US education commentary and potential for positive change

edit: classmate mentioned higher economic value provided by pro athletes in comparison to teachers, suggested regulatory or organizational changes that give teachers a bit more power than they currently have because of the educational value they bring to society as an underappreciated part of the American workforce. I was thinking of ways to improve current educational system by taking the positive profitable features of sports, ie team based achievement and community value, and mapping or transferring those to issues that need to be solved and educational improvements to be made. This isn't completely fully formed or coherent but was thinking about the rise of teacher-influencers and if there are alternative ways to make change considering the current politics and economy of the US.

Taking a class and wanted to share a couple words I wrote in response to a classmate's discussion post critiquing the economic inequalities in the United States, specifically referring to the disproportionate amount that American pro athletes are paid compared to teachers.

I think your commentary is nice because it shows the different type of value that the US economy as well as popular opinion places on two types of workers. Increasing government spending on quality education would attract more and better people to the profession. 

Athletes provide more entertainment value in the way things are currently working but there seems to be potential for a culture shift if more people direct their attention on more constructive competitions. This is kind of hypothetical and doesn't reflect the current world but if attention was shifted toward and ongoing status competitions of different types i.e. problems solved, number of lives improved, and educational value provided I would hope that could produce more positive change. 

It seems unfortunate that the US places a disproportionate amount of value on athletes, and teaching is automatically assumed to be lower value in terms of the lack of attention and funding usually given to it. I think there are other countries with different ways of organizing the government, education, and economy where teaching is associated with higher status but it seems very possible for the United States to move in that positive direction with a lot of work and funding changes. I wonder if there are any creative, alternative, and truthful ways to achieve it under our current economic and political system that at times reflects that the country values profit over quality health and education.

Submitted November 16, 2025 at 11:31AM by Mediocre-Card-2696 https://ift.tt/JBWPEH1