No short cuts
Master’s equivalency courses criticized
Let’s just call it what it is: a rip-off. So-called master’s equivalency courses that some colleges and universities offer online enable teachers to grab nine credits in just a month – a phenomenal accomplishment by traditional standards. Once 36 credits have been accumulated, a teacher is awarded a “master’s equivalency” degree, which is not a master’s degree.
So what’s the point? Money.
While an “equivalency master’s” isn’t as good as a real master’s, it’s good enough for a salary boost. Why? Because teachers unions have gotten them written into their contracts. Worse, the state Department of Education has given what some might view as make-believe degrees its blessing.
According to an Orwellian-like passage on the department’s website, teachers must complete 36 graduate semester credits with a grade of “C” or better to earn a master’s equivalency degree, which will be issued “for salary purposes only and does not reward the holder with entitlements of an earned master’s degree.”
See? “Doublespeak.” A master’s that isn’t a master’s – because it’s not “earned.”
Apparently teachers don’t care. In the Neshaminy School District near Philadelphia, 233 teachers – nearly a third of all educators – have attained master’s equivalency degrees, according to a district document obtained by citizen-watchdog Larry Pastor and available on his website, neshaminytaxpayers.com. Even if they haven’t achieved a make-believe master’s, teachers still get a pay bump for the additional credits. It’s in the contract.
But not only are taxpayers hit up for more money to meet payroll demands driven up by questionable educational credits, taxpayers also foot the bill for the courses teachers take. Neshaminy pays up to $290 per credit. Talk about adding insult to injury! Pay my tuition so you can pay me more money. That might not be hard to stomach if taxpayers were footing the bill for real master’s degrees. But in the case of equivalency masters, they’re not getting what they pay for.
It’s make-believe. And it’s outrageous that the state sanctions it.
In our view, school boards ought to bar “equivalency” courses – at least stop paying for them – and not accept them as meeting salary step requirements; no matter what the state Department of Education says!
And if school districts have no choice but to abide by the state’s ridiculous standard on this issue, the governor ought to order an end to it. Or lawmakers should legislate it off the books. Whatever it takes.
In Neshaminy, school board members hope to negotiate the online degrees out of their next contract. They shouldn’t settle for less.
What’s troubling beyond the cost to taxpayers is the ethics involved, or lack thereof: unions that game the system; teachers who exploit the opportunity for easy money; institutions that profit from short-cut degrees; state education officials who watered down standards; lawmakers who turn their heads; school district administrators who abdicate their responsibility to advance education excellence; and school boards that fail to guard the public purse.
They all share blame for this outrage. And an outrage it is. It doesn’t require a master’s degree to know that the citizens of Pennsylvania, in yet another way, are getting ripped off.
Bucks County Courier Times