Are English teachers as hard to find as physics teachers?

There are many problems with having unions representing what ought to be professional services, but if the arrangement is going to work, it needs to be at least sensitive to the realities of the market. This means having job descriptions that differentiate difficult-to-fill positions from the easy-to-fill.

Unfortunately for the taxpaying and student-parenting public, this is not the case with the near universal arrangement between Oregon public school districts and their teacher unions. It may be universal. since I've never heard of an exception.

Under standard union agreements, there is one class of teacher. Compensation is based on years of education and years of experience, but not on the area of specialization. The theory is that all teachers are equally valuable, that all teach subjects that are important for young people to learn, and that all should be equally rewarded.

It's a wonderful theory and no one would object to it being the economic principle in some voluntary commune, but it doesn't work in public schools. We live in a high tech world and for people with skills in math and physics, there are many alternatives to public teaching.

For many disciplines, teaching is just about the best possible career choice. If you love literature and want to be involved in it daily as you earn a living, there hardly are any better opportunities than public teaching. A few jobs are available in higher education and a tiny number in fiction writing and publishing, but generally speaking, a high school teaching job is about as good as it's going to get economically.

Absolutely not true for those with math and science talents. Research, engineering, software development, all these career paths beckon and they offer a lot more money than public teaching. Our kids need teachers with talent in all areas, but especially math and science. This isn't going to happen as long as we view every teacher the same.