My high school leader (of three schools) announced his retirement-- he's opening "a beer garden."
Mamas, have you noticed how discouraged your kids' teachers and administrators are? Did you know that teachers are so discouraged that a job-finding site has one million teachers looking at other lines of work? That the constant pressure of convincing my students' parents that the kids need to do choice reading so I can boost their reading scores is disheartening? That there is so little money that two janitors on my floor have been pushed into early retirement because they cannot complete the square-footage of cleaning work required because so many have been laid off--and therefore the schools are not as clean? That Emergency Managers are being put into leadership roles and are taking the vote away from people at the local level? That your children's class sizes have increased, and as a result the time the teacher can spend with your student has suffered? That these folks who go into a profession aiming to help others and willing to take a modest but decent salary to do it are being squished so tightly over money and state politics that most of us are seeking contingency plans to find other jobs?
That when an administrator leaves for a new endeavor, the staff feels abandoned because we are left behind to face the onslaught against the public school system on our own?
That using teachers as the whipping post of society is going to come at a steep cost for the children of our country in a handful of years?
Just wondering.
I am afraid this is what you get when:
1. "Tax cuts" is the mantra of the day
2. People care more about what others do in their bedrooms and in their private lives than they do about society as a whole.
Yes, I've noticed. I think the cutbacks we've made in education are shameful and dangerous. I see my daughter's teachers spending their own money so that the students can do required projects, and even more so that they can do extra projects to keep them interested in school and learning and not just studying for standardized tests.
When did education become a low priority? Just when most jobs are becoming high-skilled? Oh, and our President is called "a snob" for promoting a college education?? We are in trouble, people, as a country.
I homeschool. The vast majority of my homeschool friends? They're former k12 teachers that don't want their kids stuck in the same schools they were stuck in.
Many of my friends trained to be k12 teachers. Most having taught, but left to have children, and a few straight out of school. Well, as of a few years ago. There are no jobs. While some have gone on to different careers...about half have started teaching privately (a majority of them to homeschoolers, some as private tutors to public and private schooled children) and they've decided to keep doing what they're doing instead of reapplying into the k12 system. Why? Because they make better money, have better hours, have flexibility/control over what is taught and how (instead of schoolboards changing everything every 5 years or less), have active and engaged parents, small class sizes (many teach groups of 5-10 students), the list goes on. They're making 6 figures a year doing what they love with none of the headaches of the public school system.
So have I noticed teachers having a bad year? Nope. I've noticed them having a bad DECADE.
Yes! I am a teacher and have been since 1997. Never before have I heard so many of my colleagues say on a weekly basis, "I need a new job." "I'm looking for a new job." "I don't know how much longer I can do this." I say it too, honestly. Will I actually make a job change? I'm not sure... I do love the kids and when I have those rare moments when I'm allowed to TEACH and connect with them, it makes it all worth it. The lack of money and support notwithstanding, that's why I went into the profession - because I believe in it and want to do something I can be proud of at the end of the day. The financial cuts, lack of raises, coupled with the never ending demands that we do MORE and more daily are disheartening to say the very least. Many talented teachers will leave the profession, mark my words. :-(
I've been happily teaching for 16 years.
This year my resume is on Monster. Tons of my colleagues are doing the same. I'm not completely sure I want to leave because I do love my students, but I do want to see what my options are. This job is so much more stressful than it should be.
Not sure if this is a result of the increased stress or not, but my biggest peeve about the schools are the communications we get from the teachers and administrators. They are littered with either misinformation (like the wrong date an assignment is due), weekly newsletters with information from two weeks before as "upcoming events", and typos. How are children supposed to learn about checking their work if the teaching professionals cannot even spell- or fact-check? I'm not talking about an occasional slip-up, I'm talking consistent lack of attention to detail.
(sorry, rant off now and on to defending teachers....)
Our school went through a huge transition a few years ago when the principal cut ESL support (where the student majority is non-native English-speaking) to zero and actually threatened an ESL teacher when they spoke (on their own time as a volunteer parent) on behalf of the alienated, non-English community at an event. The principal left the teachers with no way to interact with the parents, who couldn't understand what the teacher was saying in the parent/teacher conferences. That principal left for a more prestigious position. We have since picked up the pieces and gotten the support needed from a stronger leader, but the damage was done and many good teachers transferred out due to the turmoil.
Our school is still toward the bottom of the MEAP scores...I think we have a generation of PARENTS who don't give a fig about academics, so the teachers are fighting an uphill battle. This year we started promoting workshops geared toward teaching parents how to help teach their kids. Only through parental involvement and collaboration with the schools to teach good study habits and attention to detail will these kids succeed.
We homeschool too . . . if it's any consolation I noticed alot of burn-out amongst teachers even in private school (before we started homeschooling).
School has changed so much since I was a kid. It's disheartening. I can still remember the amazing teachers (2 or 3 of them - I was lucky) who touched my heart and ignited a fire in me for learning.
To all you great teachers - we parents (the ones paying attention) know who you are, and we appreciate you very much.
We have some good former teachers teaching homeschool groups . . .
Two different teachers at private school were CRYING after school was out. It is sad they are so stressed out.
