put the blame on teacher’s when they are doing all they can for these children as well as holding down their own personal lives as well. We should be not be blaming any one person, but rather trying to help one another. Teachers show much gratitude and when parents come to them in a negative way, it makes teachers want to quit. That is another thing. There are high demands for teachers now a days because of the government are not paying them enough and they are leaving for higher –paying jobs. If the government could be fairer with educators, we would be more successful as a nation.

Jasmine Thomas

Professor Hofmann

English 1102-057

22 April, 2014

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Second Revision Inquiry Essay

Note to Reader: As I approach the final editing stage of my paper, I have gotten both positive and feedback from my second revised paper. I made sure to state my reasoning for choosing South Korea so that it does not seem like a random place that I chose to research and compare. Also, there are more details and more in-text citations from my sources that prove what is trying to be explored as well as making connections about my personal reasons for this topic and opinion. The facts that I have are already strong and all of my citations are fixed and included in the paper. Opposed to just stating facts, I incorporated some personal experience and some opinions from teacher blogs etc. so that this is not just a typical factual and boring research paper.

Inquiry Essay

Why are teachers paid so little in the United States than in South Korea? In America’s

society, there are thousands of kids who are not likely to succeed as other kids are expected to in

other countries. What is happening in the school system’s that are stopping children from

learning the appropriate things they should be learning, one may ask. The answer is simply this,

teacher quality. It is normal for educators in today’s society to be looked down upon because of

the lack of student success inside the classroom. Parents and communities are more focused on

disagreeing and being against their children’s teachers instead of looking at the real problem.

Countries like Singapore, Finland, and best overall South Korea have higher teacher quality than

the United States and get better pay for their services (Eggers, Calegari 2011). Me wanting to be

a teacher, leading eventually into a principal made me think of some of the bigger issues teachers

are faced with like: salary and benefits.

Thinking of what can be done to improve this issue, a government comparison of the

United States and South Korean is necessary to see what differences in tactics are used to see

what could be changed in the United States for teachers to have greater salaries. In an interview

with my fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Burch I asked “As an educator in America, what is one thing

you have issues with and could change if you could?” and she responded, “There is not much I

jasmine, 04/19/14,
Grammar fix: Fixed the semicolon, now deleted.
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would change because I love the job I have and the kids I work with every day. However, I feel

that we as teachers are often taken advantage of and are not paid as well as we should be like

other countries are.” Teachers are an essential part of children’s lives but are not treated as such

in The United States like they are in countries like South Korea.

Educator’s personal lives are affected by their lack of income because some of them have

to struggle to make ends meet whether it be paying for bills or having time to do other things

outside of school. Teaching children is an extremely time consuming job and sometimes teachers

often forget about pleasing and taking care of themselves (Pearson 2012). According to The New

York Times opinion page, researchers Dave Eggers and Ninive Calegari looked deeper into the

concept of what it means to be an educator and what the real struggles of being one is. One of the

most common problems for teachers is trying to make ends meet, which is causing a decrease in

teachers around the United States (Eggers, Calegari; Pearson 2011; 2012). Eggers and Calegari

believe that not only are children affected by this decline but teachers as well are not getting to

do the job they really love because the government is not being reasonable about where they put

their money into. If teachers are not in place then the amount angry parents would increase and

more uproar would occur. On the contrary if teachers were given fair pay like those in South

Korea as well as higher quality, students would have higher tests scores (Eggers, Callegari

2011). South Korea is an example of a country who makes education a priority and cares about

their teachers. Their government focuses on the well-being of the children and depending on how

well the teachers are educating the students. In return, they get higher pay (Kang, Miyoung

2008).

Not much research has been looked at as far as this topic but this topic is especially

important to me because of where I plan to be later in life. There are numerous blog pages from

jasmine, 04/19/14,
Separated these two sentences
jasmine, 04/19/14,
Added in my new source for redundant information
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teachers who have researched about what they can do or what they have already done as far as

going to the United States schooling system and asking for raises. Their requests were never

answered and for this there should be something implemented like South Korean government

does to further educate their teachers for the classrooms. Achieving excellence in the workforce

and equity in learning opportunities in South Korea by Nam-Hwa Kong and Miyoung Hong

discusses the underlying issues of how teachers in the states feel that if there were new laws put

in place pertaining to what a teacher must take before becoming certified then they were will be

more success in the classrooms. The importance of education is not as valued in the United

States as it is in South Korea, which is why students are more likely to succeed (Han; 1996).

