tjohnson@richsun.cpg.trs.reuter.com (Tom K. Johnson) (05/04/91)
A pool of potentially talented math teachers might be found among engineers, programmers and other skilled "practical mathematicians" who have worked for 20 or 30 years but are too young to retire. The number of such people who would give up their private-sector salary for a teacher's salary may be small but one thing might increase that number: a special provision in the U.S. Social Security laws to reward such people. Under current soc. sec. law the payments a retired person receives are based largely on their LAST years of employment. This heavily penalizes anyone who takes a pay cut at the ages of 50 to 60. If a special provision were made in the U.S. social security laws for people who leave engineering, etc. for the classroom we might get some math teachers who could say... " look, here is how linear algebra, group theory, calculus, etc. has been applied to solve real problems , improve the performance of real products, and make real profits." Anyone for a letter-writing campaign to convince Congress?? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "If Abe Lincoln were alive today he'd be turning over in his grave." -- Gerald (oops!!) Ford Tom Johnson Senior Staff Engineer at Reuters 1400 Kensington Road, Oak Brook, IL 60521 " Whenever Ronald Reagan appeared on TV I turned up the brightness.... but it never helped." - me tjohnson@richsun.cpg.trs.reuter.com -- "If Abe Lincoln were alive today he'd be turning over in his grave." -- Gerald (oops!!) Ford Tom Johnson