Kip’s Law Sighting , Michigan Education Edition

April 21, 2006

I previously blogged about the proposal for tougher graduation requirements for Michigan High Schoolers. I was less than pleased. Anyways, the Free Press is reporting that it’s now a done deal. I think it qualifies as a potential “Kip’s Law Sighting.”

FYI, Kip’s Law is: Every advocate of central planning always — always — envisions himself as the central planner.

Jennifer Granholm, (D-MI) Governor says of the stricter requirements for high-school graduation in the state, “We are giving every student in Michigan clear expectations,” Granholm said, “and we are sending the business community a clear message: We expect great things from our young people, and we are going to give you the tools you need to succeed.”

Williamston math teacher Dan Schab, the state Board of Education’s Teacher of the Year, said while some may question the need for algebra or so many years of math, it will serve many students well.

“Students not taking higher-level math classes or completing a rigorous curriculum are closing doors to colleges that require it, majors that demand it and careers that need it,” Schab said.

I’ll return to the point that so many years of math only serves the students if A) they will use it, and B) they understand it. Mr. Schab’s fantasy-world assumes that everyone who graduates highschool is college bound. This is clearly not the case. Many go to trade schools. Or two-year schools before enrolling in a degree program. Some strike out on their own. Others work in apprenticeship programs. Such plans apparently don’t qualify as “great things from our young people.”

But of course Granholm and Schab know what’s best for us, for them, for anyone, they’re wanna-be central planners. Granholm has raised minimum wages 44%, which will only serve to prolong our single state recession. And now they’ve succeeded in doing what will likely marginalize students who don’t excel at math and science. The new requirements present myriad problems for the system, already strained by a lack of qualified math and science teachers. Of the recent glut, State schools Superintendent Mike Flanagan says the Universities aren’t “producing enough” of them.

“Last year we produced only three physics teachers…” Flanagan said he’s exploring a new approach to certifying state teacher schools to encourage them to train more math and science teachers. He said education schools … are automatically certified by the state Department of Education, with virtually no scrutiny.

That, he said, must change.

But that is a conditional statement. IF you want your plan to succeed, then something must change. The fact of the matter is that most people who pursue a degree towards teaching are pretty much locked into one source of employment. The world simply doesn’t have much use for people who study “Women’s Studies,” or “Medievel Literature from Beowulf to Chaucer.” Except insofar as there is a demand for other people who want to learn such things. Now, go to a good school, study chemistry, or physics. Their options are wide open, and they don’t generally prefer to teach. Scientists love being in the lab. Researching. Solving problems. Developing new ideas. This doesn’t happen in a classroom full of unrully suburbian brats.

Economics, as they say, is all about opportunity costs.

I submit that you need to increase the incentives for math & science teachers, or rather, allow the market to work it out properly. But as sure as I sit here, the teachers’ union will not hear that argument. The teachers union unfairly restricts the pay of math & science teachers, who can earn far more, in a more rewarding environment in the private sector. The teachers’ union is the one to blame for these distorted incentives, where a woodshop teacher is paid on par with a chemistry teacher.

According to Salary.com, the median income for an entry level “scientist” in the Detroit area is about $87,900. “Chemist” indicates a median income of about $48,000, and an entry level “Physicist” can expect somewhere in the neighborhood of $53,000 annually. Now the median high-school teacher also earns about $54,000 annually. But that’s the average median, not the median for “entry level teachers.” A friend of mine is currently teaching Gym and Industrial Arts classes, and he’s earning somewhere in the neighborhood of $40,000 a year. Ditto that for some other people I know teaching Math or English. That anecdotal evidence suggests a difference of about $1000/month to work in the private sector. Or in other words, one modest house payment, including taxes.

As long as the Teachers’ Union wants to prevent Math & Science degree holders from earning a comparable salary to what they would make in the private sector, the glut of qualified candidates will continue, and the students will continue to suffer because of it.


Posted in: Potpourri

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