Some questions that aroused while researching the comparisons of the South Korean

government to ours is what qualifications are needed to even be considered becoming and

educator. Teacher Salaries Then and Now by Beardsley Ruml and Sidney G. Tickton describes

the past two decades and the decrease of teacher salary in the United States. One of the reasoning

behind that is the fact that it is very easy to become a teacher as long as one has a certain degree

and amount of time they have been teaching. However, does this really say how good an

individual is at what they do as far as interaction with the kids and getting an increased pay?

Other inquiries such as in what ways are teachers in South Korea being taught that differs from

the United States and what can be done differently to make it better.

South Korean government pays for teacher workshops, classes on how to be a good

educator, and explains different techniques of teaching a child which is also known as Universal

Design for Learning. United States educators are not taught as many techniques to help increase

the success of children in the classrooms like South Korea emphasizes. In the article, “Issues in

Early Childhood teacher Preparation in South Korea” by Eunhye Park Han talks of good

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viewpoints about how the United States does not have these things in effect to reward teachers.

The government pays the teachers in South Korea by how much they learn from these

classroom-technique and building workshops as well as looking at the highest degree of

schooling the teacher has (Ruml, Tickton; 1995). Han looks at how government only chooses the

highest graduating teachers in their class to teach and that is what seems to work best for them. If

the United States was able to do this, then that would result in a good teachers in the states and

better pay for the teachers. Personally, it is frustrating to know firsthand where the money from

the US government goes to and why teachers must struggle to have their voices heard here.

Teachers are an important factor of what a child learns and how one grows as a result of that so

in return educators should gain more monetary profit for their time and dedication.

In contrary to what the government of the United States does with their money, it is also

necessary to look at why teachers might not get as much profit or a raise like they should.

Teacher Salaries Then and Now by Beardsley Ruml and Sidney G. Tickton, looks at the decrease

in amount of US teachers’ salaries in the past two decades. This is not something that teachers

can control but should try to speak up about to see when it comes to the education and schooling

standpoint. There should be some type of agreement with the system to ensure that their money

is not put in jeopardy because of need for other happenings in our country. Although teaching is

not about the money, it definitely plays a role for an educator to live comfortably and being that

these teachers are not treated as essential leaders, they should be. Being a future educator, I look

forward to being able to stepping forth with this issues. South Korea is wise with how and what

they spend their money on towards education. The change overtime for teachers to get a raise in

the states will not be in effect right away, but if there were more people looking at this problem

like myself, something eventually can be done to help raise awareness about the care of teachers.

jasmine, 04/19/14,
Re-introducing what has already been said. Also adding that I want to be an educator.
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Bibliography

Barro, Stephen M, and Joe W. Lee. A Comparison of Teachers' Salaries in Japan and the United

States. Washington, D.C.: Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S.

Department of Education, Center for Statistics, 1986. Print.

Eggers, Dave; Calegari Ninive, C. “The High Cost of Low Teacher Salaries”. The New York

Times Opinion Pages (2011, April 30). Retrieved February 4, 2014 from

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/01/opinion/01eggers.html?_r=0

Han, Eunhye P. "Issues in Early Childhood Teacher Preparation in South Korea." Journal of

Early Childhood Teacher Education. 17.3 (1996): 20-23. Print.

Kang, Nam-Hwa, and Miyoung Hong. "Achieving Excellence in Teacher Workforce and Equity

in Learning Opportunities in South Korea." Educational Researcher. 37.4 (2008): 200-

207. Print.

Pearson, Firm. “Best Education in the World: Finland, South Korea Top Country Rankings, U.S.

Rated Average. Huff Post Education. Huffington Education Group. 27 November 2012.

Web. 12

Ruml, Beardsley, and Sidney G. Tickton. Teaching Salaries Then and Now. New York: Fund for

the Advancement of Education, 1955. Print.

