JET Program on the Chopping Block (thank Buddha!!)

[Taro Toporific]

JET ROI: JET Program on the Chopping Block
jetwit.com - by James Gannon - July 3, 2010
...in May 2010, the JET Program and CLAIR came up for review, and during the course of an hourlong hearing, the 11-member panel criticized the JET scheme, ruling unanimously that a comprehensive examination should be undertaken to see if it should be pared back or eliminated altogether.When the jigyo shiwake panels were launched in November 2009, the intent was to weed out bloated spending ....more...

[canman]

Taro,I wouldn't count the JET program dead yet. It seems to have a lot of friends in high places that will vouch for its usefulness. What I find interesting is that the only group advocating the continuation of the Jet Program are either former, or current JETs. There doesn't seem to be a groundswell of teachers or parents or students clamoring to keep this system. I for one would like to see it gone, as I think there must be a better way to teach students. I know many good ideas have been presented here before, like sending native English teachers abroad to hone their skills. Or utilizing the native English teachers that live in the community.

[Mike Oxlong]

Here's a wacky thought...

Make the program one that only accepts and places professional teachers. Those who majored in and graduated with education degrees. Then, those who are accepted go to some facility (one for US/Canada, one for the UK, one for Australia/NZ) in their own country to undergo several months of training in Japanese language, Japanese ed aims, and team-teaching. Schools in Japan wanting one of these sorts would have to send one of their English teachers to some sort of twin facility in Japan over the summer vacation to also be trained in team-teaching, Western ed aims, and English communication.

[AssKissinger]

I think it would be sad if JET dies. A lot of people have had amazing experiences because of this program.

[Yokohammer]

Here's a wacky thought...

Make the program one that only accepts and places professional teachers. Those who majored in and graduated with education degrees. Then, those who are accepted go to some facility (one for US/Canada, one for the UK, one for Australia/NZ) in their own country to undergo several months of training in Japanese language, Japanese ed aims, and team-teaching. Schools in Japan wanting one of these sorts would have to send one of their English teachers to some sort of twin facility in Japan over the summer vacation to also be trained in team-teaching, Western ed aims, and English communication.

No no ... that makes too much sense.
Besides, there's an opening there for filthy foreign ideas to infiltrate and corrupt the local system.

[Taro Toporific]

Here's a wacky thought...
Make the program one that only accepts and places professional teachers. Those who majored in and graduated with education degrees....

[SIZE="7"]Oh nooooooo![/SIZE] Imagine the Japanese engRish teachers having to compete on level ground.

[Yokohammer]

Imagine the Japanese engRish teachers having to compete on level ground.

No shit. And it'd be pretty hard for a Japanese engrish teacher to tell an M.Ed to shut the fuck up and do as they're told.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Sorry, I have to agree with this one.
JET is an enormous waste of money that produces benefits that are dubious at best.
Have the JET programs produced one Enrgish speaker of any worth over 20-odd years? I severely doubt it.
Stop funding the idea of English-speaking yobbos Japan experience, I say.

[Ganma]

Having professional teachers come would never work. I knew some professional teachers who did exactly that but gave up and left quick smart. Reasons: lack of responsiveness of students , the 'I can't speak English' mentality; and a complete lack of control or freedom over what they were able to do in the classroom. Japan only wants talking textbooks so let them have their talking textbooks.
The JET primarily exists these days to give inaka schools the opportunity for 'cultural exchange' and has long disappeared from suburban areas like Tokyo. That in itself is not a bad thing. But if there is no longer the money for it then so be it...

[GomiGirl]

Professional teachers wouldn't come as they wouldn't put up with the poor salary options. Offering peanuts is fine for the kids who are Native Engrish speakers with a pulse on a gap year adventure, but it is not an interesting prospect for real teachers. They would go straight to International schools.

[AssKissinger]

Professional teachers wouldn't come as they wouldn't put up with the poor salary options. Offering peanuts is fine for the kids who are Native Engrish speakers with a pulse on a gap year adventure, but it is not an interesting prospect for real teachers. They would go straight to International schools.

JET pays better than most new teachers make in America. Do you mean if they did away with JET and tried to get professional teachers just off the market?

[Christoff]

JET pays better than most new teachers make in America. Do you mean if they did away with JET and tried to get professional teachers just off the market?

If we are speaking about New York State, it is utterly untrue. most JET teachers get between 250,000 and 300,000 a month, that is about 3k us. note the DoE teacher pay chart: http://jd2718.wordpress.com/the-new-uft-contract/new-uft-nyc-doe-teacher-pay-scale-salary-charts/

[wuchan]

[Christoff]

100k a month is ass, you cant even live off of that in hokaido

[bolt_krank]

I think the JET program provides good opportunities for a lot of people. Whethere it is that useful or not.... probably not that much; I don't really know - haven't had any direct involvement so it wouldn't really be my place to comment.

