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GREENSBORO, N.C. — The retirement of thousands of baby boomer teachers coupled with the departure of younger teachers frustrated by the stress of working in low-performing schools is fueling a crisis in teacher turnover that is costing school districts substantial amounts of money as they scramble to fill their ranks for the fall term.
Superintendents and recruiters across the nation say the challenge of putting a qualified teacher in every classroom is heightened in subjects like math and science and is a particular struggle in high-poverty schools, where the turnover is highest. Thousands of classes in such schools have opened with substitute teachers in recent years.
Here in Guilford County, N.C., turnover had become so severe in some high-poverty schools that principals were hiring new teachers for nearly every class, every term. To staff its neediest schools before classes start on Aug. 28, recruiters have been advertising nationwide, organizing teacher fairs and offering one of the nation’s largest recruitment bonuses, $10,000 to instructors who sign up to teach Algebra I.
After Katrina Orleans Parish fired all 7,500 of its teachers; I was one of them. I've decided not to return to teaching, at least for now. The combination of bad administration, severe behavioral problem students, pathetic parents, and being the scapegoat for politicians has taken its toll.
I have been threatened, assaulted, and hit by both students and sadly parents. When I refused to fail 15 students based on IOWA test scores alone; my job was threatened by an administrator. When our working day was extended we asked for the pay to compensate; one grandstanding politician told the public that instead of asking to be paid for our time we needed to take that effort and put it into our lesson plans. I miss teaching, but when I think about going back I get a knot in my stomach.
On one hand, school districts claim that they have difficulty finding qualified teachers.On the other hand, these same districts will fire teachers in a heartbeat if their students don't perform well on the state assessment. Lately, the field of teaching seems more like a revolving door than a career in which one could remain in it for the long haul.
I have been teaching 11 years now. Quite frankly, there have been times lately when I have been asking myself how much longer will I be able to remain. It has nothing to do with the pay. Nor does it have any thing to do with the parents or their children. It has more to do with how schools are being ran ,as well as, who they are being ran by.
Last week, my principal(this is the 3 principal that I have had in 5 years) said that schools are being ran with a business mindset. Schools that fail to perform for a number of years are closed down and taken over by private education corporations. But how many of these people making critical decisions are or have been educators? There are some who have no clue as to what it is like to teach, especially in an inner city school. Yet, they get to decide who gets to stay and who gets let go based on test data.
Teaching changed when the No Child Left Behind joke started. We are no longer allowed the freedom to be creative in the classroom or to attempt to facilitate a generation of free thinkers because all success is measured by the standardized test that our district adopts. Do we even consider the concept of multiple intelligence or other related theories of learning or even about developmentally appropriate practices? Oh no, it's all about the standardized test scores! It's beyond frustrating and I'm considering another career path. Maybe something less stressful like...oh say, alligator wrestling.
Gee, all of the comments I've read so far are not positive. I have a year and a half before I graduate with an elementary teaching degree. I've never had hesitation about becoming a teacher since I decided to go back to school to start my second career. I've heard many of the concerns previous posters here have stated from teacher friends I know. But they remain positive overall of their job. I don't know if being in Michigan is the reason behind the optimism or what. There have been a couple of times when I've substituted and questioned whether I had the energy to do this job, but I never considered not becoming a teacher. I consider it a blessing to be able to do it and do it well.
I am teaching now. I was a teacher in CA for 16.5 years and am now teaching in NC. It is a whole different world here and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
A principal in our area pointed out all the teachers who hadn't had rising test scores as of last year and made sure they got labeled and threatened with losing their jobs if it did not change.
I used to think when people talked about test scores as being the end all be all as an over-statement. Not any more! NCLB has made teacher evaluation ONLY about test scores of their students.
It isn't fun or interesting anymore.
There are several other factors that are contributing to my desire to quit, but it is a nightmare.
Gee, all of the comments I've read so far are not positive. I have a year and a half before I graduate with an elementary teaching degree. I've never had hesitation about becoming a teacher since I decided to go back to school to start my second career. I've heard many of the concerns previous posters here have stated from teacher friends I know. But they remain positive overall of their job. I don't know if being in Michigan is the reason behind the optimism or what. There have been a couple of times when I've substituted and questioned whether I had the energy to do this job, but I never considered not becoming a teacher. I consider it a blessing to be able to do it and do it well.
I would never discourage anyone from becoming a teacher. If your heart is truly invested in it, pursue it. However, I am also about being real. If you are blessed to find a supportive environment in which to work at, that will go a long way in helping you to do your job. Sadly, many of us who have been teaching for awhile have seen the ugly side of the profession over the last couple of years. And I don't feel that some teacher education programs are doing enough to prepare new graduates for teaching in the era of NCLB.
Last edited by chitown68; 09-09-2007 at 11:30 AM..
Reason: misspelling
I would never discourage anyone from becoming a teacher. If your heart is truly invested in it, pursue it. However, I am also about being real. If you are blessed to find a supportive environment in which to work at, that will go a long way in helping you to do your job. Sadly, many of us who have been teaching for awhile have seen the ugly side of the profession over the last couple of years. And I don't feel that some teacher education programs are doing enough to prepare new graduates for teaching in the era of NCLB.
I agree with your post completely. I can only speak from my own experience, but what I was taught in college was a parallel universe to the actual classroom experience. Teaching is not an easy profession and then if you factor in the pay and the stress it's no wonder we feel this way. Then we see the middle school students that can't string together a paragraph and we realize that all of this nonsense is hurting the kids in the long run and our frustration levels increase. Although on the positive side, I did see that there is a tax bill in the works that will forgive our student loans after 10 years. Even 8 years after graduation, I was starting to believe I would need to sell a kidney to pay them off.
I am a retired educator from the Michigan School System. Teaching is an interesting job. It is not a position where you are going to become rich. Being rich in spirit, in mind, and in thoughts are more like it. Teaching is challenging. That is why you become an educator, to open the doors of knowledge to youngsters. Many speak about all of the difficulties of teaching and working with children. SOme of those same diffculties are being talked about in the private sector. The ultimate thought should be, each child comes to you as an unopened unwrapped gift, it is our job as educators to open the gift and present the child with a basic education that he/or she can utilize as far as they can. Teaching should be fun, learning should be fun. If you are afraid, do not teach, if you are scared, do not teach. If you want a challenging job, a rewarding day, low pay, and the feeling of accomplishments each day that a child looks at you and says, "I understand." then take his hand, look him or her straight in the eye, and say, I understand that you understand. Today has been a good day.
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