Jasmine Thomas

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Professor Homann

English 1102-057

27 March, 2014

Revised Evaluative Bibliography

Barro, Stephen M, and Joe W. Lee. A Comparison of Teachers' Salaries in Japan and the United States. Washington, D.C.: Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, Center for Statistics, 1986. Print.

A Comparison of Teacher Salaries’ in Japan and the United States by Stephen Barro and Joe Lee talks deeper in the aspect of salaries. The main questions researched are How do the levels of public school teachers in Japan compare with that in the United States, How do the teacher salary structure in Japan compare with the United States, and how well are teachers rewarded relatively in two countries compared with levels of income and output in each country and with the rewards available in non-teaching occupants. The structures of salaries in the United States and Japan were compared by the authors stating that this was the government’s responsibility and that the US had their structure set up in a way that conned teachers in the US out of their money putting it into other things that are not as important in the school systems.

There were not as many qualifications, duties, and working conditions that are needed in the United States which allows just about any teacher who has had some type of teacher license to be an addition to this culture. Japan schoolteachers get better pay because they are so much more qualified and have higher education requirements. It is said the United States teacher salaries do not even get half past the average salary an educator should get being that they are an essential part of the community and children’s early life. Japan gets way past the average salary and the average salary for Japanese educators is significantly higher than the average salary in the United States.

Teaching is a special job that is not easy and one must love what they do to impact others around them, which would be the kids, authors say. In comparing, another factors that is looked at is the comparison of being a teacher and other jobs. This website explains other concepts of teacher salary and provides actual statistics from 2009 until now and gives research on what ways there are to change and eliminate the gaps between salaries in Asian countries and the United States system.

Eggers, Dave; Calegari Ninive, C. “The High Cost of Low Teacher Salaries”. The New York Times Opinion Pages (2011, April 30). Retrieved February 4, 2014 from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/01/opinion/01eggers.html?_r=0

“The High Cost of Low Teacher Salaries” by Dave eggers and Ninive Calegari informs readers of the actual problem outside of the government but moreso within the community. They give comparisons with and army or a military and how if they don’t have the proper tools to fight then they will suffer as a whole. This analogy proves to be true with teachers and schooling outside of the classroom. Statistics have shown that most United States teachers have higher risk

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of living pay check to pay check because they are not able to provide off of the little income from teaching. Although one may love their job, it is hard to stick with it when they cannot do but so much with it.

It also gives comparisons to the other countries like Finland, Singapore, and South Korea (which is my main focus). These countries have techniques and training that the government pays for, which trains their educators better and makes them better prepared to teach students. While students are getting educated, teachers are getting higher pay which makes them want to teach and help kids even more. Outside of the classroom parent involvement is something that these countries take strong pride in and the United States in some places do not reinforce this like they should for success. The students in low income families are often in urban areas of the community where there are no resources available, which is where the government should come into play and implement those essential things versus other materialistic things.

Not only is the lack of community involvement not fair, but this also takes away from what teachers are actually working for. If students do not have leaders outside of school to help them retain the information they learn in school, then why are teachers wasting their time, says Eggers and Calegari? Not only do these other countries have workshops but hey are paid for. The United States is so money hungry that they are not able or willing to pay for workshops in each subject for teachers because they put the money into other parts of the government that stop teachers from being able to do what they need to do.

Han, Eunhye P. "Issues in Early Childhood Teacher Preparation in South Korea." Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education. 17.3 (1996): 20-23. Print.

“Issues in Early Childhood teacher Preparation in South Korea” by Eunhye Park Han explains the types of training teachers in South Korea are exposed to and how these educators are giving their knowledge back to their children with the techniques they are taught. One advantage that children in Korea have is the fact that they start out early life getting higher teachers for children starting out in daycares. The United States does not focus on the importance of children in pre-k because they are not exposed to much. Korean teachers have basic training in both two and four year colleges. Han talks about the three types of in-service education available which are certificate renewal, supervisory, and general knowledge updates.