But it does seem from what I've seen as a good international relations vehicle.

I think it's promoted the country better than "Yokoso Japan" or whatever it's called these days.

[dimwit]

I'm not entirely opposed to JET as a few of the teachers who do stick around turn out to be quite competent. I might even hesitantly say that some of the best teachers know started out as JETs before graduating to private schools. So I think it does serve the purpose of being a training ground for those who want to make it so. In Ehime, we have a mixture of JETs and privately contracted ALTs and it is a battle as to which is worse. ALTs often go awol leaving high schools high and dry where as the JETs are largely jids on extended holidays.

[Samurai_Jerk]

If we are speaking about New York State, it is utterly untrue. most JET teachers get between 250,000 and 300,000 a month, that is about 3k us. note the DoE teacher pay chart: http://jd2718.wordpress.com/the-new-uft-contract/new-uft-nyc-doe-teacher-pay-scale-salary-charts/

JET teachers get 300K a month tax free plus a lot of them get housing subsidies. If you factor that in it's like making 45 or 50K. Probably about average for a teacher in the US but better than someone fresh out of college would make teaching.

[AssKissinger]

http://teacherportal.com/teacher-salaries-by-state

[Christoff]

JET teachers get 300K a month tax free plus a lot of them get housing subsidies. If you factor that in it's like making 45 or 50K. Probably about average for a teacher in the US but better than someone fresh out of college would make teaching.

lets not forget is you are a us citizen you are still liable for 100% of your us tax obligation making you way poorer

[Iraira]

lets not forget is you are a us citizen you are still liable for 100% of your us tax obligation making you way poorer

That's only for the portion of your income over $91,400 (as of 2009). 2555-EZ, baby!

[Samurai_Jerk]

That's only for the portion of your income over $91,400 (as of 2009). 2555-EZ, baby!

Thank you. Christoff needs to check his sources.

And it's not even as simple as paying tax on anything over $91,400. It depends on a lot of things including the tax burden in the country you live in.

[Guest]

I think it would be sad if JET dies. A lot of people have had amazing experiences because of this program.

That's the problem though.

JET is a big expensive vacation for the people that are on JET. They don't really do anything and get "shown" Japan on the government yen. Have you ever seen a JET come off the program and experience "real" Japan? It is about one of the funniest/ depressing things you could possibly see.

My view of JET is they bring in foreign people so they can show off Japan and babysit them. Yes, it is a total waste of time and money.

[Samurai_Jerk]

[wuchan]

[Taro Toporific]

JET is an enormous waste of money ...Stop funding the idea of English-speaking yobbos Japan experience..

Does Japan still need 23-yr-old exchange program?
By TOMOKO A. HOSAKA (AP) –]Every year for the past two decades, legions of young Americans have descended upon Japan to teach English. This government-sponsored charm offensive was launched to counter anti-Japan sentiment in the United States and has since grown into one of the country's most successful displays of soft power.
But faced with stagnant growth and a massive public debt, lawmakers are aggressively looking for ways to rein in spending. One of their targets is the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program, or JET.
[url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jtPPLc7V3CCJ5ofjL0ekvyVbWx_QD9H8HLD80]...The organization that oversees JET, the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations, has drawn the ire of lawmakers as a destination where senior bureaucrats retire to plush jobs. The practice, known as "amakudari," or "descent from heaven," is viewed as a source of corruption and waste.
Motoyuki Odachi, head of a budget review panel that examined JET, said taxpayers are getting ripped off.
"There's a problem with the organization itself," said Odachi, an upper house member from central Japan. "This program has continued in order to maintain 'amakudari.'"
...Odachi expects his panel's recommendations will be adopted as formal policy later this year.
"Whether that means zero (money) or half, we don't know yet," he said. "But our opinion has been issued, so (JET) will probably shrink.":banana:
...more...

[Taro Toporific]

[Samurai_Jerk]

Using average TEOFL scores as a measure of Japan's Engrish ability as compare to other Asian nations isn't fair. In Japan a junior high kid can get mom and dad to plunk down the $100 (or whatever it costs these days) to let them take the test just for the hell of it. In a lot of other countries in Asia only the richest kids who probably have top-notch private school educations can afford it. Plus, the list includes countries like India, the Philipines, and Singapore.

[yarichin01]

[American Oyaji]

Don't blame JET for Japan's poor English
Sept. 7, 2010| The Japan Times Online
....a debate is raging over whether JET should be left as is, cut or abolished entirely.
Essentially, the two main camps argue: a) keep JET, because it gives outback schools more contact with "foreign culture" (moreover, it gives Japan a means of projecting "soft power" abroad)]Japan's psychotic -- [SIZE="3"]yes, psychotic [/SIZE]-- system of language teaching[/B]...more...

Surprised they accepted Debito for that.

[Christoff]

good to see Debito is still anger fueled