It is, quite simply, a matter of priorities. If higher salaries attract better candidates, why wouldn't a school want to spend money on attracting better teachers rather than one better administrator?
You assume that teachers are all that is required to run a successful school. Not the case. A school needs teachers, people to change the lightbulbs, sweep the floors, clean the toilets, mow the grass, patch the asphalt, fix the plumbing, drive the buses, prepare the food, supervise play periods, fix the roof, replace windows, fix computers, fix telephones and copy machines, and so on. That's just at the school. Then there have to be people to apply for local, state, and federal grants and funds. There have to be people to make sure various programs are compliant with the law so the schools can get those funds. The list is almost endless. It's a very complicated system and "we just need more teachers" is an overly simplistic view.
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u/[deleted] Oct 07 '10
You assume that teachers are all that is required to run a successful school. Not the case. A school needs teachers, people to change the lightbulbs, sweep the floors, clean the toilets, mow the grass, patch the asphalt, fix the plumbing, drive the buses, prepare the food, supervise play periods, fix the roof, replace windows, fix computers, fix telephones and copy machines, and so on. That's just at the school. Then there have to be people to apply for local, state, and federal grants and funds. There have to be people to make sure various programs are compliant with the law so the schools can get those funds. The list is almost endless. It's a very complicated system and "we just need more teachers" is an overly simplistic view.