The certificate renewal in education is implemented by the Government for teachers that include certain requirements for the educator to be hired, while supervisory are the coordinators of Koreas school curriculum who plan the workshops and general knowledge is based on what the educators are tested on as their basic knowledge. Along with what is going right in Korea as far as teaching, this book also puts emphasis on the issues that need to be improved in general education including certification for teachers, salaries, benefits, and directors. Teaching in South Korea is also popular due to the competitiveness in pay, job stability, and their good working conditions.

Being that there is an undersupply of teachers in elementary positions in Korea, there are eleven different dedicated teacher colleges that help choose the best teachers to be put into the school systems. Unlike the United States, the admission requirements Han discusses state that

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teachers must have been a candidate who graduated from certain, general academic high schools as well as having high scores on their College Scholastic ability test that Korea provides in two and four year colleges. Here in the States, there is a high demand for secondary education as likewise for South Korea, but the educators or chosen differently, Han goes into more detail about the similarities and differences between the two.

Kang, Nam-Hwa, and Miyoung Hong. "Achieving Excellence in Teacher Workforce and Equity in Learning Opportunities in South Korea." Educational Researcher. 37.4 (2008): 200-207. Print.

Achieving excellence in teacher workforce and equity in learning opportunities in South Korea by Nam-Hwa Kong and Miyoung Hong writer this book explaining where the United States system of education is not as efficient as other foreign countries. The value of the school systems here is not as valued as it should be and as other countries are. They list problems with the mathematics department in the US specifically, stating that there is a shortage of qualified math teachers and that there is unequal access to low socioeconomic students. There is research on countries like South Korea who have excellent achievement and equity in access for all students as well as meditation for relationships between achievement gaps and opportunity.

In addition to my inquiry about my topic, authors think that teaching is an essential part of child’s learning and government’s should reconsider salary raises, improved working conditions, and have an increase for out of class planning time for teachers in the United States to better prepare themselves. One way that Kang and Hong have said curriculum coordinators can improve teaching for the United States is to make accessible learning for students who lack community and family resources. There are three main stages that Korean educators go through to get a chance to become a certified educator. They also lists what ways their salaries are different which is the main reason why are more substantial and efficient in teaching the children.

Salary plays in important role, says Han. Both United Stated and Korean teachers may have the gift for teaching but researchers find that it is hard to make a living off of the little money they make, which causes teachers to give up their love for teaching for something that pays a little better. Educators in South Korea are able to live comfortably which makes it easier to deal with the children and easier to work cohesively as a unit to help children. The South Korean government has also implemented a process called institutionalizing a Master Teacher System where teachers can designated Masters Teachers based off of their strong skills in both teaching and leadership.

Pearson, Firm. “Best Education in the World: Finland, South Korea Top Country Rankings, U.S. Rated Average.” Huff Post Education. Huffington Education Group. 27 November 2012. Web.

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12 April 2014. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/27/best-education-in-the-wor_n_2199795.html

This is a multimedia source that explains the educational choices South Korea makes in comparison to other countries. South Korea along with Finland are some of top 40 countries, hovering way over the United States. The video is very informative and researchers say that the way the government sets up their education system is more effective because they are smart with how they spread their monies across the board. All of the teachers are high-quality teachers because they are chosen wisely and must attend workshops before even getting their license to teach. Asian countries are also naturally smarter and have stronger teacher bred there. That is something that the United States cannot compete or change but can try to use the techniques they use to keep the children updated and for the teachers to be more effective for students inside the classroom.

The study is said to aim to school leaders that key factors that lead to more successful educational outcomes. The research draws on literacy data as well as figures in government spending on education, school entrance age, teacher salaries and degree of school choice. Researchers also measured socioeconomic outcomes like national unemployment rates, GDP, life expectancy and prison population. Although this does not have much to do with salary, this later plays a role in return when teachers in Korea are able to get a better paying job. There is no correlation in this particular article that talks about higher pay and better performance. This source is good because it tells me the ways the teachers in South Korea are teaching and how the United States can implement these things into their studies to become more efficient educators.

The statistics of rankings on the education school between the universes is compared and United States is low on the list. The five bottom findings that were also talked about in this article are: There are no magic bullets, Respecting teachers, Culture can be Changed, parents are neither impediments to nor saviours of education, and the importance of education the future and just not the present. The elaboration on each of those topics are discussed or readers and if the US took these things into consideration, it would be better.

