I work as a substitute teacher in two Florida counties. I've seen the problem up close. Here are the facts: (And interestingly enough, they aren't so much a left versus right deal.)
1. Teacher pay is determined at the COUNTY level. (In Florida.) If anyone tells you otherwise, that person is lying or doesn't know what he/she/it is talking about. Funding-wise, less than 7 percent of education dollars come from Washington, although most of the idiotic politically correct mandates come from faceless bureaucrats in the Beltway who have never stood before a classroom. They create most of the inertia in the system, (which ironically keeps me in a job, so keep it up, $#@!s.)
2. In one county, I get a ton of work because teachers are rapidly leaving the profession. (They have degrees. They're young. They're finding better jobs.) Why are they leaving? Most say it's because housing prices are so high that they can't afford to even rent a house on a teaching salary that has not gone up in years. That's legitimate. In this county, on an average Friday during the school year there will be from 40 to 60 shifts that are not covered by a teacher. (As soon as you pick your jaw up off the floor, I'll say it again 40 to 60 shifts, NOT COVERED. And it is a Florida state law that those classes be covered. When I first certified to sub in this county, the moment I got my school badge, my phone was ringing off the hook. This was way before me taking any of the tutorials or having the physical, which included the drug test.) Surprised by that number? In Orange County, in the year 2000, there were over 2000 subs for those schools and the first day of the school year in 2000, there were 200 classes that had no teacher, even with all the subs.
3. You might hear stories about some teachers saying it's not about the money. It is ALWAYS about the money. There's nothing wrong with that. Teaching is a profession, one that should be paid well. The root of this myth about it not being about the money comes from the fact that teaching is one of the most enjoyable jobs in the universe. With all the bull$#@! they have to put up with, they love their work. They look forward to coming to the job every day. There is a bonding a good teacher has with the kids that is almost hypnotic. I felt it myself as a sub and I always knew I would be walking away from the class. They love the job. It's all they talk about in the teacher's lounge.
4. How much of the plummeting reading scores and math scores are the fault of the teacher? That bit is a lot more complicated than the politicians would suggest. Democrats blame everyone but the teacher. (Mostly they blame Presidents Reagan and Trump, but they also fault Washington for such low teacher pay, assuming their belief that you're too stupid to know where the teacher salary decisions are made. Today you are no longer too stupid.) Republicans will say it's ALL the teacher's fault, that they are all extremist left wingers who are lazy and stupid. The actual reasons (surprise surprise) are a lot more complicated. Let me count the ways:
a. Yes, I found more bad teachers in Orange County than the two counties I work now. Maybe one fourth of the sub assignments I got were for teachers staying home because of hangovers. Yes, I've stood before classrooms where a teacher just decided the night before that she was quitting. Perhaps the comparison is not fair. Orange County has more schools than the two counties I work in today combined.
b. Did you know that there are kids in these classrooms who cannot speak a word of English? And yet the teacher is held accountable for that kid getting through the grades. And nowhere on the application for the teaching job is there a requirement for a teacher to be bilingual.
c. I'm going out on a limb here and now by saying that 90 percent of the problems in the system are caused by PARENTS. Some parents neglect to discipline their little animals, and they just dump those time bombs in the classroom. The teacher (and/or the sub) is left to deal with the mess. There are ESE kids whose parents will sue the system if you even look sideways at these monsters. (In one school, such a parent sued the county and got a $10,000 settlement for her little brat, and there was no damage except his self esteem for not being allowed to so something. The principal himself sat me down and told me that story.) Teachers are on eggshells with these animals.
d. Yes, there is social promotion. I subbed for one ESE class, where there was a fifth grade girl who was unable to count past 20. I asked the para-teacher how come this little moron was socially promoted. His response: "What else are you going to do with them?" That is the public school's attitude, right or wrong. The para told me if it weren't for social promotion, the kindergarten classes would have over 200 kids. Yes, Virginia, there are some $#@!ty parents out there. When George W. Bush signed that bill called "no child left behind" it was the cruelest and most delusional LIE ever told to every parent in America. Children are being left behind because their parents don't give a rat's ass about them. Every school in these two counties has an ESE program. (Look it up.) At one high school, an ESE student actually physically assaulted a deputy sheriff on school grounds.(This county uses deputy sheriffs as resource officers, which means you get to watch these people patrol the campus wearing body armor and heavily armed.) The school tried to suspend this monster and his mother threatened a lawsuit. So this animal gets out of jail for the assault and shows up the next day in school.
e. Yes, I've had to work out of Common Core. In most cases, the phrase is just a name on a brand of textbooks. But I've seen Common Core math in 4th grade classes and it is the most ass backward method of teaching simple addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Not every school has Common Core textbooks in either county. I've discovered each school is almost like a separate country, when it comes to the culture of how they run things.
f. In the state of Florida, the teacher's unions are almost irrelevant. This is because teachers are considered state employees and according to Florida law it is illegal for a state employee to go on strike. So you ask, (since this is also a RIGHT TO WORK state) just what good are teacher's unions? Personally, I don't know how much the individual teachers are paying in dues, but the union (and it varies from county to county) offers some good group rates on insurance. Also, (at least in one county that I know of--I haven't checked the other) this union offers some legal assistance to some teachers who are falsely accused of misconduct on the job. So they do have a purpose.
I haven't even come close to the details about this profession, but I'm ready to take questions. I've got a lot more horror stories for those of you who are interested.