One of our friends is a 30 year veteran teacher. She goes the extra mile for her kids. She is a fantastic teacher, has been Teacher of the Year, etc. Before this year started, she was sounding more resigned than ever. I think she'll retire as a teacher (not switch jobs at this point) but all this teach to test and literally handing a curriculum from the district office to every classroom cookie cutter style was worrying to her. She'll do it, but there goes the creativity. The joy. The ability to say, "Let's linger on verbs today" because some of the kids need it.
My stepdaughter's school lost a wonderful English teacher to budget cuts. Last hired, first fired. She'd only been there a few years. They KEPT the teacher that didn't know the material for a technical class, and was either totally inept and graded SD's test as a failure by mistake, or entered the F on purpose because she didn't like SD. (When your A student flunks the final, you ask about it.) But the inept teacher had more time on the clock, so she stayed.
Not every teacher is having as rough a time, but I think teachers are being asked to fix more than is their responsibility, without the budget and support.
That's what happens with all Government entities, nothing goes right. Federal government needs to get out of the classrooms. Unions need to get out of the classrooms. There is one party that will not allow *change* in schools, because they are in bed with the Unions.
We pay over $7,000 in property taxes, live in a good school district, and choose to send our kids to a private school. I know that the majority of people would send their kids to private schools if they could afford it.
My heart goes out to Teachers, Staff, Children, Parents; it's just not right or fair. The Politicians should be cutting their own pay, not taking it out on the schools.
in our area, I do not feel that. We live in one of the top school districts in the nation! My daughters school has great staff who are very helpful and friendly and know me by name (and I'm not in there very often). Her teacher is AMAZING! I LOVE her. She is so sweet and patient and caring and really cares about each and every kid. I'm sad though because she is leaving in April because she is pregnant and is due, and she told us back in October that she will not be returning. Her maternity leave will be past the last day of school. So I am sad she is leaving but happy for her that she is having another baby (#2 for her) and happy she can stay home with her kids now but we will miss her.
The school is always clean, staff is aways cheerful and helpful and happy!
I'm sure it depends on the district. Our school seems to offer a lot of support to the teachers. When I volunteer sometimes, there are 4 of us to help 5 year olds draw... My husband and i are very involved in our children's education and I think that is evident to the teachers. I'd guess the majority of parents are like us in our school. We also donate plenty of money a year to make up for budget shortfalls that keep getting worse. It seems there are lots of unemployed teachers looking for work so I"m not sure they're all leaving the job but if they are, in certain districts I don't blame them. I'm not at all a fan of the teachers' union but if kids' own parents dont' care enough to support their education, not sure why they had kids and I don't see it as a teacher's responsibility to pick up the slack. If I was a teacher in that situation, I'd have a tough time. Obviously it's not the kids' fault though so it must be heartbreaking at times. I think I'd have to pick my battles. A child who shows no motivation with parents who are the same wouldn't be at the top of my list. It's a shame but a teacher can't do everything and be a substitute parents for every child. So I don't hold teachers accountable when parents are lame. But in good districts, I tihnk they have a pretty good job. And like someone said, corporate American has gotten leaner and leaner too...
No...not really from my perspective.
Budget cuts in our public district have resulted in the elimination of the elementary foreign language teacher, O. lunch monitor and t-shirts for field trips.
The teachers are picking up the slack for the lunch monitor and the foreign language teacher now has a homeroom. Our class size is the same as it's been for 4 years--about 22-24.
That said, it's very similar to what I see in Corporate America--less employees to do more work. Bare-bones staffing.
Teachers as the whipping posts? Really? I don't see that at all.
What I do see are bad, or mediocre teachers that NEED to consider a career change.
A job of utmost importance, such as teaching needs to be a competitive field where GOOD teachers are rewarded well and BAD teachers sent on their way. Salaries here are good for teachers, but they need to be better. Sure some parents are uninvolved, but that's always been the case.
Schools need to have a better finger on the pulse of what's happening in every classroom--specifically--the teacher's abilities. And that doesn't mean teaching to the test. It means teaching and igniting a love for learning.
What's really wrong is the affluent districts march right along, while the needy districts limp harder.
Frankly, I have mixed feelings on this one. Yes, I definitely see that teachers are becoming more discouraged. I do feel for them. The salary really isn't that good, but it's hard for me to understand some of the outrage here...teaching has NEVER been a profession in which someone made a lot of money. HOWEVER, with that being said, I can totally see the outrage at the benefits cuts that they are now seeing. State workers here took a 3% pay cut this year on top of no raises for over 5 years. Their health insurance and prescriptions are costing more too. That is where I think the outrage should be.
I completely get that teaching is a hard job and I wouldn't be able to do it personally. I would think though that the first few years of teaching would be the hardest though. If you are teaching the same subjects year after year, you would at least have some lesson plans and teaching materials to re-use in subsequent years. However, there are a lot of benefits too. It seems like every time I turn around, school is closed for something. They DO get a lot of holidays off. They also get lots of time off for the summer. In my area, the teachers actually get more sick and personal days than I do for the entire year that they can use for the 9 months that school is in session.
My son's Kindergarten class has 16 students in it...not really overcrowded in my opinion. Teachers are having to do more with less, but that really isn't that different from jobs in the private sector. I would hate to lose good teachers...and that's what I think will start happening. It does scare me to think of what kind of education my children will get...