Ruml, Beardsley, and Sidney G. Tickton. Teaching Salaries Then and Now. New York: Fund for the Advancement of Education, 1955. Print.

Teacher Salaries Then and Now by Beardsley Ruml and Sidney G. Tickton, looks at the decrease in amount of US teachers’ salaries in the past two decades. With all the detrimental happenings that the United States has went through over the years, a lot of money has been used in other place that are not as important as one would think but have seemed to be made more important because people have been brainwashed in society. Teachers are an essential part of children’s early life and learning but this concept has not been taken fully into consideration, being put on the back burner.

Many forget that teaching is important and parents always stress the facts of teachers educating their child in a negative or positive way but always seeming to overlook the country as a whole and where all the money has gone to for better preparation of the real world for kids. Such efforts have been made by teacher’s overtime to try and speak up to coordinators about

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why they have not gotten a raise in previous years and why the government has put a stop on raises but nothing has been done to have these questions answered. Authors of this book say that people often overlook education as a non-important factor only when it is brought up but never think about the teacher’s well-being and what they are going through.

With the decrease in salaries overtime, teachers have found it harder to maintain stability in their personal lives and forget that teachers are human beings as well and need to have the means to survive. I personally enjoyed this book because it answers my questions about the importance of things in the community and why these things have not been done to improve teacher living. It does not say that teachers have tried tremendously to overcome these cases but this could all come to a stop if educators were more serious about their way of life and did not stop until they had actual answers.

Jasmine Thomas

Professor Hofmann

English 1102-057

13 March, 2014

Revised Research Proposal

Inquiry Proposal

1. Why are teachers paid so little in the US versus Korea when they are an essential part of kids futures?

2.a. Who controls the salaries of teachers? Are there any other benefits other than

salary? b. Why hasn’t anything been done by teachers in protest again the government? c. How can we make the US as efficient in teaching as Korea is?d. What can the community do to help children outside of education in the

classroom? e. Where does Korea get the money from to supply these workshops, seminars for

teachers? f. What ways can the US cut back on spending in unnecessary areas and put more

into school system’s needs? g. What can be done to prevent the government from cutting teachers’ salaries and

lower?h. What qualifications should be implemented from Korea to the United States in

order to become a teacher?i. Should communities be upset with teachers because their children aren’t getting

the proper training or government?j. What are the reasons government does not want to pay teachers.

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3. Starting Point: My topic so far is interesting. There are many beliefs in America that the government is conning teachers out of money and spending it carelessly on things like the newest laptops and etc whereas the Korea does not spend on crazy material things like the US does. This causes their government to be able to pay their teachers more and putting the money into more beneficial things like teaching seminars and workshops for better teaching. Technology is slowly corrupting these schools because they are wanting to keep up with the trends and what is new. It does not smart nor fair to the students. Communities most commonly raise uproar because children do not get the education that they need but they are not doing anything to help the child outside of school. This involves three sides, the parents, teachers, and the student.

4. Working Knowledge: Two resources I have found so far talk about is an article called “Americans in Korea: The New Jersey of Asia” and a guy named GF Brandenburg’s blog. In the “Americans in Korea” article, it give clears monetary comparisons with Korean teachers styles of living and the things US teachers most commonly have to pay for. Teachers in the US are paid so little by the government that they are rarely able to live comfortably. Pay check to pay check for some of them and it shows that Koreans are smarter about the way they spend. Public school teachers in Korea are not taxed the first two of teaching and get raises regularly depending on the amount of teaching they know. The Brandenburg blog is a good, beneficial source that I have also found that speaks on how the United States schools are the third-highest needing school which is ironic because we are known to be a country that is well off or “spoiled.” In contrast with the United States, Korean teachers are chosen wisely and said to be guaranteed and actual position unlike the United States teachers. There are also blogs from teachers voicing their personal opinions on what should be done to raise their salary. Teachers are one of the most over looked jobs and I have found that some teachers are aware of the problem but just do not know how to fix the problem.