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 There were so many different thoughts roaming through my head during our last class....In my opinion, money is too often falsely assumed to be the cause of our failing education system. People think that if you simply pump more money into the system then all of the problems and inequalities of education will be solved. Truth is, regardless of the amount of money our system has, the fact of the matter is that we have ineffective teachers and as a result unmotivated and failing students. Hence, what we should be focusing on is getting effective teachers. I do not think that raising teachers' salaries would be beneficial or effective overall for the reasons that FinnWing stated. But in addition to his statement, I honestly think that if money is the source of deterrence from the teaching profession for potential teachers, then it is not the profession for them period. This may be a bold statement, but it is my honest opinion.  Teaching is not about you(the teacher), its about the students. Its about providing them with the tools needed to be successful learners and advocates within their communities. Its about selflessness, compassion, humility, support, dedication.... This brings me to a side note on the question of what it means to be an effective teacher...

There is a book that was recently published called, "Teach Like A Champion" by Doug Lemov. I have not read the book in its entirety mainly because I think that it serves of more of a reference guide and takes on different meaning based on your daily experience in the classroom, but I think that it presents and describes THE qualities of effective teaching through current teachers.  I will not go in detail of the qualities now because they are presented through 49 techniques that Lemov distinguishes in his observations, but I can bring the book to our next class and maybe summarize a few that I have read.