What if celebrity and teacher salaries were reversed?

Role reversal would help students.

“You’d be reading about teachers’ lifestyles in the tabloids,” says education professor Thom Swiss. At the same time, says Tim Lensmire, his colleague in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, “there would be stories about celebrities not being able to afford buying a house.”

Swiss and Lensmire are involved in a new Ph.D. program called culture and teaching, developed by their colleagues Bic Ngo and Misty Sato to help researchers and educational leaders understand teaching and learning as cultural, social, and moral events.

All four brainstormed the answer to this question, and while their responses varied, all agreed the reversal would be a boon for society, students, and teachers alike. “Teachers would actually be asked their opinions about things like the war in Iraq, or maybe even educational issues,” says Ngo.

Additionally, she says, “children would be better cared for, as teachers would donate money and create foundations specifically aimed at caring for children.”

Sato says celebrity salaries would earn teachers greater respect and authority. “Ultimately, students’ performance would not be measured on a single standardized test, but teachers would be trusted by their clients, as doctors are, to make professional judgments about student learning and progress.”

Just what do teachers get paid? See Salary information for teachers.

Discover teacher education at the college.