The article in the NCTE's inbox, With Turnover High, Schools Fight for Teachers by Sam Dillon, made me realize the crisis that is going on throughout our nation's schools. I never knew the difficulty there was of filling teaching positions. The author of this article stated that retirement and stressed out teachers could be the cause of this.
Now that the babyboomers are retiring, a younger generation of teachers are coming in. However, some of these young teachers cannot handle the classroom stress and end up leaving the profession due to their feeling of unsatisfaction in teaching. In attempt to help this issue, schools have been offering incentives for teaching. In my opinnion to this crisis, I believe that difficulty in filling teaching positions is highly due to the pay. For the amount of work that they have and the pressure of state standards, teachers do not get paid enough. I believe that if the pay were better, than perhaps we wouldn't be facing this crisis. With the amount of stress that teachers encounter, especially in the low-performing schools, their frustrations and pay don't compare. Instead of 5,000 dollar incentives, the teaching salary should be more. Atleast if teachers were getting paid more they would be more motivated to continue on in their professions.
As it was quoted in the article, "Some educators say it is the confluence of such retirements with the departure of disillusioned young teachers that is creating the challenge. In addition, higher salaries in the business world and more opportunities for women are drawing away from the field recruits who might in another era have proved to be talented teachers with strong academic backgrounds". Now that women have paved a way for more opportunities and better pay, teaching has not been as much of a popular profession to them. If an individual knows that he or she can get paid more in another profession than teaching, then their choice usually seems to be heavily influenced by the salary.
It's upsetting to see that our nation is having a difficulty finding certified teachers to lead and guide the way for future generations. Hopefully we can come out of this teaching crisis and the areas that need teachers are filled. Perhaps with the incentives of bonuses and higher pay, we can come out of this crisis with certified teachers and hard working students.
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4 comments:
Although I agree with Vanessa that teachers should be paid much more than they are, I'm not sure that the only issue at hand is teachers' salaries. Also, I agree with Thomas G. Carroll (president of the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future) when he says that "the problem is not mainly with retirement." I think that despite salaries and baby boomer retirement playing a large role in the number of teaching positions open, the lack of resources available to teachers contributes even more so.
A vicious cycle is created: teachers lack resources to properly meet standards, and feeling unhappy, they quit their positions or are even perhaps fired. Then to fulfill teaching voids, bonuses are offered to assist in the hiring of teachers. The bonuses draw those interested in money, and teachers are hired not necessarily based on qualifications but need. These teachers then face the same dilemma those before them did--they are required to meet standards without adequate resources and thus face inevitable failure and frustration.
How disappointed the writers of the NCTE and IRA book Standards for the English Language Arts would be. After all, they recognize that before teachers and students can meet standards, the schools must be
"safe and well-equipped" with "adequate staffing" (10). One can only hope that the problem-solving tactic will shift from filling positions with money incentives to filling positions by guaranteeing appropriate materials and safe settings for both teachers and students.
I agree with Vanessa. It is ashame that we are having such a difficult time keeping a position for teaching. I agree with her saying that one of the problems would be the pay. If a teacher isnt getting paid enough, they might think they aren't doing as good a jo as they should be.
I can also see how it would be tougher for the younger teachers who are coming into the profession. This may be some of their first jobs and if they are getting negative feedback, its going to make them feel incapeable of doing a satisfying job.
After reading the comments posted by everybody, I would have to say that every point made is very accurate. I agree with Vanessa's point in stating that the lack of teachers stems from the low salary. Yet, I also agree with Carrie when she stated that is not the only issue at hand. Personally I have changed my mind with 4 different majors while being here at Plattsburgh State. Finally I have stayed with teaching elementary students. At first I didn't want to teach because of the lack of pay, yet after reasearching teaching positions and looking into it more, i found the benefits out way the low salary in so many ways. The pension, the time to spend with family, and the ability to be strongly involved with the community are perks that over-weigh the downfalls. Yet, when I first thought about teaching I wasn't aware of the other benefits of teaching, just the low salary. I feel that we don't put enough emphasis on the MANY benefits of being a teacher.
I also agree with Abby, when she stated how it must be difficult for younger teachers now to get involved in the teaching field. It is becoming more normal for teachers to begin teaching right out of college, sometimes at the ages of 22 and 23, which is very young to start. This might cause some termoil in the school district from the employees that have been there for years, which in turn puts a lot of pressure on the younger teacher.
Vanessa is right when she pointed out that the main reason to this turnover has to deal with the amount teachers are paid. I can relate to this from a personal experience having taught already for three years.
However,another major reason for teachers leaving these positions is becasue they can not handle antagonizing comments set by the students. They just have to learn to take what is said, ignore it, and continue to teach. They are the authoritive figures in the classromm, not the student. There has been many times I was told "Who are you, you ain't my fuckin daddy", when asking them to do something, but I never let that get to me. Simply I would rebut and tell them if I were, they sure would not talk to an adult like that and send them along to the office.
With these occurences many teachers feel they do not get paid enough to deal with these instances, and I could not agree any more.
I believe that it is at the home where this problem occurs, and it needs to be repaired there as well. From then, maybe teachers will not have that urge to easily walk away from a position that is quite honoring to serve in. Plus a little more monney wouldnt be bad either.
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